June 21

“You cannot very well trust in doctrines or plans no matter how much you may believe in them, but you can always trust in the Lord, whether or not you understand His plans or the doctrines concerning Him.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 6/21

This is an important distinction.  Too often we put our faith in God’s Word and then come away confused and dazed when things don’t work out the way we think they should.  The reason this happens is that God’s Word may not apply to us in any given moment--those verses where God promises something to someone that we want, too.  I know because there have been many times when I felt that what I wanted came under God’s perfect plan for a woman--so since I’m a woman there was no reason for God not to answer the same prayer for me.  Now I understand that it is God Himself that I’m to trust--not His promises or anything else.  God Himself alone is trustworthy and because He is God He knows what is best for me now and in the future.  God did not create me and then drop me off here on Earth to be picked up at the end of my life and carted off to Heaven.  He created me for a relationship with Him in eternity AND right now.  I do not need to understand all the whys and wherefores if I’m trusting God Himself.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.”  Proverbs 3:5