July 15

“What does it mean to set the Lord always before you?  It means that you choose to relate everything you encounter to your trust in God.”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 7/15

I’ve always known that I need to see things through “God’s eyes”--that is, from His perspective.  I’ve also known I need to keep my focus on Christ--who He is and what He did.  But to “relate everything [I] encounter to [my] trust in God” is new to me.  Blackaby has brought me to the nitty gritty of my relationship with God:  Trust.  Trust is an interesting word.  It means “confidence in a person or thing because of the qualities one perceives.”  Both parties are involved. I must have confidence, but the other person must have the qualities that warrant my confidence.  However, I have an additional responsibility.  I must perceive the other’s trustworthiness in order for the transaction to be completed.  To perceive is to become aware of.  This is why our ability to trust God hinges on our knowledge of Him.  We must be diligent in becoming aware of who He is.  We must seek to know Him fully.  But then we must act on that knowledge.  Everything that happens to us must be seen in light of this information.  Then we need to exercise the faith God has given us by choosing to place our confidence in the God who created us and loves us to no end.

“Through [Christ] you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”  1 Peter 1: 21