Stop!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

—Prov. 3:5-6

Sometimes, it must have seemed rather confusing.  As the people of Israel were going through the desert, seemingly in the direction of the Promised Land, they had to wonder if God really knew what He was doing.  They would be moving along for a while, then, they would just stop...and wait.  No reason, no explanation, just "wait here."  I know what that always means when I do it.  I'm lost!  It doesn't matter how much I protest that I am just wanting to be sure, everyone in the car knows, "Dad doesn't have any idea where we are.  We are lost!"

That wasn’t really the case with God.  I believe that He was attempting to instill in the people of Israel a proper mindset.  He needed for them to trust Him implicitly and not doubt.  They needed to know that as long as He was in control, their needs would be met, and they could trust Him in all things.  Throughout their journey, the people of Israel were fed and they had water to drink.  Later, God reminded them, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet (Deut. 29:5).”  That is truly amazing!

God also needed them to be obedient.  At times, He would tell them to stop and then He would tell them when to go.  There didn’t seem to be any particular pattern as far as what we are told in Scripture, but when they came to the Promised Land, God didn’t want there to be any questions about who was in charge.  When He told them to march around Jericho and after a few days to blow trumpets and break pitchers, He didn’t want anyone asking questions.  He needed them to trust and act.  Disobedience was out of the question and punishable by death.

While that isn’t exactly how God treats us when we are disobedient, He still requires us to trust.  Our failure to do so interferes with what He has planned for us and what He wants to do through us.  However, I know trust is a major issue for most Christians.  God will often take us through situations to help us to grow in our trust in Him.  It helps from time to time to examine our own hearts and lives and see in what ways we need to trust Him more.  Trusting God in this manner goes beyond intellectual assent to a deep reliance on God, a determined resolve to abandon ourselves to His care and providence and His direction.

Sing the following song and contemplate the words carefully.  If you don’t know this song, find another that speaks of the need to trust in the direction God leads us.  When you finish, pray for the strength of will and resolve to finish well.

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will, He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear,

Not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief or a loss,

Not a frown or a cross,

But is blest if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove

The delights of His love

Until all on the altar we lay;

For the favor He shows,

For the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet

We will sit at His feet,

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;

What He says we will do,

Where He sends we will go,

Never fear, only trust and obey.

Refrain: Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Daniel B. Towner, 1887 (Public Domain)