Trust God Not Things

For the past month the old hymn “Trust and Obey” has been rattling around in my head. The refrain says, “Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” It doesn’t mean we can’t trust others or plans we make. It means that our joy and contentment depend upon trusting in Jesus when things go wrong or the people and plans we put trust in end up failing. Jeremiah 17:5 states, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord.” When we stop to embrace those let-downs we had trusted in and reestablish our trust in him, he takes those moments to prune and sanctify us. He uses what we see as disaster or failure to glorify himself and draw us to him. We don’t need to get angry at the people or plans that do not work, but we continue to pour out trust into the one who is trustworthy and faithful.