How do you know you are trusting God?
Discussion question for January 28, 2011.
The basis of living in a Kingdom economy is to have faith in God and trust Him for what you will receive. From a very practical point of view, how do you know you are trusting Him? What markers are evident in your life that indicate your faith in Him? What things are warning signs or indicators that you are not trusting Him? How can you assess your condition and make changes on a regular basis?
Here’s my summary of our discussion.
The key word pairing is trust and obey. Trusting God is made evident when you obey Him. This of course presupposes that you are able to hear Him, and that His instruction is clear. As it says in James 1, we are to be doers of His word and not just hearers.
You know that you are trusting God when you are walking in the Spirit, as it says in Galatians 5:16. The evidence of this part of obedience shows up in what you don’t do (the things of the flesh) and what you do (fruit of the Spirit).
There are extremely practical ways in the physical realm to tell if you are trusting God. Depending on your personal style, it might be teeth clenching that signals you are taking on responsibility not your own. It might be headaches or digestive issues, muscle tension or sleeplessness, or any of a number of other physical maladies.
Paying attention in the physical realm includes objective measurements, sometimes from another person. A dentist, doctor, chiropractor, pastor, or friend might see something in us before we recognize it ourselves. We have to get over the feeling of “normal” and discover the feeling of “right.”
We can tell that we are not completely trusting God by manifestations in the emotional realm. Short tempered responses, anxiety or worry, sadness or hopelessness are all possible clues that we have lost sight of God’s purpose in us and confidence that He will make it happen.
Some of the emotional signals of trusting Him are thankfulness and joyfulness. Paul writes that we are to be thankful in everything and to praise God in all things. I am certain that I am trusting God when my natural inclination is to be thankful and joyful.
It is important to give up responsibility for an outcome or to meet an expectation. In place of that I must be obedient to the specific request God has made of me. If I demand that God answer my prayer according to my specifications, then I can be assured the answer will fit into a three pound brain instead of an Ephesians 3:20 outrageousness.
You can improve your trust factor by self examination, but it is better to have close relationship with trusted advisors. Give one or more of them permission to speak into your life, and give them a clue about what signals indicate a lack of trust. They can gently provide some objective measurement, and you will increase in confidence knowing they are paying attention just as you are.