Today marks the last article in the Trust Project series: How to trust God with the little things. I am in awe of how He led me to start the series and what He has taught me through it all. I continue to marvel that I had no idea what to talk about for last month’s article on trusting God with the world. Then the coronavirus hit. God wants us to know that while we don’t know what’s coming, He does.
What are the benefits of trusting God with the little things?
For me the benefits are less stress, better sleep, and better health overall. The Lord has taught me that the little things are often a big reason I don’t trust God. I want to stop worrying and start living. How about you?
Let’s use the acronym TRUST.
The T in trust is for truth.
Our Scripture to meditate on is Philippians 4:6. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
God is telling us that we shouldn’t be anxious about the big things, so certainly we shouldn’t be anxious about the small matters. Instead, when we feel the anxiety coming, we need to give the situation to Him. I love the language here: present your requests. Give them to Him like a gift that you wouldn’t take back. As strange as it sounds, when we give Him our troubles, we are giving God the gift of faith and He loves it.
Our biblical account is from Luke 10 verses 38-42. “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
As I read this passage again in preparation for this episode I noticed something new that is huge. So many times this passage is used to make women feel guilty for doing anything but praying and reading Scripture. Terrible Martha for focusing on getting the meal ready and wanting some help in the kitchen! I’m amazed that I’ve missed this key detail so many times. It’s in verse 39. “Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.” Listening to what he said. Jesus, the Son of God, who only speaks the words of God is in your house and not just in your house but is speaking. Why wouldn’t you take the time to listen?
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the details, the little things that we don’t stop to listen to what God is saying to us. There is a time for meal prep, but when God is speaking, we would do well to listen. What is God saying to you now? Do you have extra time to listen to him in Word and quiet?
The R in trust is for remembering.
How has God shown Himself trustworthy in the past with the little things in your life? I wrote an article about praying little prayers. God has shown Himself faithful in providing a dress, giving me a great parking spot when I needed it, and even keeping my hair dry before a speaking engagement.
But I don’t have to strain to recall a time when God was faithful in the little things. In January, we discovered that my son had bedbugs. A little research told us why. Our suitcases had been stored under his bed. It’s easy to pick up bedbugs when you stay in hotels of any sort. They hitch a ride on your suitcase and make your bed their new home when you unpack in your room or, in our case, store the luggage under the bed. We attempted to treat the bedbugs ourselves. Every time we thought we had done the job, my son would sleep in his bed and would find uninvited guests. He took pictures of them to prove it to us!
Then the unthinkable happened: I found bites on my shoulder and then bugs in my bed. I was doing okay with the trusting God thing until then. My anxiety was so bad that I couldn’t sleep. I insisted that we call in an exterminator. The bugs are gone, thank God! These are some tips for avoiding bed bugs in your travel, but that’s not the most important thing here. The most important thing I learned is how quickly my trust in God evaporated in the face of little bed bugs. So much stress and for what? I wish I could have those sleepless nights back.
At the same time, God gave me a refresher on trusting Him with health and safety. I had a sudden episode of vertigo, no doubt made worse by my bed bug stress. I did a maneuver that made a big improvement. I am much better now.
Little things can make it hard to believe in a big God. But He is faithful! How has He been faithful in the little things for you?
The U in trust is for understanding.
God does give us wisdom for the little things. We learn of a good tech guy or gal to call for our messed-up computer. We Google and find a solution as I did to my vertigo. We get advice from a friend. I didn’t just pray for my bed bugs and vertigo to go away. I used the wisdom God gave me and you should, too. What steps should you take in lieu of worrying about the little things?
The S in trust is for supplication.
This is when we pray specifically for what we need. I prayed for an exterminator. When he came, he told me exactly what I needed to hear for peace of mind. I didn’t even pray for that, but God delivered. There is nothing wrong with saying, “Lord, thy will be done, but if you could help me find what I need at the first store, that would be a blessing.” God isn’t your over-busy friend. He will not be annoyed by your small requests.
The T in trust is for thanksgiving.
We can and should thank God for all the ways He has been faithful in answering our little prayers until now. But we can also thank Him in advance for giving us what is best, even if the first round of extermination doesn’t do the trick as it did for us. We thank Him that He is with us and for us. What a confidence builder this is, even as we face some really big challenges to our faith right now.
I want to thank Him right now for inspiring me to do this series. It has changed my life. The past fifteen months have been some of the most challenging I have experienced — cancer diagnoses, loss of dear friends and a beloved pet, my husband’s stroke, and more. But the faith I’ve learned in the process has made it possible for me to be strong enough to help people through the enormous crisis the world is facing now. I pray you find yourself better prepared because of your faith in Him.
Of course, our journey hasn’t ended. Go back through previous months of the Trust Project as you need to. Be prepared to answer Satan’s question over and over…Did God really say? Yes, He did. He really did say that He loves us and is everything we need. He really did say that He was for us and not against us. He really did say that He would work all things together for our good.
God bless you, my friend, as you seek to trust in our awesome God more and more.
How to trust God with…
