Read (from the New Living Translation)

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Go Deep

When faced with the loss of someone very dear to him, Carlos had to wrestle with the question – can I trust God even when my heart breaks? He shares what he learned in today’s reading.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart” is actually tattooed on my chest just above my heart as a reminder for me to always trust Him, even when my heart breaks.

Most of you may know my Mom passed away a few years ago after battling with a very aggressive form of lupus. The disease not only took its toll on her body, but our family, finances, even some close friendships. Something my mom kept repeating to me was this verse, “Trust in the Lord” she would say to me. Trust that He has a plan, that He knows what He’s doing.

Yet at that time all I saw was Him was taking my mom away from me, tearing my family apart and draining my parents’ savings to pay for the mounting medical costs. I looked around me and saw nothing but chaos and tears! But when I looked at my mom I saw peace and rest. Like the song from Ryan Stevenson “Eye of the Storm,” she found peace in the storm by fixing her eyes on Christ.

Ultimately, her healing came in the arms of Jesus. She passed from this world on April 7th, 2006 after a 7 year battle with lupus. I’ve always looked at that little number coincidence as God’s way of showing me He’s in control. In the Bible, the number 7 often represents completion or perfection. Her time here was complete and her healing is now perfect.

Looking back God’s glory is evident in so many areas. The chaos her battle brought to my family ultimately gave way to healing. Old wounds that had kept members of my family from speaking to each other for years were healed, the financial stress of the medical costs were taken care of, and friends who I hadn’t seen in years came to celebrate the life of my mom. God took care of it all.

When you look around what do you see? Chaos? Disarray? Fix your eyes on Christ and trust that He has a plan. Because I can promise you that even when we don’t understand it, He knows what He’s doing. We can find peace and rest in God’s guidance and direction which will exceed anything we ever thought imaginable – all we have to do is trust Him.

Notes from the Beyond Suffering Bible

Trusting God – Learning to trust God in every aspect of our lives often comes through a lot of trial and error. Christian maturity doesn’t happen overnight; we all need reminders of some of the most basic truths, which is why this is one of the most quoted Scripture passages. However, when we are able to rest in God’s guidance and direction, we “will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand” (Phil 4:7).

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