April 4 Devotion

Trust

Lectionary Readings:
In the morning, Psalm 55, In the evening, Psalm 74, Jeremiah 17:5-10, 14-17, Philippians 4:1-13 John 12:27-36

While preparing this devotional we came across a great definition for the word “trust”: confident expectation of something; hope. We especially liked the “confident” part. Synonyms for the word trust include, certainty, belief and faith.

Our family recently made a leap of faith, moving from Virginia back to Huntington. Being “worriers by nature”, there were a great many things for us to consider (which translates into… worry about), not the least of which were logistics, logistics, logistics. These included getting the house sold, pulling the kids out of school in the middle of the year and getting them resettled, Bob giving up a great job and Jen finding employment in a new city, etc., etc., etc. Yet something (that still small voice?) was telling both of us that it was the right thing to do… that there was something better for us here once we stepped out on faith.

We’d talked about moving back for years but never really had the “conviction” until last August while on our way up for a visit. After much prayer and finally coming to the decision this was what God would have us do, we decided the summer of 2007 would be a good time to make the move (the kids would be out of school and it would give us about a year to plan things out). Well, God had a something else in mind altogether and at that point took over every aspect of the move (including changing our time table by almost a year) and all we could do was “hang on” and be amazed at what we were witnessing before our very eyes. From the house selling in a day, to Jenny having two job interviews lined up (without having worked for the last nine years!) before we even left VA, to Steve being able to fly down and help us drive one of the cars back, to all the little logistical challenges in between - all of this can only be attributed to God (we certainly didn’t do much to make all of this happen!).

Each remarkable step in this move was just one more example that proved to us when we put our total trust in the Lord and confidently expect Him to take care of things according to His will… we will continue to be amazed and experience a peace and joy that is beyond compare.

We’re still not sure why the Lord wants us here or why He made the move so quick and painless (most things like this aren’t). Maybe it’s to be near family, maybe it’s something else, we just don’t know. But what we both do know is that it feels right and that we’re all very happy.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” Matthew 6:34 (NIV)

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Luke 12:25-26 (NIV)

Dear Lord,
Please forgive us when we fall short in remembering to trust you in all things. So often we “forget to remember” all those times in the past that you guided us through the tough and troubling times in our lives and that You are the answer to any hardship or worry we will ever face. From the many “little problems” in our routine, everyday lives to the “big”, life changing events, let us be reminded that all we have to do is place our full faith and belief in you and, that as long as we “confidently” trust you and are in your will… everything will work out all right. Amen.

Bob & Jenny Matthews