Learning to Trust God

One of the challenges of the Christian life is learning to trust God. And nothing teaches us better to put our trust and faith in God than being between a rock and a hard place. 

Last November I found myself in just such a spot. From November 2011 to November 2012 New Day grew by almost 200 people and though I needed to hire more full-time staff we didn't have the finances to do so. Imagine a restaurant owner increasing his customer base by 200 people a week but not having the money to hire more cooks and wait staff. That's something like the situation I was in. During that time, I wrote a blog called “Fertile Soil for a Miracle”, because as I’ve followed God and read my Bible I’ve learned that He specializes in impossible situations. In that post I wrote “...I'd be overwhelmed and stressed out if I thought New Day was my church, but I'm under no such disillusion. Our church belongs to Jesus and this is his problem to solve. And I'm so excited to see how He's going to do it...Circumstances such as these are fertile soil for a miracle!!!” 

Since there was no provision to my left or my right, in front of me or behind me I looked UP and put my trust in God. At about the same time I wrote the blog God led me to begin considering the question "What would I do with $100,000?" That is, if someone blessed New Day with $100,000 what would I do with it? I wrote the question down in the notes section of my iPhone. Well wouldn't you know that only three weeks after writing the blog, someone who knew nothing of our staffing needs walked into my office and handed me a check for nearly $150,000!!! I've learned that it's between a rock and hard that we learn to trust in God. Now, it might not always be fun to wait on God's provision, but it sure is fun once he provides!!! 

In Exodus 14 we find Moses and the Israelites between their own rock and hard place. Let me paint the picture...God has just used ten plagues to convince Pharaoh to let his people go so the Israelites are heading out of Egypt toward the Promised Land. As they approach the Red Sea Pharaoh changes his mind and sends the whole Egyptian army after them. The Israelites find themselves trapped. On their right and left are impossible to climb mountains, in front of them is an impossible to cross Red Sea and behind them is an impossible to defeat Egyptian army. Talk about being between a rock and hard place! 

Since there was no provision to the right or left, in front or behind, the Israelites looked UP and cried out to God. But as the Egyptian army drew nearer they stopped trusting in God and started yelling at Moses. The Bible tells us in Exodus 14:13 that "Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” And that's exactly what happened. As a result the Bible records in Exodus 14:31, "...when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him..." It was between a rock and hard place Moses and the Israelites learned to trust in God. And the same is true for us! 

Maybe you find yourself today between a rock and a hard place in your finances, or at work, or in your marriage, or with your kids...Though the circumstances may vary from person to person, they all serve the same purpose: to teach us to put our trust in God. So the next time you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, remember this: It's not to ruin you, but to refine you. Not to punish you, but to prepare you for the glorious future he has for you!!