Trusting in the Unknown
“For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.” (Psalm 139:13-16, NIV)
In the past couple weeks of seeking the Lord in my own time, He has revealed a huge truth bomb to me that I want to share with you today. First off, let’s be real and honest. We are selfish and needy creatures. I mean, praise God that He puts up with us, but we are a generation and a people that always wants more. We are constantly full of excuses and needs. Enough will never be enough. It could be anything; we could want more success, more money, more friends, a relationship... whatever it is. Whether it’s material or immaterial, we find ourselves crawling through this life feeling lifeless because we don’t know what true satisfaction is apart from what the world dictates to us.
Now, I am not trying to make you feel bad about yourself this morning– and if you are feeling convicted that’s a good thing– but I am saying that even as Christians, we find ourselves in this “I need” cycle. We justify our wants by calling them needs and rather than chasing after God, we chase after our desires. These desires could even be reading our Bible more or getting more involved in our church, but if we aren’t genuine and instead do these things for our own self-promotion, then we are just as worldly as people that deny the name of Jesus.
My main point here is this: God never leaves us wanting or searching. We do that to ourselves. His will is that you live in His perfect plan for your life and realize that He is your ultimate provider. There is nothing that you can do for yourself and take full credit for when God is in the picture. Ultimately, He knows the desires of your heart. He knows where you are and in each and every moment, He is leading you. When you feel like you are tirelessly trying to obtain something, you are most likely doing it outside the will of God or without Him by your side.
It says in our key verse that there is no secret about you that God doesn’t know. He knows your deepest hurts, your happiest moments, your weird talents, your fears, and your passions. He loves each and every part of you. If you ever feel unloved remember that the maker of the entire universe knew you before He even formed you and He loves you with such an immense love that the world can’t even grasp it. He is with you in each and every moment, urging you to take heart and understand that He is working out everything for your good.
I think that one of the hardest things to do in our faith is to trust in the unknown. Each and every time I have to do this, (which feels like more often than not) it’s a whole new challenge for me. We naturally would rather have the answers to what is coming next rather than anticipate the moments blindly, right? But if that was the case, there would be no need for faith, and our relationship with God wouldn’t be able to reach the heights that it does, because the deep bond of trust would be absent.
God has a plan and a purpose for everything, and more often than not, we live our lives in a fake gospel, embracing what we love and denying the truths we don’t want to obey. God is alive and he is with you! He is ready to walk you through the true gospel and He is crying out to you asking you to stop searching for unfulfilling things. When we are searching and wanting we are denying the fact that God is offering us opportunities, things, and people full of much more value. We are saying no to becoming the best version of ourselves that we can be. Growth does not come through self-preservation or interest, it comes through unfailing trust in the Savior.
Psalm 139 continues to say in verses 17 and 18 “God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is! If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with you.”
In this, we can’t even come close to understanding how vast God’s very thoughts towards us are. Each grain of sand on the beach represents just one thought God has had about you. Even with all the grains of sand on the beach, His thoughts towards you still outnumber all of them! Since we know that God is thinking about each of us this much and we know His love is unconditional, we can then conclude that He cares for us in a precious and personal way. Stop wearing yourself out searching for satisfaction and purpose in things that don’t have that same love for you!
Just imagine this: A man is going on interviews for a job and he is offered a position with great benefits, vacation time, a good salary, and everything he could want or need. Yet, he passes it up because it’s not exactly what he is looking for. He spends the next couple of months looking for a job, unsatisfied in his search because he passed up what was meant for him. That is us! This is what we do when we chase after what we think is right, instead of trusting in what God wants to give us.
Life is scary and decisions are intimidating, but stop wandering off into places and situations that God hasn’t called you into. We often set ourselves up for disaster by thinking we can handle life on our own, and that’s when God swoops in to our rescue. God does not call us to overthink, stress or run through our days. He calls us to rest in the truth that He has a plan and purpose for our lives, and that His grace is sufficient in everything!
You are loved and adored this morning more than you will ever understand. Stop searching and wanting meaningless things. Instead look up to your guide, the lover of your soul, right in front of you and give Him the desires of your heart. He will lead you.
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 NIV
