When life happens, when situations arise, when things don’t turn out as planned, we have the opportunity to walk in, exercise, and utilize the faith and trust we say we have in God. We don’t understand the situation, we don’t like the situation, we wish the situation would suddenly change and get better – but in the midst of it all, we must be mindful about the words we speak, the actions we take, and the stance we take as we await the change to occur. As long as we live, there will be challenges. We can perfect our faith walk as we go and meet each challenge head on, knowing that the Father hears, cares, and knows where I am and what I’m facing.

I remember many years ago, praying, wishing, hoping that things would change. I read my Bible, I prayed, I listened to excellent teachers of God’s Word; I took notes, I studied my notes, I had all kinds of Bibles and commentaries that I used for cross-reference… I did all I knew to do. One day, in the kitchen, I simply raised my hands and said, “Lord, I don’t understand; but I do know that I love you and I trust you!” There was such a release, and seemingly such empowerment that took place — yet the situation had not changed! So what happened? The choice was made to stand on all of that Word I’d been listening to, reading, studying, and praying and to do what? TRUST GOD!!! Professing my love for Him in the middle of the storm and confessing that I trusted Him released me to raise my expectation that things would turn out fine. My trust for Him was based on the fact that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that He loved me; because He loved me my prayers were heard and He would take care of the situation. I made the choice to praise Him while I was going through, rather than rehearse the problem, lament over the situation, or complain about what was going on.

Today I look at these situations as opportunities to walk out what I know. We should become like David. When he faced Goliath, he didn’t flinch, but rather was propelled on to victory as he reflected on times when God’s protection, intervention, and strength compelled him on to victory. He thought about the lion and the bear — two different situations where God’s strength rose in him and he was able to defeat the enemy supernaturally. What do you do? Do you reflect upon and acknowledge past occurrences of God’s goodness, grace, favor, and power as reference points when you face new challenges? As we go through trials we can get stronger IF we allow God to use those situations for His glory. Because of the past situations in which victory was wrought, I can rest assured that the things I am facing even today will be resolved and I will have even more weapons of evidence of His strength and power as I continue on my life path.

Life happens. Everything isn’t always going to go as smoothly as we’d like. But the fact that the God I serve is never surprised, never blindsided, and will never forsake His child provides a solid base on which I can stand knowing that victory is mine. There may be times when the trust factor has to kick in on an even greater level because the outcome may not appear to be “victory” as we would imagine it. Knowing that God has my best interest at heart… knowing that He knows the end from the beginning… and knowing that He is always there to walk with me, every step of the way helps me be much more open to listen, hear, and obey as I walk out the path that is laid before me.

Yes, thirty years or more ago I stood in that kitchen as a young stay-at-home mom wondering how things would turn out in the challenges we faced. I had been reading about David and realized that even in the worst situations, though he’d state what he was dealing with, the overwhelming theme was that he KNEW that he would be rescued, delivered, brought out of it by God. I chose that day to raise my hands, turn my face towards heaven, and declare, “Lord, I don’t understand; but I do know that I love you and I trust you!” Today, I choose to do the same. What are you going to do? Choose to trust God, knowing that the Lord is with you!

1 Samuel 17:32-37 (AMP)

32 David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of this Philistine; your servant will go out and fight with him.
33 And Saul said to David, You are not able to go to fight against this Philistine. You are only an adolescent, and he has been a warrior from his youth.
34 And David said to Saul, Your servant kept his father’s sheep. And when there came a lion or again a bear and took a lamb out of the flock,
35 I went out after it and smote it and delivered the lamb out of its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard and smote it and killed it.
36 Your servant killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God!
37 David said, The Lord Who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord be with you!