Increasing Trust

Last week I had surgery to repair the meniscus on my right knee. Too many sleepless nights and painful years had taken me to a ‘fork-in-the-road’ of decision that it was time to get it repaired.

Mentally, this surgery recovery time has been difficult for me. No, not more difficult than any of my other surgeries. But it took longer than I thought it would. Part of this was because prior to surgery, my surgeon said that when he had this surgery, the next day he was on a bike.

Cathy jokes that perhaps when he sat on the bike, his wife said to him; "Hey, get back to bed; you shouldn’t be doing that!"

The surgery did go very well and after two days, because I had a lot of meetings and because I didn’t really have any pain, I went back to work.

But at the end of the day, my knee swelled up and made it difficult to walk or be comfortable so I decided that I needed to work from home; which, with technology and a great staff, should have been easy to do.

I say; ‘should have been’ because I really don’t like depending on others to take care of me or to do things for me. And because at work there were many fires that needed my attention and I was stuck trying to run the world laying in a bed in one of our guest rooms with my leg packed in ice and propped up as I tried to let my body heal.

And, to make matters worse, a squirrel was outside chewing on the soffits just outside the bedroom I was in! I knew how quickly a squirrel could damage a house and my mind went crash!

I wanted to let the staff try to do their jobs, but in-between emails, texts, and phone calls, I had way too much time on my hands to think and mentally get off track.

So, as I lay here writing this, I must admit I don't trust God as much as I think I do. Oh, I have trust for others, but I still look to myself to get stuff done. I trust my ability to work and my brains to complete tasks. But, my trust is really in me; not in God.

This was driven home to me when a coworker sent an email to me that said; "Tom, will you stop playing superman and take the rest and time necessary for your body to heal, please?!"

As I pondered his words, I thought about the theme message for our church.

Every year at church we have a theme message as a way to get some direction as to where we believe God is leading us as a congregation. Some of the themes in the past have been "joy", "simple devotion", and "thriving".

The theme is then woven into messages throughout the year sort of an anchor cornerstone for reference to what "prophetically "the Lord is saying to us as a congregation. Occasionally, I will hear that other congregations have the same or similar theme for their church as our church does… which makes me sit up and ponder what He is saying to the larger Body of Christ.

This year our theme is; “A Year of Increasing Trust”.

When I first heard of the theme I didn't think about it because I think that I do trust God…which basically means: ‘confident expectation of something or someone; hope, to rely upon’. 

He has been faithful over and over and over again. He has been our provider and confidant. He has proven David’s words from Psalm 37:25 which says; “Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.”

But the theme is trust that is “increasing” which basically means: ‘to make greater, as in number, size, strength, or quality; enlarging; augmenting’.

This is about increasing trust in HIM for: finances, healing, others to do the work that I need to get done, in the team in my life.

Even as I write this I think about all the other times I've had surgery and wondered when I would be able to run the world all by myself again. I thought about when I wondered when my hands would finally be able to work again, when my ankle would finally work again, when my shoulder finally work again. Today all of them work excellently.

Do I trust that God's presence is enough? What has God promised? What is the problem for you personally? What has He promised us as His children? What is the potential? What are the problems, giants, walls? How do we discover and obey God’s strategy?

What can I do to increase and trust? How will I study, meditate on, and obey God's word? What will I pray against? Say, "I trust you Jesus”; and then ask.

No, this was a new opportunity for me to trust God for everything.

Let me say that again: everything!

He wants ME to INCREASE in my trust in Him. To look to Him. To believe Him.

He doesn't want me just talking about who He is and what He can do for others.

He wants me to simply trust Him to increase my trust in Him.

Trust Him that He will do the work.

Trust that He will bring the increase and show His faithfulness once again.

“God answer you on the day you crash,

The name God-of-Jacob put you out of harm’s reach,

Send reinforcements from Holy Hill,

Dispatch from Zion fresh supplies,

Exclaim over your offerings,

Celebrate your sacrifices,

Give you what your heart desires,

Accomplish your plans.” (Psalm 20:1-4 MSG)

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson