• Choosing Trust

    By: Kristen L. McNulty



    If you're anything like myself, you've spent many a night tossing and turning while worrying about the cares of this life. Worrying about finances, decisions, the direction of your life, the list goes on and on.

    It seems like we can bury these thoughts during the busyness of the day, but at night time they come to the surface and continue to circle in our minds, refusing to leave.

    How will I pay the bills? What will I do about my job? How can I solve that conflict? When will she get better? The unanswered questions swirl in our minds.

    I've read many articles with tons of suggestions about what to do when this happens. Sit up and write things down. Meditate. Read. Talk to someone. And while there is nothing wrong with any of these things, I've found that they are only covering up the symptoms, not removing the source.

    The truth is the majority of our worries in life come down to one thing: a lack of trust. If we truly trusted that God's plans are good and that He only does what is absolutely necessary, we wouldn't worry. But since we don't fully trust, we do tend to worry. Worry isn't so much a bad habit as it is a frame of mind.

    Proverbs 19:21 says: "You can make many plans, but the Lord's purposes will prevail." While Proverbs 20:24 goes on to say: "How can we understand the road we travel? It is the Lord who directs our steps."

    When we come to embrace the fact that God has designed every twist and turn in the road of our lives as truth, that's the first step in our struggle with worry. Why? Because we realize that He's in charge, we also realize that He's more than capable of handling any problem that comes our way.

    But the second step in the equation is more difficult. And that is the one where we understand and trust that God's plans are good. Many of us don't and that is where our worrying comes in. We acknowledge that He is in control, but somewhere deep down inside, we question if He truly has our best intentions in mind. But until we realize and embrace the goodness of our heavenly Father, we will always struggle with worry because we will always question the goodness of any possible outcome.

    So how do we embrace the goodness of God? That comes with recalling what He has done in the past, whether it's an answer to prayer or the way He has directed our paths. All too often we forget the ways in which He has worked in our lives. Embracing the goodness of God also happens when we get to know His character through His Holy Word. By reading the Bible and familiarizing ourselves with the way He has worked in the past, that comforts us in the present.

    The truth is, God is a God of goodness, love, and justice. Like a loving father, He guides our lives with wisdom and when we are guided by that wisdom and when we trust in that love, there is no room for worry to fester.

    Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.

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