Post By: Samantha Ho
I can't.
"What do you mean you can't?" the little logical, rational person inside my head asks me.
I can't do it; it's too much. I can't handle it. I can't get over it. I can't do this by myself. I can't make things right; I can't correct my wrongs. I can't try any harder. I just can't.
"Trust God."
I don't even know what that means anymore.
Defeat and confusion are common places to be at when you're fed up and completely out of energy. Those early mornings where your body wakes up before your mind does and you sleepily stumble into a wall...and then another wall...trying to get to the bathroom, you start to wonder why you're even doing this. Why are you painfully putting yourself through another day of this? I might not know what your hardship is, but if it's anything like what I've seen in this generation as we attempt to "adult,” I know it’s not easy.
Trust God
What does this mean?
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV)
Do not lean on your own understanding. It makes sense, right? If God is God and we are merely human, we should be trusting in Him who is omniscient and omnipotent. Like a parent to a young child, He knows what is best for us. Yet we still cannot come to God with open hands and trusting hearts, believing that whatever situation we are in, or the outcome that awaits us will be good in God's eyes. It's not that we don't want to trust God, we just...can't.
There is No Other
Perhaps we're afraid, or we have little faith. Or perhaps we don't quite understand who God is, at least not enough for us to entrust our lives to Him. In the book of Isaiah God speaks directly to Israel, and although He is furious with their rebellion and idolatry, He reminds them of who He is. Maybe we need the same reminder so that we can let go of trusting in our own strength, and learn how to put our trust in God who created us.
1) God is the beginning and the end. There is none like Him.
He wasn't just there in the beginning, He is the beginning. He challenges them to find a god like Him--but of course they can't, because there isn't one like Him. There isn't anything like God or anything close to Him. He is powerful, wise, just, and faithful. He is the Creator, and His creation is unmatched in its creativity, originality, functionality, and beauty.
Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. (Isaiah 44:6-7 ESV)
For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:18 ESV)
2) God made all things. He made you, the heavens, and the earth.
If He made it, what makes you think He doesn't have control over it? If He made you, don't you think He can sustain you?
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, (Isaiah 44:24 ESV)
Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: “Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands? I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. (Isaiah 45:11-12 ESV)
3) God loves you. And He will continue to love you.
He promises to redeem mankind because He both relentlessly loves you and is forever faithful. God doesn’t just tell us that we are loved, He shows us through the life and death of Jesus Christ.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior... Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. (Isaiah 43:1-4 ESV)
For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10 ESV)
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25 ESV)
In our weakness, we say “I can’t,” but thankfully we have a God who says “I can”. Our trust in Him doesn’t mean we’ll get what we want, or have things go our way. It doesn’t even mean that we won’t experience pain and discomfort. But it does mean that we can experience true rest and peace knowing that God, this God who makes no mistakes and is in complete control, loves us.
“God is God, and since he is God, he is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere else but in his will, and that will is necessarily infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to” (Elisabeth Elliot). The only place you're safe is in the will of God. But because he’s God and you’re not, the will of God is necessarily, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond your largest notions of what he is up to. Is he safe? “Of course he’s not safe. Who said anything about being safe? But he’s good. He’s the King” (Elisabeth Elliot). - Jesus the King by Tim Keller
Sam is a lover of Jesus, working as a strategic planner by day, and a graphic designer by night. Running off of chocolate, Sam loves to spend her time savoring the intricacies of life with others, immersing herself in words, art, and plenty of good food. She has witnessed the strengths and weaknesses of the Asian American church, and has a heart to help build up this generation to be strong in faith and equipped with Truth and Grace. Her ultimate aim is to encourage others to love and cherish Christ even more.