What are you trusting in?

This is a question God asked me in one of my quiet moments in the Bible earlier this week. He said, “Erick, where is your trust? What are you hoping in?” I had to admit that I was trusting in results. I was hoping in the positive effects of what my efforts were going to produce in my ministry.

We’ve all done this from time to time. Found ourselves hoping for an A on a test. Putting our trust in a client’s decision to go with your company. Putting our hope and trust in the end result. In the end, just hoping all the work we put in would be enough.

The truth I’ve been discovering is that the final outcome isn’t where we should be putting our focus. But rather instead, put our focus on our actions and then in turn, put our hope and trust in God for the results.

As Christ followers, we are called to put our hands to the plow and never look back (Luke 9:62). Now this metaphor is somewhat lost on our American culture today; but, when a farmer would put his hands to the plow, he was guiding it along as the horse, ox or other sizable animal pulled the plow. You couldn’t look too far ahead because the animal would be obstructing your view, but you had to at least know where you were. You needed to be looking and making sure the plow was straight and uniform. You had to make sure it was on track. And looking back, why would you even do that?

That’s the lesson I get from Jesus in saying that. He’s saying, “Hey, if you’re going to start this (a relationship with me), you better mean it. You better understand that this is going to require all of you. All of your focus, attention, strength, will and everything else. This is going to require all of who you are. And then, when that’s not enough, because it won’t be, I’ll be there to help you and make sure you make it through.”

When we’re children it was a no-brainer to put our trust in our parents as we learned how to ride a bike or drive a car. We knew our parents wouldn’t let us try this if they didn’t believe we’d be alright. That moment is an everyday occurrence walking with God. God’s just waiting for us to realize that we need to put our trust in Him.

Every so often we have to take a step back and ask our selves, “what are we trusting in?”