In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as he stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine-
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

I recently presented a lesson to the youth about trusting God. I must say it was a huge reminder to me as I was preparing the lesson to trust God with everything. This song is also a reminder that the battle is already won. Every part of that lesson for the youth that morning caused me to take a long hard look at what I actually trust God with. It was almost as though God was speaking directly to me the entire morning trying to get my attention about this anxiety thing. If I am anxious then I am not trusting Him. Yikes!

It is easy to trust God with the good stuff. It is when life gets tough that we don’t want to trust Him because we don’t know how it will turn out. So, we take charge and make things happen the way we think they should. God asks us to trust Him with everything, but when we can’t see how in the world things will turn out for OUR good we say, “Not today, God! Not today.” Not literally of course, but by taking charge instead of letting God, we may as well say those words. Trusting that going through a valley may be best for us is hard to do. Valleys aren’t fun and none of us goes willingly. If we were asked if we trusted God our immediate response would be, “Yes, of course!” However, in our culture we can be pretty self sufficient. For the most part we can go through life not having to trust God with everything because we don’t feel that we need to. A verse in this song says, “Jesus, commands my destiny” Why then, if He commands our destiny, do we spend even a single moment fretting and trying to control things? Why don’t we trust that, as a child of God, He will take care of us even if taking care of us looks different than we want? The very first verse in this song says, “In Christ alone my hope is found.” Isn’t that a comforting statement? Our hope is not found in the things of this world. Our hope is found in Christ alone. I think trusting God with everything takes daily practice. We have to pray every day and spend a great deal of time in His word before we really trust God with our whole heart and that includes trusting Him with our loved ones. Rick Warren recently posted this, “On our planet everything is broken and pain and heartache are everywhere. Fortunately, it isn’t the end of our story.” God has never made a promise that He has broken or not followed through with. He promises if we trust Him He will make our ways straight. Let’s trust Him not because it is easy, but because He has promised to take care of us and God never breaks His promises. My prayer is that we commit to trusting God with every moment of today. Practice makes perfect, right?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6

Prayer

Loving God, sometimes life gets hard. Help us in those moments and the valleys of life to trust You. My prayer is that we trust You with our whole hearts. I pray that we follow You in blind faith not knowing what the future holds, but trusting that because You do, we will be taken care of. In Your Most Precious Name, Amen.