PASTOR’S CORNER

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 It’s January 2024! A New Year! So why does it seem like everything is still the same? Why does it seem like all we face is problems? Who can I trust? It seems like people that I want to trust let me down. Is there anyone out there I can trust?

I’m wondering today, if anything I wrote above ever bounces around in your mind? Have you put your trust in someone only to be let down? Unfortunately, most of us from time to time would answer both of those questions with a resounding yes. Some of us have trusted our spouse or been in a relationship with someone only to find out that they were untrustworthy and had our hearts broken. Some of us have been working for someone that we put our trust in only to find out they didn’t care for us and were using us. Some of us have voted for someone in the past hoping that they would change the future of our community or country only to come to the conclusion that they just simply wanted our vote. And now, here we are in an election year once again!!!! So what do we do?

The wisest man who ever walked this planet gave us some advice long ago that would help us with these questions. Who should we trust? He said Trust in the Lord! And not just a little, but with All your heart! The only one that really deserves trust from us with all of our hearts is the one who created us, and who is always true to His Word! Always! God’s promises are the only promises that we can truly trust. Now you may say, “wait a minute, I’m not sure I believe that.” Well, all I can tell you is that from the beginning of creation, when God said something, He meant it, and it has been that way always. He never changes and He never will! Something else that is important here is that you need to know or trust that God loves you! He always has and He always will, PERIOD. You can trust that! You can’t do anything to make God love you more, nor can you do anything to make Him love you less. With all of my heart I believe this, or I trust this truth. That’s why I can say I try to trust Him with all of my heart.

Now there are some things I battle with because I don’t understand the way God works and when that happens you might say I begin to lose trust. We do that in all of our relationships with people as well. When we can’t see what we expect to see from those we are in relationship with, we begin to lose trust. Sometimes we do that with God, but Solomon counseled us even in those times not to lean on our own understanding. Well, if I don’t lean on my own understanding where do I lean? Answer, you lean into the promises of God found in His word, and continue to acknowledge Him, and eventually, He will make your paths straight or show you He is trustworthy and always upholds his promises.

So for the beginning of this year, I just want to give you a simple word of advice that will help you even if you are going through difficult times: Trust in the Lord with all of your heart! If you can’t trust Him with all of your heart just yet, trust Him with as much as you can, and continue to seek Him and learn from Him, and He will show you that He (the Lord Jesus Christ) is really the only one worthy of all of our trust! I hope you have a Happy New Year!!

(Editor’s Note: This column is written by a different Littlefield pastor for the Leader-News each week. The columns are published on this page on Wednesdays.)