Trusting God One Step at a Time

Lately, my husband has become a weekend “tinkerer”. I thought he would appreciate having his tools near him on the carport, so he would not have to go in and out of our house. Also, his tools were taking up needed space in our already cramped utility room, so yes, a little selfish motivation on my part!

While he was out of town, I decided to surprise him with a new tool cabinet.

Little did I know, assembling a cabinet would require trusting God one step at a time.

Trusting God When Things Change

 When my husband left town, life suddenly got crazy! It started with my work days being a little longer because I was in the middle of a non-profit fundraiser, no problem, we would just do pizza for dinner.

But then a sick kid, some unexpected home repair issues, and a few other events as well. We also experienced the death of a family member.

It was one of those weeks where I was like, “What’s Next? “. I had a heavy heart, but sometimes you have to push through a crisis because stuff happens and life goes on.

I was somewhat relieved when I got a call that the cabinet was in, and I could pick it up; kind of glad to have a project to take my mind off of all the “other stuff”.

I went to the store and had the unassembled cabinet loaded in my car, and thought, I’m good to go!

When I got home, I put on some worship music and decided to get started.

1st clue that this project was going to be a challenge is I couldn’t get the box out of my car! Thinking through the problem, I decided to open the box and remove contents from my car piece by piece.

It reminded me that in life trusting God when things change, requires us to stop and think, break the problem into smaller pieces and adapt.

Trusting God When it is Hard

 Once I had the parts and pieces of the cabinet laid out, they took over my entire carport. I was immediately overwhelmed and filled a sense of being out of my league!

When I grabbed the instruction manual, a bag of 1000 screws ripped and went all over the place.

I started to cry.

I looked at the mess from the cabinet and the pieces everywhere and felt this is how my life looks at that current moment.

Parts and pieces, unfinished, uncertain, and in chaos.   I remember hearing the song “Build my Life” by Pat Barrett playing, and the part where he sings :

“And I will build my life upon your love it is a firm foundation

And I will put my trust in you alone And I will not be shaken”

The words of the song hit me hard. I was letting the storms I was dealing with shake me, and was not trusting God. That’s just it, I was trying to tackle my problems alone and not giving them to God.

That’s why I was so overwhelmed!

Trusting God when it is hard instead of relying on our own strength, causes our faith to grow and peace to come.

Trusting God One Step at a Time

I dried my tears and decided I was going to finish this project (actually, I really HAD to). I couldn’t leave the pieces all over the place.

I started with step 1 and continued step by step. Listening to worship music and praising God.

In the midst of working on this project, God showed me an amazing analogy of how we can build our lives.

Much like the cabinet, in life, there are steps to follow for the project of our identity to be completed. You can’t skip steps or go out of order because things won’t fit right. If you try, you will have to “do it over”.

It’s also helpful when instruction manuals give you a picture of the completed project. I found myself focusing on the picture and not thinking too much about the hundred steps to get there.

I embraced each step, one by one. Three hours later the project was complete and I was refreshed and renewed!

My heart was full because I realized trusting God one step at a time is liberating. I had peace knowing He was handling every part and piece in my life!

Bible Verses About Trusting God

God gave us an instruction book for our lives…the Bible. We get the steps and the final picture which is Eternity with Him! Here are 4 Bible verses about trusting God that have helped me:

1. Psalm 62:8

“Trust in him at all times, oh people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”

The Good News:  It’s easy to trust God when things are going well, but we must believe in Him at all times good or bad. He will be there for us through it all.

2. Proverbs 29:25

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.”

The Good News:  We can easily get entrapped by our own fears. But when things seem like too much to handle, we only need to turn to God to remember that we are safe in His hands.

3. Psalm 37:5

“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.”

The Good News:  God is waiting for us to trust Him so He can guide us forward and act with our best interests in mind.

4. Psalm 28:7

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song, I give thanks to him.”

The Good News:  When we put our faith in God, He will find ways to return that trust. He will guide us and protect us.

If you need help trusting God and your life feels like parts and pieces or in chaos, take the 1st step and read your Bible today.

When we stick to the Bible, the best manual ever written, it is easier to focus on the completed project of the you God has in mind.