Trust = Worship

In my life, I have considered many things forms of worship.  For instance, I like to worship God in song, writing, speaking, praying, etc.  Many people like to use their artistic talents to worship Him as well.  I've known many people who play an instrument, draw pictures, paint portraits, and dance in the name of the Lord.  There are SO many ways to worship God.  But what does all that worship mean if there is no trust that comes with it?

Recently, I was visiting a local church and something the speaker said has never left my mind. He said, "Trust is the ultimate form of worship."  That was all he said about trust and it was all that was needed to make me ponder.  I had never considered trust to be a form of worship, especially not the "ultimate" form.  Of course, I didn't think much about it before because I thought of it as something you just "do" as a Christian.

If I were to rephrase his statement, I would probably say, "Trust is the root of all worship."  How does anything work if you don't trust your Creator, your Provider, and your Deliverer?  Our first steps as Christians are built on trust: We accept Jesus into our hearts and we are baptized to show the world that we are born again Christians.  

Why even bother taking these steps if we don't trust that we're truly saved?

In Psalm 9:10, the Bible says, "And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee."  As children of God, we will never be forgotten or go unloved.  We have the promise of an eternity in Heaven.  This is why we take those first steps in trusting God.  I always considered these the "fundamentals."  This is the core of my belief system and I don't change it.  It's a constant in my life.

Where do I go wrong?

I'm wrong when I choose action over prayer and meditation (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
I'm wrong when I want to plan my own life (Jeremiah 29:11)
I'm wrong when I say I'm incapable of doing something (Philippians 4:13)

Sadly, I'm guilty of doing all these things on a daily basis... not that my faults get in the way of God's ultimate plan.  God has gone above and beyond to make my life right every time I've tried to mess it up.  God lifted me out of depression.  God made me change my major in college because I was running from my true calling.  He made me transfer colleges so I could have a deeper focus on Him.  He made my best friend the man of my dreams... and then made him my fiance.  I am SO blessed.

I guarantee that a lot of the struggle I had to endure could've been avoided if I had started out with complete trust in God over the situation.  It took that entire journey to see that my trust in God's plan is the key to my success.  It's the reason I can believe everything will be alright even when I feel like my world is falling down.  It's the reason I have hope. 

I said all of that to say this... Our faith is rooted in trust; therefore, our worship is rooted in trust.  

You've seen the work of the Lord.  You've felt Him moving in your life.  There's nothing that should hold us back from giving God every bit of faith we contain.  In Proverbs 3:5-6, it says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways, acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  We have the promise that our God will give us direction when we seek Him first.  

I once sat in a KCU chapel where I was struck by a most profound sentence, which I had to scramble to write down in my notebook.  The preacher said, "There is nobody more appropriate to be the authority over your life than the Author of Life."  God spoke our life into being and He didn't leave us to wander alone.  To think that the God who made EVERYTHING has the time to love me and care about the details of my life is absolutely beyond my comprehension.  

Trust is defined as the "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something."  Trust is the complete surrender of your life to God's will.  Trust is digging down deep within yourself and rehashing all the pain and discontentment in your life and asking God to take it from you.  Trust is revealing your most joyful memories and pleasantries of life and letting God enhance each day with the things you love.  Trust is knowing you're okay no matter what because the God of all creation said He wouldn't leave you.

With this in mind, it's easy to feel the desire to hand over everything in your life that you had withheld from God before.  You give him your pain and the stress, but also the happiness and the blessings.  Everything is His.  But it's a lot more difficult to remember His faithfulness in all aspects of our lives when we are not frequently exposed to His promises.

Expose yourself to His Word.  Get in the Bible.  Make Bible verse sticky notes (refer to my past blog, Surviving College With Your Faith Intact).  Put it out in the open.  Put your trust in Him... Not only the fundamental trust, but the entire give-it-all-to-Him trust.  He is faithful and you will never be forsaken.

Expose yourself to Him.  There are so many excuses as to why you shouldn't talk to God about the most intimate parts of your life..."He already knows."... "That happened so long ago."... "It doesn't matter anymore."  God cares.  He wants to know how you feel and He wants to comfort you.  It doesn't matter what you've done; you will never be too far gone for forgiveness. There is nothing more comforting than knowing that your trust is planted in the One who can once again bring you to a place of peace.

Romans 15:13 states, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."

Putting your trust in Him will fulfill you and give Him total glory for all the plans He has for you.  He's worthy of praise and, most definitely, your trust.  Praise Him with your trust wherever you are in life because there is nobody who could ever love you more.