How To Trust God

January 29, 2012 By

Have you ever wondered about this verse?

“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  Matthew 17:20

Faith as small as a mustard seedmustard flower

I have been a Christian for a long time and I recently realized that there are some verses that puzzle me, but I don’t ask questions.  I just keep plugging along in my Christian walk without asking those questions.  Questions like:

I’m sure I have way more faith than a mustard seed, why can’t I move a mountain?

This week I was reading that verse and I realized to my shock:  I don’t have faith.  Not even as small as a mustard seed.  At least, not in some areas.  Sometimes I:

  • … go to bed hopeless that God can change me, that He can make me a more loving and patient mom.
  • … doubt He will give me the tools I need to understand and discipline my children.
  • … wake up overwhelmed and don’t think I can handle the day ahead.

My mountains of unbelief will not move.  I can’t move them.

But Jesus promises me that if I have faith as small as a mustard seed nothing will be impossible for me.  Mustard seed faith?  It’s really not that much.

Do you have areas where you lack faith?  Matthew Henry says in his commentaries “Faith is compliance with God.”  And not having faith is doubting God.  It seems pretty crazy that I doubt God, but I do.

So how can we begin to be in compliance with God?

  • admit that we’re doubting God and ask him for the faith we need (remember, it only has to be a little, tiny bit!)
  • find some promises from His word that ring true for us.  Promises like:

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19

Because the Lord has anointed me…To console those who mourn in Zion,  To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness”  Isaiah 61:1,3

The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.  Zephaniah 3:17

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  Matthew 7:7-8

  •  memorize those promises and recite them back when we find ourselves “faithless”
  • pray for faith in our specific “faithless” areas and deliberately choose to stop doubting God.   (I can get through today.  I can teach the kids without acting in anger.  I can discipline them according to God’s will…no, I can’t.  Only God can do all that, I can let him!)

Where do you find hope when you lack faith?

photo credit

This post was shared at:
• Homestead Barn Hop
• Soli Deo Gloria
• Domestically Divine
• Gratituesdays
• Titus2sdays
• On Your Heart Tuesdays
• Living Well Wednesdays
• Homemaking Link-Up
• Works for Me Wednesday
• Welcome Wednesdays
• Big Family Fridays

 

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23 Comments | Filed Under: Hope, Parenting, Prayer
About Christy

Christy is the mother of three boys and one girl. She has been known to homeschool, change diapers and potty train simultaneously. She's been married for 8 years to Charlie, a surfer and entrepreneur and lives on the Central Coast of California. Christy's passion is to embrace motherhood as the calling God gave her. In the midst of the hard work mothering requires, she strives for new ways to have a fun outlook on being a mother. She shares her ideas and encouragement at One Fun Mom.

  • Jennifer

    Yes, friend, yes! It’s as though you posted this just for me today.

    • http://www.onefunmom.com Christy

      So glad, Jennifer. It seems He has us connected!

      • Jennifer

        And I’m so glad he does!!

  • Kathy Sykes

    Every year I pick one thing that I am going to actively work on during my Christian walk. Sometimes the “one” thing I pick may take more than one year. One year was tithing appropriately, another was study and apply my Sunday school lessons, and one year was really having FAITH! It is so true that it is a conscious decision to BELIEVE in GOD and it becomes a habit. Just as we BELIEVE that the car will start every morning, we BELIEVE that a chair will hold us, we BELIEVE that a doctor will cure us. Over time, these things have proven to be reliable (even though there are those times when the car doesn’t start, or the chair is wobbly, or the doctor needs more time…..WE STILL BELIEVE). That is the same with GOD. Look back over your life or the life of a witness and see that He has always been reliable (even though there are obtacles now and again and things happen in HIS own time)…..HE IS RELIABLE. Stand on His Word and actively participate in having FAITH and it will become a HABIT!!

    • http://www.onefunmom.com Christy

      Yes, Kathy! I love the reminder to look back over your life to see what He has done! A prayer journal would help with that, too! Thank you for your insight.

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  • Jena

    This was such a blessing for me this morning. Thank you for sharing. This week I am going to start my days off remembering those verses. I’ve been praying that God would move some mountains in my life and just receiving your post, He did.

    • http://www.onefunmom.com Christy

      I’m so glad, Jena. God works in wonderful ways!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Angela-Richter/1632533801 Angela Richter

    I have been there friend, what a beatiful post!

    • http://www.onefunmom.com Christy

      Thank you, Angela! One of the best things I learn through blogging is that I’m not alone!

  • http://myjourneytoauthenticity.com/ Meredith

    Amazing. So amazing.
    I want to remember this one.

  • Missy

    Thank you for this. I’ve been trying to find some purpose for this year…something to focus on. Something to work on. And I think this just might be it. Boy,Your comment after the Matthew Henry quote was a punch in the stomach for me. And that’s exactly what I needed. God’s blessings on you as you follow Him.

    • http://www.onefunmom.com Christy

      Thank you, Missy! Bless you on this year’s journey of trust!

  • Da2hillsmom

    yes, good words my friend.

  • Cmredhead5

    Thanks! I needed to be reminded that raising my children ultimately is up to God. I am always doubting God’s faithfulness in carrying me through.

  • Andrea

    I’ve been learning that in the things I most need to trust Him in, if I just keep my eyes focused on His face that trust comes so much more easily. He supplies everything else.

  • Emily

    I tend to do the same…avoid the questions and keep plugging along with what I do know. I think he eventually opens us up to them as he did here for you. And as he’ll continue to do.

  • Anonymous

    Great hymns of the faith do wonders for buoying my struggling faith. This last Sunday, we sang “Have Thine Own Way” … or rather, everyone else sang it. I struggled…as the possibility of us not being able to pay for hubby’s prescriptions with this rotten new insurance plan loomed, and the possibility of his not getting his passport in time for our Mexico Mission trip cast a cloud over my head. (Some probably with his citizenship papers.) Then everyone else sang “Count Your Blessings” and “Victory In Jesus.” And all I could say was, “Lord I believe. Help my unbelief.” I’ve finally finished “One Thousand Gifts,” and I’m encouraged and hopeful that this practice will continually remind me that God IS faithful, and He IS trustworthy, and even when it’s hard, He’s working.

    • http://www.onefunmom.com Christy

      I DO love hymns. So much. Many is the time that I have tried to sing while fighting tears when those hymns hit home.

  • Heather

    I have never seen your blog before, but was nursing the baby to sleep and checking out the posts that caught my eye over at the Homestead Barn Hop. Out of nowhere, I was suddenly filled with despair and began praying about why I should have had so much faith earlier in my life, only to find i have so very little now that I’m a mommy and need it most. I was literally tearing up and decided to stop praying as I was only upsetting myself; looked up at the computer monitor and literally saw “How to Trust God!” Oh my goodness. So I read your post, had a good long cry and a long hard prayer. I just wanted to thank you as this was such a blessing, and talk about an instant answer to a prayer I was only half-heartedly praying. God really spoke to me through this post – thank you so much for your faithfulness in writing it!

    • http://www.onefunmom.com Christy

      Oh Heather, thank YOU for the encouragement in your comment. I have been right where you are and am thankful for the computer and blogs, especially when God uses them to bring us moms together.

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  • Melissa B.

    I have been really struggling with this. I want to have faith and I do, in some areas. But I’m also really scared right now. Scared that we won’t make it through this tight spot we’re in financially. Scared I won’t be able to provide for my son growing inside me. Scared of so many things. and it is really, really easy to let myself be overcome with fear and worry. Lately when I get scared and I start crying uncontrollably, I’ve taken to repeating “Our loving God is in control.” It’s not a Bible verse exactly, but it’s all true and it’s short enough for me to remember (I don’t have the best brain for memorizing). It helps me just to repeat it over and over again until I calm down.