ESOCS Devotional 25 April 2021
TEXT: ISAIAH 26:1-9
MEMORY VERSE: “Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” Isaiah 26:4 KJV
Trust has an element of hope. It points in the direction of God and tells us that there is hope in that direction. It has an element of confidence. It reminds us that God is faithful and that we can count on Him. It has an element of rest. When we trust, we don’t have to fret and worry; but we can rest knowing that though there may appear to be turmoil, we can be at rest because of whom we trust. In which areas can we have this hope, this confidence, and this rest? In areas of our salvation, assurance, and life
We can trust that God has accomplished salvation. The gospel story is a wonderful story of God’s actions. It was God who took the initiative to redeem us when we were utterly lost. Disobedience to God had broken our relationship with Him, and resulted in a separation from Him, called spiritual death. God took the initiative to raise Jesus from the dead in order that we also can receive eternal life. This was God’s great gift to us.
A second important area in which we are called to trust in the Lord is in the confidence that having begun with Him and having received salvation, we can have hope that He will keep us and bring us to the eternal life, which He has promised. To trust in the Lord is to live with assurance and to be able to rest in the confidence of God’s promises of forgiveness and eternal salvation.
If we trust in the Lord for salvation and live with the assurance we can have because of the grace of God, then, we can also go through life with trust in God. Life often throws us many challenges. We expect certain things; but instead, we need to face things that are not only unexpected, but hard for us to deal with. Yet, if we know that God has demonstrated such love for us that He sent Jesus, we know that we can also live with trust in Him in all the rest of life.
The degree to which we will enjoy God’s perfect peace is a function of how much we trust in the Lord. So, let me offer some reasons why it is worth it to trust God:
- He is powerful enough to be trusted; in Him is everlasting strength (Isaiah 26:4); powerful enough to create the Heavens and the earth, and nothing is impossible or too difficult for Him (Jeremiah 32:17; Matthew 19:26).
- He is reliable enough to be trusted; always going with us and will never fail us (Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 21:45).
- He loves us enough and is committed to us enough to be trusted; so much so that He went even as far as dying on the cross, just for us (John 3:16, Philippians 2:4-8).
For us to always enjoy His perfect peace, God is calling us into this powerful commitment. And so, I encourage you today – trust in the Lord forever.
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
CHALLENGES
Do you have difficulty in trusting God? What hinders your ability to trust in God?
PRAYER POINT
Ask God to help you trust Him with all your heart, mind, and soul forever.
FURTHER READING: Proverbs 3:5-6; Jeremiah 17:7–8
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ESOCS Devotional 25 April 2021
