“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3

Trust Is Better

We recently passed the 40 months milestone for Floyd’s illness. I know it’s hard for everyone to understand exactly what Floyd’s condition is. One thing to clarify—he’s not in a coma! He is conscious. He recognizes us, he listens attentively most days, he seems to understand, and he often responds in some way to let us know he is tracking with what we are saying. There are, however, some days when he just doesn’t “connect” with us. His attention seems elsewhere. Because he can’t speak to tell us things, we don’t always know what is happening with him. On his good days, he greets us with a big smile.

Shortly before Floyd got sick, the Lord gave him a word about breakthrough. He didn’t understand what it meant, but he knew it was an important word for him. Through his illness, we’ve prayed for that breakthrough. Maybe we’ve seen it, maybe not. Several people have suggested to me some ideas about what it might mean. I’m still not sure, so I keep lifting it to the Lord.

I’ve also mentioned often that I trust the Lord. I trust Him when we don’t see the answers we’d like to our prayers. I trust Him when I don’t understand some of the things we are walking through. I trust Him on good days and on hard days. I trust Him for Floyd’s future—and for mine.

A few weeks ago I was talking with a friend, and he made the statement to me that “trust is better than breakthrough.” Those words grabbed my attention, and I have pondered them in my heart over and over.

There is probably nothing more important in our walk with the Lord than trusting Him—absolute trust, in spite of circumstances, and especially in times when things don’t make sense to our limited understanding. I tell the Lord over and over, many times a day, “I trust you!” The more I say it, the more it becomes a sure anchor in my soul.

But I’m fully aware that trust isn’t always easy. In fact, in our walk with the Lord, I think the enemy does all he can to keep us from trusting God. The enemy tries to sow seeds of distrust continually. He whispers lies into our hearts when we don’t immediately see answers to prayer. He tells us God doesn’t care when our suffering goes on for a long time. On difficult days when we’re overwhelmed, the enemy wants us to believe that we’re on our own.

Trusting God is powerful. It keeps us steadily on course even when everything in our situation tries to pull us away from God. Trust keeps us focused on God’s promises, His provision, His power. Trust takes our eyes off our situation and onto looking at our wonderful, faithful Father. Trust opens our heart to a place where we can receive God’s help.

Trust in God drives away any fear. Trust opens the door for the promises of God to be alive and part of our life each day. Trust gets rid of worry and discouragement. Trust brings strength when we keep our focus on the Lord’s power. I’ve found trust to be one of the main “keys” for helping me persevere on this journey. And trust is something we can all choose!

“Father, we declare that trust is better than breakthrough. Work in our lives to glorify Your name. Amen.”