Dearly beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ. David was lifted up from the state of a shepherd to that of a king. The reason for his blessed state is his trust in the Lord. Because he had the Lord as God in his life, he was exalted more and more in a wonderful way with His protection and peace. His descendants were also thus blessed. That is why the Bible says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord” (Jeremiah 17:7; Prov. 16:20; Psalm 84:12).
Let us examine the blessings of trusting the Lord.
Blessing of Trusting the Lord
1. Deliverance
“Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them.” (Psalm 17:7).
When we trust in Jesus Christ, He protects us from the hands of our enemies. In the life of everyone, there arise people who act against them for no reason. They may be your neighbours, co-workers, some competitor in business or some party. Sometimes they remain unidentified. They arise and spoil the blessing in life, and also deprive you of the pleasures and happiness in your life. To overcome them, you should trust the Lord Jesus Christ. For some, it is evident in the physiques in diseases or in the soul in sorrows and depression. Whatever it might be, you should trust the Lord and lay your burden on Him. He will support and deliver you. This deliverance is what Jesus Christ has already earned on the cross of the Calvary. Dear Brother, whatever may be your enemy – maybe debt, or disease or loss – place your trust on the living God who is mighty, He will deliver you and save you. He is mighty and powerful. He rescues you from natural calamities, diseases, the evil powers or sin and their consequences. Therefore, to be saved from them, let us place our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Refuge
“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe” (Prov. 29:25).
Not only should we be saved from the evil ones, we should remain safe in His protection. This protection is given to us when we remain trusting in Him. In the salvation of the Lord, there is protection too. No one can have protection, as it is being believed, in riches, wisdom, strength or race or anything else. All worldly things or persons cannot sustain us. One of the bodyguards of the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi shot her to death. Many place their trust in persons and things which are never permanent. They spoil themselves. But when our trust is on the Lord Jesus Christ, we have an exalted protection.
Once a few youngsters were having a retreat at Coutrallam to meditate on the Word of the Lord. They stayed near the falls. At that time, a person who had his trust in Jesus Christ was responsible for food. He had made all the preparations and arrangements for food and went to the falls for bath. At that time he slipped and fell into the deep from which no one can escape. Everyone thought that he would have died and they searched for his body. But the Lord God on whom he had trust saved him and made him stand on a rock. The people from the fire station came and took him safe from the rock. The Lord God can give such great protection to you. His nail pierced hands are extended towards you. If you accept this fact and live, you would enjoy His protection as the nest of an eagle on a high rock is protected. Your family would have an exalted protection of the Lord.
3. Prosperity
“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:5).
Trust in worldly things, in one’s own wisdom, on riches and other props in life lead to disaster and disappointments. Ultimately, people blame other persons or the time or fate. Those who trust in the Lord have no defeats. As we surrender and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we find it easy to scale mountains with less effort with His help. He blesses us beyond measure and a hundred times our expectation. Isaac was a man of God who placed his trust in the Lord. He obeyed Him and sowed seeds at a time of famine. It gave a hundred times yield. We read so in the Bible. As we trust less and less in the Lord, the yield or success will also be less. There is no doubt about it. Cultivators sow good seeds; apply proper manure; spray the right pesticides to protect them. Yet the yield is not on the expected lines. Why? Dear child of God, there is a power, a living God, who is in control of everything. He only can bless us.
Once I was invited by a civil engineer who was in charge of construction of buildings in Southern Naval Command. It was the time when the revolution in Sri Lanka was at its height. To watch the activities of the revolutionary forces and their movements in the Indian Ocean in the Bay of Bengal, a building was constructed. There was a big screen to watch the movement of boats there. There was only three days left for the opening of the building. To make it operational the engineers were taking every effort to put in place everything. As they could not complete it, they were highly upset. One of the officials known to me told them that he would invite a person who would pray and everything would be settled. He was a Roman Catholic. Two others belonged to a different faith. They gave permission for prayer. At this juncture, I went to pray. I asked them to believe in the Lord and began to pray for the display on the screen to function as intended. The Lord who hears prayers, heard it. Then they switched on the equipment there and everyone of them began to work properly. They were thrilled. The Lord worked to free them from troubles.
For you to have success in what you do, place your trust in the Lord and pray as Daniel prayed having your full trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You will prosper in what you do. It might be building a house, your family, seeking a job, or healing in the body. It might be financial troubles. Do you feel defeated in all your efforts? Whatever may be your experience in the past, now you place your trust in the Lord, He will make it prosper. Do not trust in your wealth, strength or wisdom. Trust in the Lord alone; He will bring it to pass.
4. Peace
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3).
When we trust in the Lord, we would have peace and happiness in full measure. People in today’s society seek peace elsewhere. As the wife had proved disloyal, the husband takes to drinking and loses not only peace but also health. Some trust their children. As they stumble, they are put to difficulty. In this life on earth, there is only one way to have peace and that is through trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. The man created in the image of God lost his peace when he was cheated by the devil through deceitful words. As man was not loyal to the Lord, curse came upon him. He believed in the words of Satan to pluck the fruit of the forbidden tree and eat it believing it would bring enlightenment. Today place your trust in the Word of the Lord. He has promised us: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you . . .” (Isaiah 51:10). When you trust in Him that He would support you, deliver you and protect you, peace would flow into your life like a river all through. He has left His peace unto you. Just trust in His goodness. Peace will be found in your life permanently and fully.
5. Mercy
“Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.” (Psalm 32:10).
Grace is the mercy or favour shown to an unworthy person. Only because of this grace we are saved from our enemies. “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not” (Lam. 3:22). We should not forget this. You have health, strength, good job, house, and peace. This is only because of His mercy. Are you in any way worthy of them? Let us consider that. If you think, “I have not been faithful in my work; yet I have not been taken to task,” it is only because of the mercy of the Lord. You are unworthy of His mercy. This is the period of grace given to you, so that you may repent and live righteously and faithfully to the Lord. You would have His grace when you commit to live faithfully trusting the Lord. If this mercy should last upon you in all situations of your life, place your trust in Him and commit to live faithfully. This trust should only be upon the Lord so that this mercy encamps around you at all times. We live in a world where so many unseen evil forces are at work. Is it not the mercy of the Lord to be protected from them all? For this mercy to abound and to encamp around you, trust in the Lord.
6. Prosperity
“He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered.” (Proverbs 28:25).
Are you today in a life of depression? For you to enjoy success, for you to be redeemed and for you to have success, place your trust in the Lord. For strength, some believe in good diet. Some believe in worldly objects to have peace and joy. But these riches and wealth would disappear in no time. The Lord alone lives forever. He alone provides us with peace, happiness, health and prosperity and protection. All good things come from Him. Through Him alone we are blessed. Isaac placed his trust in the Lord. He became rich, prospered in all that he did, multiplied and became great. This is written for us to place our trust in the Lord. Let us also rely on Him and be blessed. Whoever places his trust in the Lord is made righteous in the Lord and He makes his life flourish. The Bible tells us: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon” (Psalm 92:12). As we trust in the Lord, in His Word and His Might, and begin to live in Him, we would prosper and flourish. In all our lives there is the practice of borrowing and it is easy for us. The Lord has promised us to bless us in such a way that we would not borrow; yet we distrust Him and His word and borrow. This results in our earning going in vain.
I was in the habit of borrowing before I accepted the Lord in my life. I had borrowed from all my colleagues. I had taken loan in my Provident Fund account. But the day I accepted Jesus Christ and gave room for living according to His word, I stopped borrowing. I began to pray for settling the loans and the amounts borrowed from others. The Lord worked on my behalf mightily and helped me settle them. The Lord made me prosper. Even though I earned little, it was enough for me and there was always an amount left. As the Lord blessed fives loaves of bread and two fish, and there was excess, so was the case with me. I could settle my debt in a matter of six months in instalments. I could settle them and refrained from getting any offering from anyone till I resigned me job. The Lord helped me to receive my salary in full. We would reach a state of prosperity and eminence when we trust the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word.
7. Dominion
“... But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain.” (Isaiah 57:13).
In this world many kingdoms came and disappeared. In Indian political scene also, many leaders appeared and vanished. Everything will pass away. Once a Christian man wanted to file his nomination in an election. He wanted a party to accept his candidature. He came along with his Christian friend for prayer. I told him the word of the Lord that he would get the party’s support and would get elected and become a minister. As said, he contested in the election, had victory and was made a minister. He was excited. He was happy that he was chosen to be a minister. But that government did not last long. The authority he had was short-lived. But the authority that we exercise is permanent.
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem and besieged the city. He took the good youth of the land as captives and took them to his country. Thus were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, taken there. But they trusted in the Lord and were careful not to be tainted by the food given to them. They had the wisdom given by the Lord and were able to learn the letters and language of the Chaldeans. They were worshippers of the Lord and therefore would not worship the golden statue set up by the king. The king became furious. He threatened to throw them into the furnace fire. But they were not afraid; they said that the Lord God would deliver them from the hand of the king. Even if He did not do that, they would not worship the statue. So, the king ordered the fire to be increased seven times. The three young men were bound and thrown into the fire. Those who took them to the fire were burned by it, but these three were found strolling in the midst of the fire along with another person who had the image of the Son of God. The king observed that and was astonished and called them out. They were not hurt by the fire in any way. “Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!” (Dan. 3:28). Then, the king made them men of authority in the land.
Those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will inherit the kingdom of the Lord and would enjoy authority there. That kingdom is a place of love, peace, and eternal joy. There is no place for weeping, tears, sorrows, jealousy, deceit, or agony. We would inherit the goodness of the land and would become worthy to enjoy authority there.
If you accept Jesus Christ who took the form of man in flesh and went about doing good, and became an atoning sacrifice for the sins of this world on the wretched cross, and believe in Him, you will be redeemed from all afflictions and will inherit the blessing of peace and happiness and protection by the grace of the Lord.
May the Lord bless us!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.