BY BRANDY DAVENPORT, CO-BLOGGER
It had been one long week. I still couldn’t sleep through the night. Not knowing his blood sugar was the hardest thing for me as a mother. I kept checking to see if his chest was rising and falling, then every two hours I pricked his finger.
As I was lying there awake, I thought, “How can I send him to preschool next week and let someone else care for him when I barely know how myself? Will he be able to play soccer in the fall? Will he lead a normal life? Will other kids make fun of him? Will he be that kid with diabetes? What will he miss out on?”
All these questions plagued my mind. I wondered how I was supposed to trust God to keep him safe and healthy when He allowed this disease in the first place.
That was all shortly after my son’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis when he was 3 years old – about 6 years ago now.
So, what are we to do we do when our minds are reeling with these what if questions? Let’s refocus our minds and remind ourselves of these three truths so we can trust God.
HOW TO TRUST GOD
1. Trust is a choice not a feeling.
Our feelings can change based on our circumstances, but trust is an ongoing decision regardless of our situation. We should not let our emotions dictate our beliefs or determine our response to our circumstances in life.
2. God never changes.
We know from scripture that “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He always keeps His promises, and the more we know Him the more easily we will trust Him.
3. The world’s view is skewed.
From the world’s perspective, trusting something you can’t see is hard. The world would tell you to trust in something you can see and earn, but Jesus already earned our trust on the cross. We can’t follow the world’s constantly changing thought process. We need to remind ourselves of God’s perspective.
The book of Proverbs tells us:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Proverbs 3:5-6
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
What I ultimately came to realize, after many sleepless nights, was this:
I couldn’t place my trust in the outcomes I wanted, but only in the One who already knows the outcomes.
CHOOSE TO TRUST GOD
Once I chose to trust God, I didn’t fear what was next. God already had it planned and accounted for. All I had to do was execute what I learned from the hospital. It didn’t mean that my son was always out of harm’s way, but that God was already making a way. I just needed to follow it.
I also love the illustration that Jeremiah gives us:
But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along the riverbank with roots that reach the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
In other words, we can’t see the root systems underground, but we know it is there. We trust that the roots nourish and protect the tree even when the winds get rough. Likewise, so does God the Father for us – He is working in the unseen before we ever know it. He’s providing, protecting, and nourishing our foundation. That is where my hope and trust lands as our family navigates this daily disease.
What do you struggle with regarding trust in the Lord?
Are you leaning more on the world’s ideas of what could happen or on God’s path?
Which of these three reminders would be most helpful to you today?
Dear God, thank You for Your promises in scripture. Help me to know You more and more, to therefore grow in trusting You. I want to follow Your path and not rely on my own feelings, hopes, or outcomes. May my roots forever be firm in You so that I may glorify Your name. Amen.
Further readings: Job 13:15, Job 42:2-6, Psalm 9:10, Proverbs 28:26, Genesis 28:15
