Do The Math, Trust God In Troubled Times

by Kevin Burton

   A Little theological math today on Page 7. It’s faith and fun with fractions actually.

   One of my Sunday School teachers liked to put the fraction one over infinity on the chalkboard to illustrate where the bulk of our focus should be going. 

  The denominator infinity of course illustrates the power of God, the duration of the kingdom of Heaven and God’s love and care for us.

   The numerator one represents your present life on earth, with all its problems and obstacles and your limitations.       

   For the child of God, isn’t it comforting to look below that fraction line and see God’s infinity beaconing, drawing nearer every day?                                                       

   It has been a long time since that teacher wrote that fraction.  I got his point immediately. So how can it be that to this day, I spend so much time agonizing over the one, losing sight of the infinity?

   I was reminded of that old Sunday School lesson today when I read a post from fellow blogger Yohni Din, who writes the God’s Glory blog on WordPress.   It was a much-needed reminder for me and I thought you might need to hear it too.    

   “It’s easy to get overwhelmed in life. More often than not, our life seems to serve up circumstances that require a miracle that seems highly unlikely,” Din writes. “We tend to panic and allow the odds against us to overrule our faith, allowing fear to get the best of us.”

   “We can never allow our helplessness to make us think that things are hopeless. It is our helplessness that reminds us that God is God and we are not.”

   “So even our difficult times, all the uncertainty and stress, can be used by God to draw us nearer to Him, thereby strengthening our faith as we wait upon Him and pray patiently to have our faith take sight, find solitude in God’s sovereignty and allow Him to quiet our soul.”

   Jesus is well aware of the problems we humans face in life. John 16:33 (NASB) states, “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

   Not allowing life to get the best of us as believers, comes down to trust, trust in the God who made us and loves us. Let’s look at two Old Testament passages about trusting God.

   First, Isaiah 26:3 (NASB), “The steadfast of mind You will keep in your perfect peace, because he trusts in You.”

   Here we see unwavering trust in God leading to perfect peace.  To see what that perfect peace looks like in the everyday life of a believer, how about Jeremiah-17:7-8 (NASB):

    “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes. But it’s leaves will be green. And it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.”

   Please note that this man is planted and puts down roots. He has chosen to place his trust in and make his home with God.  He is nourished by the Word and the goodness of God and it shows, in green healthy leaves and with fruit.

   The three scriptures I have mentioned are memory verses of mine. The Jeremiah passage bring me up short every time  because I know I am far from living up to it.

   Remember Kev, eyes on the infinity part of the fraction, not the one. 

   The last word goes to my friends from gotquestions.org, who remind us that “We cannot trust someone we don’t know, and that is the secret of learning to trust God.

“The main reason we should trust God is that He is worthy of our trust. Unlike men, He never lies and never fails to fulfill His promises,” the website writes.

    “God is not a man, that He would lie, Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” Numbers 23:19 (NASB).

   Friend, you may be reading this having placed your trust in people, places and things that have proved unworthy. I invite you to pray to God the Father, in the name of Jesus the Son, and begin this day, a relationship that transcends all others, and the life storms around you.     

   “If we endeavor to know God through His Word, we will see that He is worthy of our trust, and our trust in Him will grow daily. To know Him is to trust Him,” the website reads.