“I trust in God, but God gave me a brain for a reason!”

Just some of the many ways that believers have said that they believe in God, but they trust in their knowledge more than they trust God.

It’s striking to hear this, but it needs to be said!

If you rely more on your own understanding of what you are experiencing in life, than you rely on God,

You are not trusting in God!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;”.
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

Your inability to let God’s word reign above your thoughts, exposes the frailty of your faith.

I’m not here to condemn you.

I face the same battle daily; to choose faith in God over choosing what makes sense to me, based on my fears of what could happen.

The purpose of this post is to fill you with hope!

Perhaps by revealing to you some of the ways that you might be leaning on your own understanding, it will help you catch yourself in the act; and it might even help you decide to step out in faith, instead!

I encourage you to stick around, until the end.

This post could potentially skyrocket your faith in the LORD and you may find yourself, actually trusting Him!

There is nothing more hopeful than facing insurmountable odds, yet still so full of joy; because you trust that God has already overcome it all!

Let’s begin in ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭42‬:‭1‬-‭22‬, where we see God’s people choose either to rely on what they believe is smart, or fully trust in God’s word.

These desperate Israelites sound a lot like us, don’t you think?

They were facing a decision and really really wanted to do whatever God said, until God’s word turned out to be something that didn’t make sense.

The people were ready for God to affirm them in the direction that they determined was best, but when God told them not to go in that direction, they figured that the word didn’t come from God.

I wish I could say that I always choose to trust God, even when He leads me to do things that I believe will be a disadvantage to me; however, the truth is, I have done the same thing that these frightened Israelites did.

I’ve wanted to follow God with all of my heart and have full confidence that He will move any obstacle that threatens to stop me.

The truth is, I am inclined to rather choose a direction that I perceive has no obstacles, and then invite God to come with me.

That is precisely what God’s people were doing, during this pivotal moment in history.

They wanted God to say that He would support their decision to run in a direction that they believed would be least troubling!

The Israelites were running away from the Babylonians, to a nation that appeared to be large enough to protect them, and they wanted God to approve of this.

God didn’t approve.

Why would God approve of His people putting more trust in a nation than in Him!

This was God’s people trusting that a nation would protect them, rather than the God who created them and set them apart.

Not just any nation either…

The nation that Israel was running to, was the same nation that God freed them from, 600 years prior.

Egypt was the land that enslaved and corrupted His people for 400 years, and now, God’s people want to run back there, for protection.

Imagine the ache in God’s heart!

This is like a man who married a woman who was once bound to prostitution. He saved her, gave her a home and a life that she could have not imagined for herself. Then, when she started getting nervous about her financial security, imagine her running back to the men who used to pay to abuse her sexually and emotionally.

Imagine her running away from the husband who saved her and running into the arms of those who enslaved her; only because she was afraid that she wouldn’t have enough if she were to depend on her husband.

If you are struggling to imagine this,

God told us that this is exactly what it felt like to Him, in the book of HOSEA.

Why would a husband approve of his wife running into the arms of a man who has a history of abusing her, and why would he just come along for the ride?

God fervently disapproved of His beloved running into the embrace of the same nation that He had previously saved her from.

God’s people didn’t see what they were doing, because the fear of destruction made them blind.

They just wanted to be safe, but they didn’t believe that their God was able to protect them.

They feared the enemies that came against them and the only thing that made sense in their minds was to go to a large and established land.

Israel had experience with Egypt and they knew that Egypt was intimidating.

They forgot what God had done to all of those mighty nations that became Israel territory.

God’s people forgot Who won every battle that they faced when they made it out of the wilderness.

Instead, they focused on what they could do to save themselves.

God mercifully showed them that they are unable to save themselves in ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭43‬:‭1‬-‭7.

“Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these words, that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.’ But Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.” So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces, and all the people would not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in the land of Judah, from all nations where they had been driven— men, women, children, the king’s daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. So they went to the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they went as far as Tahpanhes.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭43‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

Was this revealing God to be a cruel, malicious and spiteful God?

No!

This proved God to be a jealous God who will not allow His beloved to enslave herself to the same nation that tried to destroy her.

He showed love in this moment, believe it or not!

Babylon was able to destroy Egypt, and God wanted the nation who abused His beloved to cease.

If His people stayed in Judah, God would’ve show them that He is the only One who can protect them.

They ran to the nation that God was striking down, because of their afflictions towards His people.

God didn’t let the abuser live, just because His beloved ran back to them.

If you do read Hosea,

(which I highly recommend, because it will really confirm what was going on during this time.)

You will see that God never discards His beloved.

God’s beloved may have made herself a slave to prostitution again, but God doesn’t let her go.

She sold herself into slavery and God bought her, though she already belonged to Him.

So, we know the end of this story!

God’s people run into the arms of a false sense of security by trusting in the powers that they see in the world, and God shows them that their safety net is unable to protect them.

They are enslaved and rejected, and though God has a right to leave His people, He sends His only Son as payment; to set His beloved people free.

He bought us back, though we sold ourselves into slavery.

God never stopped chasing us and He loves us the same, today!

Though, God’s love is a certainty that no one can take away from us, not even ourselves…

Why would we enslave ourselves to what only will abuse us?

That’s what we are doing when we rely on our own understanding.

“In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

Trusting in the world and using our perspective to guide us, it’s truly very limiting; especially when we have a GOD who is above all things and can see farther than what we can see.

Making decisions based on my experiences or understanding of a situation may seem wise, but because I usually fear the consequences of my decisions, I am pulled down a path fueled by fear!

God’s people were not making a wise decision, not because they didn’t use knowledge; it’s because they were acting out of fear and found as much evidence from their past experiences to build a strong case to support that fear.

Our God doesn’t lead by fear!

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

We should be able to make decisions with a sound mind, if God is the one that we are relying on.

If we are trying to make decisions based on fear, we can be sure that the devil has something to do with it.

This is why we cannot rely on our own understanding!

We ought to be wise, learn from God’s word and use discernment, but when we let fear tell us to trust in anything other than God,

that is not wisdom!

Wisdom is applied knowledge.

It’s paramount that you don’t apply a limited amount of knowledge.

In other words,

Don’t apply the limited knowledge that you have from what you understand,

Apply the limitless amount of knowledge from God’s word!

God offers knowledge in His word that goes universes farther than our ground level comprehension.

It’s wise to trust in His understanding, rather than the unstable understanding of ourselves.

““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

God Gave me a Brain to Use it… Right?

Absolutely!

Use wisdom!

Don’t use faulty wisdom that is based on limited knowledge!

Start filling yourself with knowledge of God instead of knowledge of what this world can do.

Turn off the news and learn about the boundless knowledge found in God’s word!

Apply the infinite knowledge of God’s word, which goes far beyond our finite understanding.

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

God is worthy of our trust in Him!

To find out why, check out this post: