Trust in the Lord

Gò0dNews for Life

Trust in the Lord

by Ellie James

Back in May, I graduated high school. It marked the end of my required schooling, the end of my carefree non-adult life, and the end of my childhood. However, it was also the beginning of a new feeling of optimism and anticipation in my life as I prepare for college and my career.

Upon graduating, I was given many helpful pieces of advice for the future from family members, friends, and even on occasion, total strangers. Most of the advice was similar—how to be financially stable, suggestions on things I should start doing now to prepare for my future more seriously, and the most importantly, to trust the Lord’s plans for my life and to always follow Him and His will.

Having gone to church my entire life, this was not the first time I had heard this. In fact, Proverbs 3:5-6—“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight”—and Jeremiah 29:11—“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper and not harm you, plans for a future and a hope”— are some of the first verses I can recall memorizing as a kid.

Somehow, these verses brought on a new meaning as I began to think about becoming an adult now. I am beginning to realize it is a lot harder to not lean on my own understanding and my own plans than I thought when I was little.

This world is consumed with sin, and being a young person with Christian morals and a Biblical ideology is not easy or very popular in this day and age. We get ridiculed and belittled for any reason, yet we are still lucky to live in American where at least we are not killed for our faith. A lot of times, the devil uses this sense of unbelonging to tempt us into sin—simply to fit in. That sin does not always have to be an action, but even by believing the lies this world tries to present as “truth,” we are against our Lord. It can be hard to see and to trust the Lord’s plans in these times, but we have to remember that His plan for us is not to fit in. We are to be a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9), the salt of the Earth (Matthew 5:13), and are called to “…not be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds…” (Romans 12:2).

There are many more verses that say similar things— basically, we are not people who belong to this world. God’s ultimate plan is for us to bring glory to Him and to grow His kingdom. Ultimately, that is all that matters in life. “So, we do not focus on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Even though it is hard, we have to trust that His plan for our life is best. This does not mean that our life will be full of blessings and abundance, but when we trust in the Lord, we can have joy even in times of trouble. As Paul told us in Philippians 4:10-13, no matter what comes our way, we can do (or “endure”) all things through Christ who gives us strength.

About The Author Ellie James is an upcoming college freshman at Lee University. Ellie is planning on studying Special Education and becoming an Elementary Special Ed teacher one day. Ellie loves to write and to sing praises to the Lord at her church, Parkway Baptist.