Wendy L. Macdonald
[Originally published as Trusting God When Life is Complicated]
A song came to mind when Deborah, a friend from HopeStreamRadio, answered my request for a suggestion of what to write bout. It was one I had listened to and literally danced to while praising God in the privacy of my home only a few minutes before I read her reply. For you see, the day before I had suffered a huge disappointment.
Instead of succumbing to the temptation to doubt God, I chose to trust.
I remembered that trust isn’t just a word—isn’t just a concept—it’s a verb. I chose to trust God while life is complicated. I’ll share the title of the song with you later.
First, I’d like to tell you about another providential thing that happened the morning after my deep disappointment. A poem I’d written months before was scheduled for me to share on my Instagram page. It was about trust and was inspired by these words in James 5:11 NIV:
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
Earlier in the chapter of James, it talked about the believer’s need to be patient and stand firm because the Lord is coming back soon. We’re to be like hardworking farmers who plow, sow, and tend our fields with diligence. The farmer who anticipates a good crop will work, wait, and trust.
As followers of Jesus, we are to patiently do the work God asked us to do and then trust He will provide a plentiful yield when we yield to Him.
James 5 also hauled out the gigantic guns of suffering by mentioning Job.
Ouch.
By bringing Job’s example of perseverance into the picture, we’re forced to picture our present sufferings as small in comparison. If Job can be faithful to trust God when life is complicated by so much loss, then we too can be brave and believe all things will be made right sooner or later.
God is compassionate and merciful. He does not change. He does not fail. He is the same God who blessed Job with more abundance than before the complications piled up against this faithful man.
When we get to the other side of eternity, we’ll be rewarded for trusting God in this sin city.
When I opened my Spotify app and listened to my favorites, the word complicated popped out of the song and was as if God were speaking to me:
“Wendy, I heard your prayers. I hear your hurt. I am watching over your loved ones. I know who is a truth-teller and who isn’t walking in the truth. Trust me. Come to me. I will rain compassion and mercy over you and over those you love. I’m coming back soon. When I return, I will bring restoration and rewards. I will erase all wrongs and fill the new earth with my righteousness. Trust, dance, believe, and receive. I love you because I am love.”
Dear reader, God loves you too because He is love. He longs for us to trust Him. No matter how complicated life gets, we’re loved. We’re not what happens to us, we happen to be living in the end times. We happen to have a God who has compassion for us. He fills our hearts with mercy when we choose to trust.
The morning after finding out heartbreaking news, I knew I had two choices. I could either close my heart and clench both fists toward heaven, or I could pour out my heart and open my hands to receive compassion and mercy. I chose to trust. In my trust, I opened my music app and listened to:
Jesus is Coming Back by Jordan Feliz.
And now I’d like to close with the poem God placed on my heart for you:
God’s compassion and mercy
are lavished when we trust
so let’s persevere with patience
no matter what happens to us
God’s compassion and mercy
fall like rain over us
to comfort and nourish all
who believe and bravely trust.
~ wlm
Blessings as we continue trusting God when life gets complicated ~ Wendy Mac
