Free Falling

• Printable Version - Share on Facebook - Posted by Dion Todd December 2, 2018 - Filed in Video Devotional - #Devotional  #Christian  #trust  #freedom from fear  - 6,870 views

  RHM Devotional: Free Falling from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

  Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. Psalm 91:14–16 ESV

  Today I want to talk about trusting God, and not worrying about every scary thing that you may face in this life. In high school gym class, we once had a “trust your teammates” session where you had to fall backwards off of a platform and let others catch you. After my upbringing, it was difficult for me to trust anyone. That was a challenge for me.

  Many years have passed since then, and now I am 50. I want to tell you today that God has always caught me. You can trust Him. Just as David wrote in Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” So it has been for me. I am not saying there has not been times of lack. There were many of those, but today I am still here, so apparently He brought me through them just as He did with David.

  Each time that I have stood in the unemployment line, life ended up better than before. Yes, there were times of testing. Yes, at times, He would put me through humbling circumstances. For a while I pumped out septic tanks for a living, but I would not be who I am today, if I had not first been there.

  Psalm 1:1–3 ESV “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;  but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

  Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who seek him.

  Psalm 37:4 tells us to delight ourself in the Lord and He will give us the desires of our heart.

  Seeking God comes with benefits. When your mind is on Him, His blessings will chase you down. For example, at Refreshing Hope we tithe into a giving fund that we use to help others in need. At first we tried to put those that supported RHM first in line, but you know what we found out? Those who support Refreshing Hope financially are not the ones in need, outside of a few times of testing.

  Those who choose to trust God with their finances are taken care of, not by us, but by Him. Those who try and hoard all they can get to themselves, live in eternal poverty, and nothing on earth will help them for very long. Before you think that we are trying to get your money, this is not about giving to us, or even completely about money. There are many ways that God will ask you to trust Him and, as with all things, you should let Him direct you. When you do get past trusting Him with your money, there will be another area to work on.

  Money is just an example that a lot of people struggle with at first, and we are not the first ones. When the Israelites entered the promised land, the first city they came to was Jericho, and they were to give all the gold and silver into the treasury of the Lord (Joshua 6:19). It was the first fruits of what He was giving them, and they had to trust Him to take care of them later.

  There have been so many times in my own life that I stayed up all night tossing and turning, worrying about tomorrow, but when the morning came, God had taken care of it. For example, once we were selling a piece of property, but when they did a title search, we found that the tax office had placed a lien on the property. Over ten years before, I had closed a business, but missed filing a form, so they estimated the taxes owed at the maximum amount. On top of that, they added fines and interest to it for over a decade without notifying us, until the bill was astronomical.

  We called them and they said that the record had been archived because it was so old and they would have to restore it from a backup, to call back the next day. Sylvia and I prayed about it together and I heard “Say nothing negative.” Well that was difficult, because at that moment I wanted to say many things that were “negative.” We went to bed that night and tossed and turned, but when we called back in the morning, they had erased the debt and removed the lien, for we never owed it. The worry was for nothing. When the morning came, God had taken care of it. 

  I want to encourage you today to let go of what you are hanging onto, and to trust God. Let go of your fears, and trust that He will take care of you. Fear is the guardian of the treasure chest. If you want to enjoy the blessings of God, you will have to overcome your fear, which comes from a lack of trust. It is a leap of faith and if you let go, He will catch you.

  You can pray this with me if you like:

  Prayer: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for not trusting You in the past and help me make a fresh start today. Help me see past the fear that holds me back and to trust that You will take care of me. Thank You so much for your faithfulness, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

  Note: For those following our online Bible Study, our latest chapter, covering Acts 24 is now available. If you want to review any of the previous chapters, here is the Bible Study list!