A Matter of Trust

My husband came home from work carrying a box.
It was a gift he had received before he left for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
It’s candy, he said.
Probably one of those boxes of assorted chocolates, I thought.

I put it in the pantry with the intention of getting it out when everyone was home.
I forgot about it before Christmas.
I remembered the night we all returned home from the movies.
I knew that everyone would have their favorites.

I knew that I would see the brown wrappers in which the candy rests.
I knew that I would see the piece of brown paper that divides the layers.
I was so sure.
Was I surprised!

The first one to open the box announced what they had found.
It’s a chocolate bar…a huge chocolate bar!
The word huge was no exaggeration.
It was a 14″ x 8″ bar of solid dark chocolate.

Everyone was so excited, especially my husband who loves chocolate.
The one to open the box was the one to break off the first piece.
A gold piece of heavy foiled paper was placed across the lovely brown paper wrapping.
That gold-foiled paper had been laid aside to get to the chocolate.

My husband went into the kitchen to see the large chocolate bar.
I was reading in the family room.
There’s a little hammer, he said.
I thought I heard him wrong until I heard the hammering against the granite counter tops.

The heavy piece of gold-foiled paper had an imprint of a hammer on the top.
Inside the imprint was an actual metal hammer.
A little hammer was included in the box so that pieces of chocolate could be easily broken.
What a perfect gift for a large family.

All night long I heard the sound of chocolate being broken with the little hammer.
Even with everyone having a piece or two, only less than a quarter of the bar was eaten.
This chocolate bar would be here for a few days.
This chocolate bar would bring much pleasure in such a fun way.

Expectations.
I was so sure I knew exactly what was in that box.
I was thankful for the gift my husband received but was not too terribly excited about it at first.
My expectations were totally wrong.

Isn’t that always the way?
You are so sure of one thing but you get something totally different.
I thought about a quote from Elisabeth Elliot.
God never denies us our heart’s desire except to give us something better.

The problem is that we tend to hold onto the thing that is not better.
We’re used to it.
We’ve grown accustomed to it.
Something new and different is scary to us.

I was reminded of a truth through a sermon I just heard.
We were told that there is only one question that really matters as we read God’s Word.
ONE question.
I was confident that I knew the answer, as I pondered the truth that I have studied there.

None of my questions were wrong.
They are all there tucked away in God’s Word.
However, they were not the over-arching question.
That question is simple but profound; a question we must always ask ourselves.

DO YOU TRUST ME?

God asks that question of His people.
When I heard the question, I pondered some scenarios that would make trusting Him very hard.
When I heard the question, I wondered if I truly trusted Him the way He wants me to trust Him?
Do I trust God, no matter what?

Do you trust Me when you lost your job or when you are in poor health?
Do you trust Me when you are still single or when you cannot get pregnant?
Do you trust Me when you are terribly hurt by a friend?
Do you trust Me when no one else believes in Me or My Word?

Do you trust Me when you have to stand alone in your trust?
Do you trust me when you lose family members because of your faith?
Do you trust Me when your prayers seem to go unanswered?
Do you trust Me in the waiting?

Do I trust God the way He wants me to trust Him?
Do I pay Him lip-service but my actions speak otherwise?
Do I trust more in my own ability than in the One who is all-knowing ad all-powerful?
Do I want God to bless my plans without ever asking Him what His plans are for me?

There is a lot of soul searching in that one question.
DO YOU TRUST ME?
Do you really trust Me when logic tells you otherwise?
Do you really believe that everything is done for My glory and your good?

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

Trusting in God fills you with joy and peace.
When we trust in God, we are trusting in a God of hope.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. (Romans 5:5)

I was so sure I knew what was in that box of candy.
What was in the box was far better than I could have imagined.
My expectations were all wrong.
They often are.

Hope does not disappoint us.
That is a promise right out of God’s Word.
DO YOU TRUST ME?
That is one question that needs to be answered.