Proper Focus

This continues our series on Isaiah 26:3. For the previous post, please click here.

One of the interesting things about the word trust is that it can be a noun or a verb.

In other words, trust can be something that we have, or something that we do.

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary when trust is translated in the noun form it means

an assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.”

When it is translated in the verb form it means

“to place confidence : depend

What this means, is that trusting God means that we need to depend on God and His plans, not our own, because of the soundness of His character.

We can see what this looks like by reading Psalm 112:7 which states:

He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

So the person who trusts in God, is not afraid of not getting the job, of learning of a parent’s death, or breaking up with her boyfriend, because she’s not depending on herself.

She’s depending on God.

As a well-known passage ( Proverbs 3:5-6) states:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

So trusting in God means that because of Who He is, we look to Him. We don’t look to ourselves; we rely on Him.

In other words, whether we are talking about where our mind is fixed, or we are talking about Who we depend on, in order to have contentment in this chaotic world, our focus must be on Him.

And with Him as our focus, we can experience His perfect peace.

And with that peace comes clarity, not that will always know why things happen, but we’ll know Who we can depend on when they do.