Do I want to stumble in the desert?

I decided to do a Bible word study of the word trust because to me trust and faith seem to go together. Do you know the first time that the word trust comes up in the Bible is when the Israelites decide that they are not going to trust God and do what He said....and we all know what happened to them, they wandered in the desert for 40 years.

Okay I don't think that if I lack trust God is going to send me to the desert,(boy if that were true I would be there often) but maybe our deserts look different. Maybe the desert is not living a life of peace, finding the rest in God that we could find if we did trust. Maybe it is even missing a great plan He had for us that we could only do if we were trusting Him, like those Israelites could have been living in the Promise Land if they trusted.

Well were do I get that from? Well Psalm 95:11 is convicting, "So I declared an oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest." Why is God angry? In Deuteronomy chapter 1 it tells the story of the Israelites deciding not to trust God. God told the people to not fear the people in the land He was going to give them, but you know the story they sent the 12 spies in and 10 came back saying, "We can't do this," while only Caleb and Joshua said, "Wow, God is giving us an amazing land." Well the people sided with the 10 and decided not to trust God to take them to their promised land. They didn't find their peace, their rest, they died in their desert of non-trust. Hebrews 3:19 says, "So we see that they were not able to enter because of their unbelief."

I hope that I will live a life of belief, of trust, because Hebrews 3:12 says, "See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God." This tells me that when I don't trust I am sinning, rebelling against God's perfect plan for me. Sure life is going to be hard sometimes, we are going to have heartaches, but I don't want to wander away from my God's plan for me. I believe that He has a plan for us and that He makes us better with each tear and heartache if we allow Him to. It is better to be in God's peace, then to doubt Him and not have that rest. May He give me the strength to keep my eyes focused on Him. I would rather live in the rest that trusting Him brings me, then live in the desert of unrest, and bitterness.

Well my friends, until next time. Keep looking up and making God your focus.