"O, For Grace to Trust Him More" - Kim Pollock
I met Kim a few years back when our church started a location in Syracuse but was truly blessed when I got to know her more through our Uncommon internship. This girl is a GEM. Seriously one of the most sweetest, humble, kind-hearted Godly woman I know. She holds scripture near and dear to her heart, she has true reverence for it and has such a beautiful and bold way of unpacking it for others to understand. She loves the Lord, I mean really really loves the Lord and it is shows in how she lives out her life dependent upon Him. I want to be like Kim when I grow up… She’s the real deal guys! Praying this post she shares blesses you and leaves you asking the Lord yourself “O, for grace to trust Him more”.
O, For Grace to Trust Him More
Kim Pollock
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” – 2 Chronicles 20:12
In times of distress and uncertainty, my first response isn’t always to run to the Lord. Often I exhaust all other options until I’m forced to surrender and seek the Lord and his Word for answers and comfort. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Perhaps in your distress you even begin to wonder “Can I even trust God? Is he really good? Will he come through for me?” Or perhaps, like me, you trust God and believe he’s good and loving, but easily get discouraged and forget in a moment all of the times in your past that he’s been faithful. Maybe you’ve taken the route of denial and haven’t even come to any resolve or rest yet.
During this time of uncertainty and fear, I have found that I’m so prone to wander. My own thoughts wage war against my soul, and I easily become trapped in an endless cycle of doubt, overwhelming sadness, and anger because I can’t control what’s happening to me or to those around me. Yet as I go daily to the Lord in prayer, he’s faithful to remind me that although this is a time of grief and loss, this is also a show of his grace. “Grace?” you must be thinking, “How is this grace?”
In the Bible, James’ letter to various churches reads “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” In this verse, steadfastness speaks to how our relationship with the Lord should be. God’s desire for his children is to love him, to be fully reliant upon him, and to constantly be resting in him. Just as God is perfectly steadfast in his love and care for us despite our lack of steadfastness to him, His desire is that we as his children would be steadfast in our prayers, love, trust, reliance, obedience, and rest in who he is; that our hearts would be unwavering and unshaken despite our circumstance. Just as the verse in James says, when we are steadfast in our trust in the Lord we are then ‘perfect and complete, lacking in nothing’ because Christ himself is the foundation and the one who fully satisfies our every need. That doesn’t mean we’ll have a perfect life or never sin again, but it does mean security and freedom from absolute terror, worry, and fear of the future.
And so it is God’s grace when trials come up in this fallen, sin-cursed world, because it produces within us a longing and a hunger that only a perfect Father and Provider can satisfy. It draws us closer to the side of God, desperate for his comfort and his love that he richly pours out to his children. Without the “various trials” in my own life, I would not have the deep relationship with the Lord that I do now, and I am certain that my share of trials and suffering in the future will push me closer to Christ in ways that a mediocre, uneventful life never could.
I encourage you to seek the Lord in this time of uncertainty, to “count it all joy”, and to rest in him alone. It’s good to grieve your losses, to pray against evil, and to fight for your faith, but lift up your face once again to a perfect Father who will provide everything you need in who he is.