Learning to Trust in 2014

Cathy and I have downsized to a smaller house. Along with downsizing comes with getting rid of stuff we don't need. And boy, there was a lot of it. We made the move a little over a month ago and are just now getting close to completing the cleanse.

Over the last few days, I have read some Facebook posts and blogs about the subject of trust. It seems as though I was seeing it a lot. I know that I have a personal issue with total trust in the Lord for everything. It is tough for me to know where to draw the line between just sitting back and trusting God for everything and getting out and attempting to make things happen on my own. The fact is, I am no good at making things happen on my own. It is true that I changed my life and lost 110 pounds 4 years ago and have maintained a somewhat healthy and fit lifestyle. But in other areas in my life, I have many failures.

Today, as we were cleaning out the last of our things, we had several items including many paint cans that we needed to get rid of. As I was taking another bag to the street for trash day, an old pickup truck approached. The truck stopped and an elderly man leaned out the window and asked, with what seemed to be a Russian accent, if we had any metal items we needed to get rid of. What? Of course, we do. We have lots of stuff including a bunch of paint cans that is hard to get rid of. He got out of the truck and we began to load his truck. He was very happy to get the items. I somewhat jokingly asked him if the Lord had sent him and he replied "Praise Jesus." I found out that he is from Romania and is a Christian. He picks up items made of all types of metal and sells them.

What were the odds that this man happened to drop by my house at the same time that I needed help getting rid of these items? I learned a lesson that this man was totally trusting God to meet his needs. It meant much more to him that he found me and my stuff than it meant to me. I could have gotten rid of the stuff. But, more importantly, I learned a lesson about trust as that still small voice told me, "this man trusts Me."

It is my goal to trust in Him who provides everything we need at the time that we need it. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me. I learned a valuable lesson from a Romanian man who just happened to come by my house.

"I will not trust in riches, but in Him who richly provides."
                                                                   -----Andy Stanley----