The Key to Trusting God More
In what seems like a crazy time in America, another post about losing a key (I wrote a post about losing a key last year) seems almost trivial. But this post has a twist that makes it, at least for me, relevant to my understanding of what it means to trust God – especially in these final days of 2018.
This is a true story. I’ll start at the beginning.
This summer I bought a touring bicycle. Not quite a road bike or a mountain bike, it is made to take longer trips carrying camping gear. I have a dream (fantasy?) that I will do some bike touring, perhaps one day in Europe. But bike riding is more fun if you do it with someone else, so I bought a similar bike for Judy. We have been having a lot of fun riding in NY, FL, and NC.
One problem. The bike rack on the back of my car cannot accommodate both bikes, even though it is designed to carry 2 bikes. The solution was to buy a Yakima rack and install it on the cross bars on the roof of the car. It is a bit awkward getting Judy’s bike up there, but we can do it without too much trouble.
Yakima racks are great, but expensive. And if you want to lock your rack onto your car, that costs extra money. So, I decided I wouldn’t buy a lock – who is going to go to all the trouble to take the rack off the roof of my car?
A few days after installing the rack, I remembered I had a spare Yakima lock from another rack in my bike bag. Wow! Just dig out the old lock and install it on my new rack. Great idea! I found the lock in an old Ziplock bag. When I dumped the contents of the bag out onto a table I found: one lock (called a ‘core’), two keys with identical teeth cut into the keys, and one smooth key with no teeth. “What is that smooth key for”, I thought. Not sure, I put it back in the bag and promptly forgot about it.
An hour later, after cleaning up the core and the two identical keys I began to think about how to install the lock on the rack. To be sure, I looked up the installation on the internet. That is when I found out what the smooth key is for – it is called the ‘control key’ and without it you cannot insert the core into the rack. In other words, the lock is useless without the control key.
I just had to retrieve the plastic back and get the key I needed. There was only one problem. I couldn’t remember what I did with the bag and key and when I went to look for them, they were nowhere to be found.
I spent the next two hours tearing apart the garage, the kitchen, the porch and anywhere else I thought I might have left the bag. It was only a stupid key, but I was frantic. I have no idea why I got so upset, but I did. I even went through the garbage in the kitchen and garage (2x) thinking I might have thrown the bag into one of those cans. No bag and no key. I had Judy look. She couldn’t find the key either.
After all of that effort I remembered that God had told me where to look for a set of keys I lost last year. So, I prayed, “God, you know where the key is. Will you show me?” No answer. I prayed again. No answer. “Come on God. Take care of this problem for me”. No answer. God was silent.
And then after about 30 minutes God spoke. He said, “I will find the key for you”. “What?”, I asked. “Trust me. Rest. I will find the key”, I heard God say. I was so agitated that the idea of resting and trusting God seemed, in that moment, almost impossible.
But finally, I calmed down and decided that I really had heard from God. He told me to trust Him – He would find the key, not me – and He commanded me to rest, to stop looking and fretting. Gradually, that is what I did.
Later that evening my son-in-law called and asked if he could come over with a piece of wood that he wanted to rip on my table saw. “Sure”, I said, “come on over”. When he got there, I rolled the table saw out from the corner where I keep it in the garage into the center of the garage so he could have some room to work. Just before I got the saw into the center of the garage I heard a soft ‘plonk’. I turned around and there, laying on the garage floor, was the bag and the key.
I still don’t know how it got onto the table saw, but there it was. And then I heard God say, “I told you I would find the key.” Hallelujah! The key was found. I thanked God.
If that was the end of the story it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But there is more to the story.
Two days later during my morning prayer time, a Bible verse, out of nowhere, popped into my mind. Here is the verse:
“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16: 10 KJV).
For comparison, here is the same verse in the NIV:
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much”.
Jesus is talking about handling worldly wealth and the things of the Kingdom. Jesus is saying, “If you can’t handle worldly wealth, who is going to trust you with Kingdom riches?”
But in the instant that the verse popped into my mind, I heard God say, “If you can trust me with the little things (like trusting Him to find a key) you will be able to trust me for the big things; if you cannot trust me with the little things you will not be able to trust me for the big things.”
Losing and finding a key is a little thing. But God wanted me to know that He is involved in the little things in my life; that He is faithful in these small things. He told me that I need to trust Him in these little things, especially when He calls me to trust Him, to prepare me to trust Him in the big things. What are examples of big things? He didn’t say but all kinds of catastrophic occurrences crossed my mind. One big thing that has been on my heart lately is the apparent collapse of civility in the American culture and the rise of what looks like to me cultural Marxism with attendant godlessness and lawlessness. The Holy Spirit has impressed upon me that the rise of these spirits is a big thing. But God has also spoken to me about this ‘crisis’. He has told me not to worry – He has already won the victory. He is calling me to trust Him.
Christians still have a role to play. Our intercession is critical to God’s victory. But the lesson I learned with the ‘control’ key allows me to trust God with this ‘big thing’. Do my part for sure, but pray out of a heart that is trusting God and expecting His victory over the darkness.
God is moving in every part of our lives – in the little things and big things. In all of these parts of our lives He is telling us that He is present; He is speaking to us. He wants our belief, obedience, and our trust. As we obey and trust Him, we can rest in His promises. Our rest, which is a manifestation of our faith in Him, pleases God. In response to our prayers He is releasing power – unimaginable power that is even now winning victories in the supernatural realm; victories that will soon be manifested in the world around us.
So, for me, that key was the key to trusting God more – in the little things and in the big things because if we can’t trust God for the little things, we won’t be able to trust Him with the big things. And there are some ‘big things’ happening in the world around us right now.
Learning to trust Jesus more,
John