I’ve been reading through Isaiah recently, and the theme of trusting in God keeps coming up. Chapter after chapter, God calls His people out for worshiping false gods and seeking refuge in places other than Himself. In the She Reads Truth study on Isaiah that I’ve been going through, one of the weekly reflection questions asks about what sins are mentioned in the chapters. Each week, the themes of idolatry, pride, and trusting in other “gods” keep coming up. It’s easy to skim past these warnings since I don’t have any carved images in my apartment, but lately God has been gently showing me that I have been putting my trust in other places.

I keep focusing on what’s happening next in my life instead of what God has currently provided, and I think part of that is a difficulty trusting that God loves me and will continue to provide in all of life’s seasons. God calls us to trust Him and live in the abundance that He has extended to us. (John 10:10) Abundant life looks like trusting God enough to fully enjoy what He’s providing in the present while trusting He will continue to provide in the future. When we fully trust God, we are free to fully enjoy what He provides without trying to micromanage our lives.

A few chapters later in Isaiah, God speaks through Isaiah that, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8) When we put our trust in literally anything other than God, that thing has an expiration date. In stark contrast, God is outside of time and in control of everything. He will never run out of time to fulfill His purposeful plan of redeeming creation for His glory. When we trust God, we can trust that He is working in all of the chaos around us to bring about His glory and redeem His creation (see Isaiah 42:6-7, Romans 8:28). He is our Redeemer and our King (Isaiah 42 again!), and He’s more than trustworthy.

So where are we going to turn today when things get crazy, when we get tired, or when life isn’t what we expect? Are we going to turn to our Redeemer and Holy One, or are we going to turn to grass and flowers that look cute in the moment but are flimsy and insufficient in the long run? Let’s join with our brothers and sisters and fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), our Servant Savior King.