I Trust You Lord song by Katie Rippy
Trust aka White-knuckle faith
by Katie Rippy
How do you trust an invisible God when all the visible things seem really scary and super big? Psalm 37 found its way past my head and into my heart when my family went through a trial. It was a trail laced with people misunderstanding our character and gifting. It was trial in which I found myself in an extremely vulnerable position. We were offered the opportunity to move while I was just two short months from delivering my third child. We packed our belongings and we were off to a whole new state. I was fearful of miscarriage. I was fearful of not being well liked or understood. Because of past trauma, I was fearful I could not find a doctor I could trust. I was hurt from the situation we were moving from. I was fearful we would not find affordable housing. I was fearful we wouldn’t have the resources to make a nest for the new baby. I was fearful I would be in a very tender position as a mother of three small children with Daddy off at work and myself without a friend. The circumstances were real. They were big. They were scary. Where was God? Did he see me? He did!
White-knuckle faith
I found myself clinging to Psalm 37:3-7 with faith as thin as a spider’s web. I’m not sure I believed it, but I cross-stitched it on pillows. I tried to will myself to hold it by painting it in pictures, sketching it in stylistic patterns, and anything else I could do. My countenance felt as if I had strapped myself to a pipe and my body was flailing in the cyclone of a tornado! All I could do was hold on and hope it would hold. And as I white-knuckled that scripture, I learned something important about faith. Faith isn’t certain of what we see, but it is hope in what we can’t. I learned that that hope, no matter how flimsy it feels, is enough.
“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and HE will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgement as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”
The desires of my heart shifted from my immediate felt needs to a hope in the certain provision of God. I wanted to see him do what he promised. Not just for my provision, but for a glimpse of his glory. I wanted my God to show off and receive his due praise. My heart-cries for friends became joy filled expectation that I would witness the Good Shepherd’s care of me. I witnessed God provide in abundance all my needs. I welcomed my baby girl into a home full of joy and peace. I look back on that season with awe and wonder. It was the goodness of God who led me to the trial and the goodness of God to provide His word as an anchor. It was the goodness of God to provide a home, a healthy baby, friends, and a full pantry.
When you find yourself in a trial:
- Trust in the Lord and do good. Do what you know is good in His eyes. Let go of the statement, “what if…” and allow a space of no answer. Trust the Lord to wield for you a beautiful story.
- Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Do not think about tomorrow, but firmly tune your mind to the hour and minute, even second in front of you. Dwell. It is a present-tense verb. Breathe in the sweet realization that you have breath, God is with you, and you have everything you need for this moment. Cultivate faithfulness. Attend to your thoughts, capture the squirrelly ones that lead to fear, and be faithful to your God. It takes work to do this, but worry is work also. Choose faithfulness.
- Delight yourself in the Lord. Look up! Look around! The sun still rises. God’s systems have been working so well and so perfectly we have a name by which we study them; science. Your God is faithful! He makes systems that cycle from life to death to life again. He makes systems that are multifaceted and complex. We’ve yet to probe the depths of them and we rely on them without doubt or question. He is faithful and his very heart is humble and gentle (Mt. 11:29). He is sovereign and he will fight on your behalf in ways you may never see. He writes beautiful stories of which you are a part. Trust his strokes now. He is faithful to cross every t and dot every i.
- He will give you the desires of your heart. The cool thing about this is that those first three points instruct your heart, so much so, that your heart begins to beat in rhythm with the Lord’s. This beautiful beating heart is the one that he gave you when you first believed in His son, Jesus Christ. The one that took a leap of faith and trusted the Messiah to cover you with his righteousness. This is the new heart that is so tender and so soft. It’s strength is in its submission. This is the new heart that longs to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit who made residence that day. This heart’s desire is one to please the Father, even through this trail.
So dear friend, you’ve got everything you need for life and godliness even in this trial. You have him, intimately so. You may not have sought out this hardship, but the refinement is gold. You may not have asked for this trial, but you desired your God to hold you. Every moment is a gift meant to inspire a faith that stands through the fire! or tornado! or whatever is out there! White-knuckle His word! Hold on! He has good things waiting!
I Trust you Lord. song by Katie Rippy I trust you Lord, and in this land I-I-I will faithfully dwell My delight is in You, O God and all my joy rests in Your sweet hands And You'll give The desire of my heart (3x's) You faithfully give This world has got me in knots and the unknown o-o-o it heavily weighs My pathway may seem dim, but when I look, oh I look at your sweet page I remember you give The desire of my heart (3x's) You faithfully give I didn't seek the fire but the refinement is gold I didn't ask for the trial but I desired you to hold Every moment a gift meant to inspire a faith that stands through the fire, yea, yea I'm standing through the fire I sing I trust you Lord My heart is Yours, always (repeat)
