All Is Not As It Seems: Trust and the National Day of Prayer

Woke up at 3:30 this morning. Couldn’t sleep. It seems America’s lost her way and things look pretty grim. But while they say seeing is believing, it isn’t always so. All is not as it seems.

Today’s the National Day of Prayer, a day when millions call upon God to heal our land. This year’s theme is one of protection and actively declared hope, faith (the evidence of things not seen but hoped for), and trust:

“I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:2.

Trust never wakes me at o-dark-thirty. Doubt and unbelief all too often do.

Someone said recently that the only way forward today is to trust each other. They said “trust is glue that will hold us together”.  While that’s sometimes true, building trust requires trustworthy behavior over time. Is God trustworthy? Can we believe Him?

Genesis says God spoke and things happened: earth was created, light came on, waters separated, dry land appeared, a garden and animals placed in it, man was formed out of the earth, and woman followed shortly thereafter.

God spoke. Things happened.

Again He spoke and warned them not to eat from one tree, but they ate the apple anyway. Adam and Eve failed to believe the God who spoke everything into existence. Their downfall wasn’t eating, it was in not believing. They didn’t trust Him when presented with contradictory testimony.

From creation forward, we read accounts of His trustworthiness and tales of men and women that trusted God even when it seemed things couldn’t turn out well. We’ve experienced it in our own lives. But there are times when it gets tough and we permit ourselves to indulge in doubt and unbelief. We allow worry to gnaw on our souls – like I did this morning.

His message though is clear:

Trust Me. I have a plan. I know what I’m doing. Believe Me.

Despite oppression, He brought His people out of Egypt. Despite unfavorable odds, David killed a giant and became a king. Despite danger, Daniel walked with lions and wasn’t eaten. And despite the attempts of a murderous king to prevent it, One male child survived to die (and live) another day.

There is ample reason for hope. There should be no room for doubt. “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

On this National Day of Prayer and every day forward, let’s resolve to believe what He said, not what we see. All is not as it seems.