Trusting God
- Bible Reflections
- Sep 26
- 5 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
RELATED SCRIPTURES
Autumn—the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, the season of harvest—is nature's final flourish before the bareness of winter. Golden beams set trees ablaze with warm, rusty hues. Falling leaves drift to the ground, creating a majestic carpet. The air becomes crisper, and the nights grow longer. Nature slows down, ready to settle into stillness.
There is a rhythm in nature we expect, have become accustomed to, and often take for granted. Growth unfolds, fruitfulness follows, then comes decay—and then, again, renewal.
God's Splendor Revealed
Yet nothing in nature happens randomly. Year after year, season after season, nature follows the course God has set and is sustained by His will and power. The beauty of nature points to the splendor, creativity, and wisdom of the Creator. Earthly things are but shadows of heavenly realities.
Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent. He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants. Psalm104:1-2, 4
Psalm 104 begins and ends with worship. Before considering any of God's works, David calls on his soul to praise Him. God's greatness and majesty inspire reverence and awe. He is the Supreme Ruler—radiant in glory, limitless in power. Everything in heaven and on Earth submits to His command.
Trusting God
The Creator of all things not only made the universe but continually sustains it—day by day, hour by hour.
He set the Earth on its foundations; never to be moved. You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away—the mountains rose and the valleys sank to the place You assigned for them—You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the Earth. Psalm104:5-9
He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set. Psalm104:19
How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the Earth is full of Your creatures. Psalm 104:24
God is not distant but actively present. The steadiness of nature reveals His commitment to creation. From the beginning, He has cared for what He made and continues to be involved in every detail.
God's providence is His constant care for and His absolute rule over all His creation for His own glory and the good of His people. God has not walked away from the day-to-day control of His creation. Certainly He has established physical laws by which He governs the forces of nature, but those laws continuously operate according to His sovereign will. - Jerry Bridges, Trusting God
Nature, humanity, and every living creature depend wholly on God's faithfulness and sustaining power. He is the giver of life and the provider of all things. Time itself rests in His hands. Nothing lies outside His control. No one can act outside His will.
Nothing happens unless the Omnipotent wills it to happen: He either permits it to happen, or He brings it about Himself. - Augustine
He makes the grass grow for the livestock, and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the Earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart. Psalm 104:14-15
All creatures look to You to give them food in due season. When You give it to them, they gather it up; when You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath they die and return to dust. When You send Your Spirit, they are created and You renew the face of the Earth. Psalm 104:27-30
Trusting His Promises
Once a perfect world, now all creation waits to be freed from the bondage of death and decay. Sin brought pain and suffering, and man's days are filled with toil. Fear and sorrow stain every aspect of our fallen world.
Still, even after the fall, the grace and goodness of God shine through. He promised to sustain the world: the regular succession of times and seasons—seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter—will continue for as long as the Earth endures (Genesis 8:22). But He also promised to renew it. The Earth will not remain forever. A day is coming when all things will be made new—not only the heavens and the Earth, but also the heart of man.
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. James 5:7-8
Though God is in control, He allows us to walk through sorrow. Yet all occasions of pain and grief remain under His absolute authority.
Trusting God is worked out in an arena that has no boundaries... We are always coping with the unknown. Yet it is just as important to trust God as it is to obey Him because when we fail to trust God we doubt His sovereignty and question His goodness. In order to trust God, we must always view our adverse circumstances through the eyes of faith, not sense.
The sovereignty of God is often questioned because man does not understand what God is doing. Because He does not act as we think He should, we conclude He cannot act as we think He would. But God does not walk away and leave us to the mercy of uncontrolled random or chance events. - Jerry Bridges, Trusting God
The circumstances of our lives are no accidents: they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign God... All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of every member of His redeemed family. - Margaret Clarkson
Praising God
May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works. Psalm 104:31
David begins his psalm with praise and ends with a commitment to continue praising God.
In all circumstances, for as long as he lives, he will rejoice in the Lord.
One day, sin and wickedness, death and decay, pain and suffering will be no more.
One day, all things will be made new.
One day, our hearts will be renewed.
But until that day...
'I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to Him,
as I rejoice in the LORD...
Praise the LORD, my soul.
Praise the LORD.' Psalm104:33-35
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