This post is honestly a little more unexpected. We're not going to pick apart a passage, and in fact, we'll only be looking at a small part of Deuteronomy. God simply met me where I was in this section and sent me on a bit of a journey to find some key things that my soul needed.
So if you're willing to follow along with me, I'll invite you into how He did that as I made my way through chapter 19.
All throughout the book, I marked truths about God or His promises in yellow, and in orange I marked any sort of commands for the Israelites, reminders to remember or be careful, or anything pertaining to the human condition.
Chapters 19 and 20 contain a lot of logistics and laws surrounding cities of refuge, property boundaries, witnesses, and warfare, but one particular section of chapter 19 had caught my eye. It's not like it was anything new, given the entire book gives constant reminders of what God intends to do and what the people must do to experience those things fully and walk in God's promises. But I took a bit of an extra notice as I processed what this looks like in my own life, especially in light of facing a few different hard challenges lately. My thought process went a little like this:
Love God. Obey Him. Doing that causes us to experience Him more. Loving Him HAS to involve trusting Him and His character. Trust, and then obey.
It was then that the lyrics of the old hymn popped in my mind:
"Trust and obey,
for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus
but to trust and obey."
I took some time to pull up the rest of the lyrics and remind myself of the truth in each of the stanzas. Such sweet reminders in these old simple hymns.
Okay Lord, thank you. I can surrender to you. I can move forward, being diligent with the things I can control, and entrust the rest of all the unknowns to You. You've given me all I need in Your Word. I simply need to love You and walk in Your ways. Help me to trust and obey.
I figured this special reminder would end there, but it didn't. After finishing my time in Deuteronomy, I flipped to the Psalms. Sometimes I like to read + pray through a Psalm that corresponds to the day of the month. It was the 20th, so I flipped to Psalm 20. The title?
"trust in the name of the Lord our God"
Guess this concept of trust wasn't going to be left in Deuteronomy. I read on, praying through it as I go:
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. The collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.”
Okay God, I think I have an understanding of what it means to trust, but do I really?
I want to trust You and walk in Your ways, but what does it actually mean to trust and how can I do it well?
Like the Blue Letter Bible-loving nerd that I am, I decide to look up the word used for "trust" in this passage. The word is zakar. HOWEVER. Get ready, friends. This same word is also used around 184 other times as a different English word. Which word? REMEMBER. WHAT.
When I don't know what's ahead, when there's so many unknowns and so many things I can't control, when I don't know which tracks to run on or feel deep anxiety or have no idea if any of this is actually going to work out, I must remember who my God is. I must remember what He's capable of. I must remember His goodness. I must hold fast to what He says about me and who He has called me to be. I must speak to my soul and remind it, as David did, to hope in the Lord because He is my exceeding joy (Psalm 42 + 43). As descendants of Adam, members of the human race, our souls are naturally forgetful. We must fight back against that. Dig into God's Word + get people around you who will be in this fight with you to trust and obey.
trust in the lord your god. remember who he is. renew your mind.
resources
Check out this version of Trust and Obey. Let the words sink in.
Read & pray through Psalm 42 + 43. Borrow David's raw & honest feelings if you can't seem to find words for your own right now. Remind your soul of who your God is.