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Lifeway.com/Trustworthy Why, God? 

Pursuing answers to why God allows hard things has never given me the peace I want. Honestly, even if God did tell me why, I probably wouldn’t see enough of His big picture to agree with Him. I don’t think answers to our “why” questions would make our circumstances better or give us a peace in the midst of them.

So, I have to pursue something different. After learning about these kings’ struggles, I’m choosing to pursue learning how to daily rely on God in the midst of circumstances that make me resistant to trust.

C. S. Lewis said, “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” 1 When we rely on God daily, we can experience the fruit of trust. Scripture outlines a variety of outcomes that will come about as we make the decision to declare our God is trustworthy rather than determine whether or not He’s trustworthy because of our circumstances.

Here are some attributes of God we can bank on in declaring He is trustworthy:

Unchangeableness (immutability)—God is unchanging in His being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God is not robotic. God does have feelings. He feels love, compassion, righteous anger, and grief. But, unlike humans, His emotions are always in line with His true, sinless character. His character does not shift with His emotions.

Wisdom (divine intelligence) 2—God always chooses the best goals and the best means to accomplish those goals.

Knowledge (omniscience)—God knows all things in their entirety. There is nothing hidden from God. Because God knows all things and sees all things, only He sees the big picture of which we see in part.

Righteousness (justice)—God always acts in accordance with what is right and is Himself the final standard of what is right.

Peace (order)—God is not the author of confusion and disorder, yet He is active in the midst of confusion to bring about His eventual fully controlled order.

Which one of these attributes speaks most deeply to your heart right now?

1. (C. S. Lewis, Words to Live by: A Guide for the Merely Christian, ed. Paul F. Ford, Adobe Digital Edition (HarperCollins e-books, 2009), 291.)

2. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1938), 69.

This plan was adapted from Trustworthy: A Study of 1 & 2 Kings by Lysa TerKeurst. For more information about Trustworthy, visit Lifeway.com/Trustworthy.