11 A Friend in Troubled Moments
A FRIEND IN TROUBLED MOMENTS
I know my husband Ken almost (but not quite) like the back of my hand.
I’m not bragging, but honestly, there’s hardly a feeling he can hide from me. I know that when his eyes narrow more than usual, he’s worried. When his mouth stretches and his lips flatten in a certain funny way, he’s irritated. When he spends too much time leafing through fishing magazines, he’s depressed.
I also know there’s not much Ken likes to keep hidden from me. He’s the kind of guy who desires to be transparent, who invites me to know him on a deeper, more intimate level. And because I know Ken very well, I trust him. In fact, it’s almost in mathematical proportion: The more I get to know my husband, the greater my trust in him.
When it comes to our relationship with God, this knowledge-trust formula is more than a matter of mathematics. It’s a truth straight out of Scripture. King David put it this way: “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:10).
It’s cause and effect. A direct link. You can’t have one without the other. To know God—to walk in true intimacy with Him—is to trust Him.
That should be good news if you’ve been troubled lately by a lack of trust, an inability to depend on the Lord through big or little problems. There is an answer. If you want to increase your resolve to trust God, to rely on Him faithfully, to depend on Him consistently, then you must seek to know Him better.
Paul the apostle understood that. He put Psalm 9:10 into his own words when he wrote: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him.…” (2 Timothy 1:12; italics added). As far as Paul was concerned, he could unquestioningly trust God with his health, his income, his ministry, his relationships, simply because he had grown intimate with the Lord.
So how can you find intimacy with God?
Seek. Look. Search. And be encouraged! Scripture declares that if you “seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).
That verse gives me the impression God is calling us to spend time with Him beyond what we ordinarily plan. Extra moments outside of our usual Bible study or quiet time. Ah, but I can almost read your thoughts: Come on, Joni, get real. I have my quiet time each day, participate in asmall group ministry, and have nightly devotions with my spouse. And now I’m supposed to make MORE time?
Wait. It’s not so much that we “make more time” for Him. It’s more a matter of recognizing that all of our time is His.
Imagine, for instance, that you’re slumped on the couch watching a mindless sitcom on TV. During a commercial, the Spirit whispers, “Turn it off and spend a few moments with Me.” What’s your response?
Or let’s say you’re tossing and turning in bed, fretful that you can’t get to sleep. Out of nowhere the Spirit interrupts your anxiety with a quiet suggestion: “Why don’t you use this time to pray?” Do you?
Or maybe you have a choice between a new magazine that’s just come in the mail and your favorite devotional book. The Spirit intervenes, suggesting, “Let’s spend time together in that devotional you haven’t picked up in a while.” Which will it be?
God loves to break in beyond the bounds of the structured minutes we’ve scheduled for Him. To be honest, those are often the times where real intimacy with God begins. Trust can only increase when we redeem those precious, inopportune, untimely moments as ways to know Him better.
A Step Closer
When my anxious thoughts
multiply within me,
Your consolations delight my soul.
PSALM 94:19, NASB
In the verse above, did you notice when the psalmist experiences God’s comfort and companionship?
Right in the middle of an anxious day—
square in the midst of a sleepless, worry-torn night.
The Holy Spirit waits to flood your soul with His hope
and joy—even in your most troubled, pressure-filled moments.
Ask Him to do that today.