Trusting God’s hand over your life is a delightful concept when all is well in your world. But what about when unforeseen, unexpected, or even painful situations happen? Trusting God in those moments is hard, at least it is for me.
Paul David Tripp said, “When your desires belong to the Lord, and you are fully content in Him, you can experience the best and brightest of lives, no matter how He answers your prayers.”
To be perfectly honest, it is hard for me to trust God when something hits me out of left field. Why? If I answer honestly it is because I think my plan for my life is better than his plan. One thing I appreciate so much about Paul is how honest he is. He struggles with the same things I struggle with (the same things you struggle with too). He often says, “there are no grace graduates.”
His latest Bible study on Proverbs has been especially encouraging to me. When he began publishing this series in 2022, I eagerly downloaded the transcripts from the videos. I collated those into a spiral-bound document and sat down to begin my study of Proverbs with Paul as my guide. I didn’t know what exactly to expect, but I am always up for reading anything Paul writes. Well, wow! It wasn’t a commentary on each individual Proverb but rather a “big picture” approach to the book. God used Paul’s study to impress upon me two realities. The first, that I’m not in charge. The second, that I can rest because I know the One who is in charge. Paul’s teaching is helping me to trust God in all circumstances, whether or not what follows is the path that I might have planned for myself.
I am thankful for Paul’s gift of communication. He takes things I already know about who God is and who I am, and he speaks those truths to me again and again through his teaching and writing! God uses these life-giving words to transform and encourage me. I am privileged to support the ministry of Paul David Tripp.