Grace to Trust Him More

“Jesus, Jesus, how I trust you. How I proved you o’er and o’er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus...

Oh, FOR GRACE TO TRUST YOU MORE.”

While that ends with a period, it is more a request than a statement for most of us; there is pleading in those words. Many of us sing this beautiful Hymn in our fellowships. Do we stop to examine what we are asking Jesus?

I watched the movie, The Infidel. There’s a scene where the protagonist pleads for his persecutor to show mercy, “please don’t hurt me anymore!” That request is a natural plea of the flesh. They heard him and responded, “all you need to do is confess your transgression.” They demanded he denounces Jesus as God, relegating Jesus to just a teacher.

Because of the great acting of Jim Caviezel, as the protagonist, you could see the request in his countenance, “oh, for Grace to trust you more?” And to his captures, he admonished, “bring it on!” Wording paraphrased so as not to take the scene's impact from you if you watch this movie. He went from pleading from the flesh to standing in the Grace of God. The Grace that came in the moment it was necessary.

“Oh, for GRACE to TRUST YOU More?”

GRACE TO TRUST HIM MORE, signed and delivered for those who genuinely wish to grow from responding in the flesh to saying, “bring it on!” “Oh, for Grace...”. I will trust YOU more.

In moments of difficulty, we get to respond one of two ways. Like the protagonist in the movie, crushing pain easily allows the flesh to rise and request, “please, don’t hurt me anymore?” This is where faith is tested. Grace is not usually delivered until we step out to trust God in whatever circumstance. Then his grace becomes sufficient. The unexplainable ability to trust him flows over and through us outside our power to produce. It is he alone, through his Spirit, that the power comes. Well, that is according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9. This reality is seen in Scripture Joshua 3:13, Joshua 6:1-27, and Mark 5:24-34, and there are more examples I can point out. Think about it like this, if God let us see the results before we stepped out in faith, how would we know we had a convicting faith?

God gives us a plethora of opportunities to TRUST HIM MORE. There are small moments, and there are life-changing circumstances. In the end, He wants us to trust him more to prove to you and me that He is faithful. Mark 9:24, "Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief" is a similar cry to God. Jesus helped him believe, but he asked the man where his belief was. Jesus knew he struggled but needed him to say it. The father in this passage could have walked away; many did. Instead, paraphrasing, he asked, "Oh, for grace to trust you more?"