It’s hard to have patience–or in other words, it’s hard to “hold your horses”. It’s even harder to trust that better days are ahead when no signs of promise is near. When a parent or sibling’s ill it takes faith to trust that everything will turn out for the best. When a hurricane’s hit it takes faith to trust that better days are ahead. When a drought’s hit, it takes faith to trust that God will send rain.

Now FAITH is being SURE of what we HOPE FOR and Certain of what we do not SEE. Hebrew 11:1

Trust is knowing God has answered your prayer before you’ve spoken a word.

I once heard a story about two farmers, both desperately needed rain. And both prayed for rain. One farmer now waited for God to send the rain. The other farmer went out and prepared his fields. Which farmer do you think trusted God to send the rain?

In a lot of ways faith and trust are the same. You may ask, “why not just write about one then?” I found it very difficult to put one aside and only write about the other one. Nothing I wanted to say made sense without using both faith and trust. Perhaps this is because faith without trust does not work and trust without faith does not work. This is something that I need to remember; it helps me know to trust God. How would it work to have faith in God without trusting Him? If my faith is in God, my trust should also be in Him.

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10 ESV

When we put our trust in the Lord things become a lot easier. Have you ever noticed? I have. When I’m panting and pondering over what to do and how everything will turn out, if I pray for God to take the lead and trust in him to take care of everything, my heart becomes more carefree. The situation does not change right away and often times seems it never will. But the fact that I trust God and know He will not let me down changes everything already– in my heart. It changes the way I look at things. I once saw a dry landscape desperately needing rain, now I see a dry landscape awaiting the rain the Lord will send.

But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13:5,6 ESV

Like I said at the beginning, trusting better days are ahead when non are in sight is hard. But it’s also rewarding. Sometimes, if God doesn’t bring change right away, it’s because He has big plans for you in the midst of the troubles. We just need to trust Him.