“Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus” has been a wonderful encouragement to many across the years.  If you have never heard the story behind the hymn, you can watch this video on You tube.   The following article is a brief synopsis of the message that was shared.

Learning how to Trust God begins with the wonderful promises that God gives.  One of the promises He gives is in Philippians 4:19 “My God will supply all that you need  from His glorious resources in Christ Jesus.”   What does this include?  Everything.

However, The Bible tells us that with every promise there is a condition.  There is a premise with every promise.  One of the conditions for this promise is you have to trust Him.  The more you trust God, the more God is able to meet needs in your life.  The less you trust God the fewer needs He’s able to meet in your life.

The Bible says there is a faith factor involved.  In Matthew 9:29, Jesus said, “According to your faith it will be done unto you.”  In other words, God says, “You get to choose how much I bless your life.  It’s according to your faith.  The more you trust Me, the more needs I can meet.  The less you trust Me, the fewer needs I can meet.”  How beautiful it is that it is in the everyday moments of life we can learn to trust God.

The obvious question then is how can I learn to trust God more so that I can have God meet all of my needs?  Another way to phrase this question is How can I learn to have greater faith? Faith is an interesting substance.  You can increase your faith by listening to the Word or studying the Bible, but faith is also like a muscle. The more you use a muscle the stronger it gets.  The more you use the little faith that you’ve got, the more it gets stretched.  And the more it gets stretched, the more God is able to bless your life.

God doesn’t waste anything!  You will need to use your faith simply as you walk through life.   He takes all of life, even the painful parts, the test and trials and uses that to show us about our faith. The Bible says in 1 Peter 1:7 “These trials are only to test your faith to show that it is strong and pure.”

This message is about the most common trials.  Chances are you’re in one of these tests right now. Whether you are or not, I guarantee you, over your life you will go through these four tests over and over again.  When you go through them you can say to yourself, “This is an opportunity for me to develop my faith so I can trust God more so He can bless my life more.”

The four common tests of life:

1. THE PRESSURE TEST

The big question is “Will I depend on myself or will I depend on God?”   Of course, God wants us to depend on Him and turn to Him bringing every need to Him immediately.  Psalm 50:15 “I want you to trust Me in your times of trouble so I can rescue you and you can give Me glory.”

God says, I want you to turn to Me when you’re in trouble, not to other things.   We usually have God about number nine or ten on the list.  We turn to everything else first to relieve stress before we turn to God.   Some turn to alcohol, or pills, or shopping, or eating.  We all have our own little stress relievers. And all the time God patiently waits until we turn to Him. Why don’t you take the pressures and stress of life right now and completely give all of that to Jesus?

In the chorus of the hymn “Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus” there is a beautiful line. The line says, “Oh for grace to trust Him more.”   That grace to trust Him more will only come when we turn to God and look to Him to meet our every need.   The author of the hymn turned to God when she faced the pressure of losing her husband and not having enough money.  What pressures are you under today? Turn to God.

2. THE PEOPLE TEST

God often uses people in your life to test and stretch and develop your faith.  Life is often disappointing.  But the most disappointing thing in life for many are those who are close to them in their life.  Almost all of humanity shares the common experience of feeling disappointed in the people that are closest to them. The author to “Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus” was obviously disappointed when her husband drown and they found themselves without food to eat or money to live on.  While this is a different type of disappointment than most of us will ever experience. The author of this hymn had to learn how to trust God with the people in their life. And so do we!

People fail us. They sin against us. They hurt us. They promise things that they can’t or won’t do.  So what can we do?  The answer is to trust God with the people in our life.

We get disappointed by people when we expect them to meet a need in our life that only God Himself can meet.  The problem in our life is not the people in our lives. The problem many times is our response to the people in our life.  Do we make allowance for the weakness of others?  Will we distance ourselves when we are hurt? Or will we bring it all to Jesus?  Will we trust that God is big enough to work all those things out.

Many times only God can help us through things in life.  I simply want to declare that the answer is God.  When you expect other people to be your savior, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.  The Bible says this in Isaiah 2:22 “You should stop trusting in people to save you because people are only human.” 

 Don’t expect a person to be the answer to all your problems.  It’s not going to happen.  If you do that you’re going to set yourself up for more hurt.  There is only one Savior, Jesus Christ.  Stop expecting anyone or anything else to be your savior.

Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made Him [not other people] their hope and confidence.”   What happens if you do this?  Look at God’s promise in Isaiah 49:23 “Anyone who trusts in Me will not be disappointed.”

When you trust in God you will not be disappointed.  So we need to analyze how we are doing trusting God with the people in our life. Are you going to handle disappointment by complaining and griping and crying and grieving and worrying? Or maybe we may even grow bitter or angry.  Or are we going to give the people in our life to God, asking God to deal with them, change them, and work things out?  Are you going to accept that God knows what’s best, that God has a loving plan for your life, that God loves you and knows what you need more than you do, that He’s in control.

And that even the disappointments in your life have a positive purpose whether you understand it or not.  It’s a test.  Are you going to trust God with the things that disappoint your life?  The Bible says, “Anyone who trusts in Me will not be disappointed.”  Why not declare your trust in Him right now.

3. THE PERSISTENCE TEST

One of the great places where we need to trust God is when we are tempted to give in to discouragement or give up on the commitments we have in life. Trusting God and the question “Will I keep my commitments?” go hand in hand.

Life is about making commitments.  Your life is shaped by your commitments.  Your character is developed by your commitments.  Your success is influenced by your commitments.  Your eternal destiny is determined by your commitments so you’d better choose what you’re committed to very carefully:  heaven and hell are in the balance.  You become whatever you’re committed to.  The problem we have today is that most people are half committed to two dozen things instead of being totally committed to the one or two things in life that really matter for now and eternity.

The sign of emotional and spiritual maturity is you make and you keep wise commitments.  Have you come to the place where you can keep your commitments even when things are not going well?

If things aren’t going well in your marriage, can you trust God to turn it around and stay committed? If things aren’t going well in your business, can you stay committed and trusting God to give you the wisdom you need? The enemy definitely want you to not persist in commitments to serve, and love, and be a part of ministries.  Can you keep a commitment during a downward turn or setback in ministry, trusting God to turn it all around?

Be persistent! Walk the walk of faith and trusting God until God brings the victory.  The author of “Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus” kept her commitment to God even though everything had went bad in her life, she lost her husband, she suffered lack, and she persisted in her faith.  God honored it and supplied her need. That persistent faith was lived out in her life by her becoming a missionary.

Eccl. 8:5 “The wise man will find a time and a way to do what he says.”  The wise person figures out a way to keep his or her commitments.  The weak person cops out.  The weak person says, “I made that commitment but I’m going to blow it off.  I made that commitment back then but I’m not going to follow through on that one.  I didn’t really mean it.  Times/Circumstances have changed.”

Weak people give excuses.  Wise people find the time and way to do what they say they will do. Do you want to be a weak person or do you want to be a wise person?  This is a test.  It’s a test of the kind of character you’re going to develop.  The Bible says in Psalm 15 that “God blesses the person who keeps his vows even when it hurts.”  That’s the kind of person God blesses.

4. THE PRIORITIES TEST

This is the most important test of all.  You will have this one many, many times.  The priorities test in life is Who will be first in my life?  What will be first in my life?

One of the great promises of the Bible deals with this test.  Matthew 6:33 (New Living Translation) “Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs and He will give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the kingdom of God your primary concern.”

You have legitimate needs in your life.  They are legitimate and they are real.  God has promised to meet every one of those needs if you put Him first in every area of your life. We have learned that it is easier to say God is number one than to actually live it out.

How do you know if God is really first priority in your life?  Simply answer these questions with an honest heart.

1. What do I think about the most?  When I have free time what does my mind naturally wander toward?  Whatever you think about the most is what’s the most important thing in your life.

2. Where does my money go first?  The Bible says, “Where your treasure is, your heart will be also.”  It determines your priorities.  It reveals them.

3. How do I spend my time?  That reveals the priorities in my life.

When we learn to make God number one in our life, we will see God come through again and again. His word is true! He does not lie.  As we put Him first, he will come through for us!

Like the author of the great hymn,  “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” you also will be able to declare “How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er.” Let me encourage you! Trust him.   Trust Him with the pressures you face in life by calling out to him as soon as possible.   Trust Him with the people in your life by praying for them and believing God for the best. Trust Him by asking God to give you persistence as you complete the commitments you have made.  Trust God by putting Jesus first in all that you do.

If you do the above you also will say, tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.