Trust Ye in the Lord for Ever
We develop trust in God through the trials and difficulties that challenge our faith and force us to rely on Him.
A.B. Simpson emphasizes that trials are essential for developing trust in God, illustrating that difficulties serve as divine incentives that cultivate our confidence in His faithfulness and love. He compares God's teaching methods to an eagle that must push her young out of the nest, forcing them to rely on their own abilities to fly. In the same way, God sometimes removes our comforts and supports, leading us to a place where we must learn to trust Him completely. This process, though challenging, reveals the presence of God beneath us, encouraging us to walk by faith rather than sight. Ultimately, Simpson teaches that true faith prepares us for an eternal relationship with God, where He is our everything.
Text
Trial is the fruitful soil of trust. Difficulties are the divine incentives which demand and develop our confidence in the divine faithfulness and love. The eagle can only teach her young by tearing up her nest and hurling them out in mid-air, where, thrown upon their own resources, they must either fly or fall. As they strike out upon the air in desperate struggles, they find the secret of a new life and gradually learn to beat their way through the pathless firmament.
So God teaches His children to use the wings of faith by stirring up their nests, taking away their props and often flinging them out into an abyss of helplessness, where they must either sink or learn to trust.
They throw themselves upon the seeming void to find that God is there beneath them like the supporting wing which the eagle stretches forth beneath her faint and faltering brood. It is so easy for us to lean upon the things that we can see and feel that it is an entirely new experience for us to stand alone and walk with the unseen God. . . . But it is a lesson we must learn if we are ever to dwell in the eternal realm, where faith shall be our only sense and God shall be our All in all.
Sermon Outline
- The Necessity of Trust
- God's Method of Teaching Trust
- The Result of Trust
- Finding God beneath us like the supporting wing of the eagle
- Learning to walk with the unseen God
Key Quotes
“Trial is the fruitful soil of trust.” — A.B. Simpson
“God teaches His children to use the wings of faith by stirring up their nests, taking away their props and often flinging them out into an abyss of helplessness, where they must either sink or learn to trust.” — A.B. Simpson
Application Points
- We must learn to stand alone and walk with the unseen God in order to develop trust in Him.
- God's method of teaching trust is to stir up our nests and take away our props, forcing us to rely on Him alone.
- The result of trusting in God is finding Him beneath us and learning to walk with the unseen God.