Trust and Obey

Recently, my mom picked up an old hymnal at a thrift store in Michigan and we had a lovely time leafing  through it on the drive home. Though I hadn’t heard many of those hymns in decades, the words came flooding back to me, as well as precious memories of my grandmother singing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” while scratching my back to help me fall asleep.

Those hymns were the soundtrack of my early childhood. As a little girl, I found them comforting and formative. Though my spiritual journey would eventually lead to Orthodoxy, and though the hymns of my youth would wane in popularity as I got older, they laid a foundation of love for God I would continue building upon in the years ahead.

Revisiting those hymns, I connected with their accessibility and earnestness. One in particular really jumped out at me as immediately recognizable and relevant to my current season of life:

Trust and obey

For there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus

But to trust and obey

Honestly, that’s exactly where I’m at these days. Most of my spiritual efforts revolve around those two commandments: entrusting my circumstances and loved ones to Christ and obeying the Holy Spirit in the littlest of things. An antidote to overthinking, trusting and obeying keeps my mind in the here and now, just focusing on trying to do the next good, right, obedient thing. It is a simple yet powerful prescription for rest and transformation, making room for all kinds of miracles in my heart, home, and relationships.

When the future feels overwhelming and my hope has grown dim, trusting and obeying revives my tired faith and keeps me inching forward. I take courage in the heritage passed down to me of running to God for refuge in the midst of life’s many storms.  I carry these songs in my heart as anthems of fortitude and perseverance.

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer!

Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge--
take it to the Lord in prayer!
Do your friends despise, forsake you?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he'll take and shield you;
you will find a solace there.

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