Week 36 — TUESDAY

A passage akin to the last one: “And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself shall come also” (Phil. 2:24). This trust that he would shortly come to them was never fulfilled. Was it then an illusion? No, for the phrase “trust in the Lord” saves it from all possible non fulfillment and consequent illusion. If he had left out the phrase “in the Lord” and made it a bare affirmation of faith, then it would have let him down. “In the Lord” gives a new dimension to the trust, for if we trust in the Lord, then He will give us the thing we hope to get, or something better. “Ask and it shall be given you”—not necessarily the thing we ask. He will give us that or something better. Paul was not released from prison, but the Lord let him come to the Philippians through his letters, and the world has come to the Philippians through those letters. So his “trust in the Lord” was bigger in its fulfillment than he could ever have dreamed.

The chief priests with the scribes and elders cried, as Jesus hung on the cross, “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now.” God didn’t deliver Him, however. Did His trust fail? No, for His trust was in God. God did something more through that trust—He delivered the world through Him—redeemed it. God answers all our prayers. He will give the thing asked for, or else He will give something better.

I saw a number of women with shaved heads. Their hair had been offered to a god: “If you do this for me, I’ll give you my hair.” This is a strict bargain. The Christian doesn’t bargain with God. He trusts in the Lord—knowing that the Lord will give the thing he asks for, or something better. Therefore “he who believes in Him will not be put to shame”—for the believer in Him gets what he asks, or he gets something better. Therefore he who trusts in the Lord always wins. If he trusts only he often loses, but if he trusts in the Lord he cannot lose. He always comes out on top.

Dear Lord, even when I come out underneath, I am on top when I am in You. In You everything that happens is for my best. It may have started with the devil, but by the time it gets to me in You, it is from You. Amen.

AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: I do not bargain with God, I trust His goodness and His love.