Exchanging Knowledge for Trust

 

By: Sarah Geringer

Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge.

Proverbs 3:5 ERV

Exchanging knowledge for trust is the main spiritual lesson I'm learning now.

Since high school, I have had consistent scores on spiritual gift tests. Faith is my top gift, with knowledge and wisdom tying for second place.

These are gifts the Lord has given me through the Holy Spirit. They were not mine to choose - they are abundant blessings from God.

Yet I believe God is testing me in these areas because he's stretching my faith in this season. Though they are spiritual areas where I cannot operate without the Holy Spirit's help, God is sifting me anyway.

I'm learning that at times, I've trusted more in knowledge than in God himself. Isn't it easy for all of us to do this in the age of the internet, where answers are right at our fingertips?

Knowledge helps us feel secure. We feel less threatened when we know the facts. The gift of knowledge gives us grounding when things feel new, unfamiliar, or uncertain.

Knowledge is certainly not a bad thing. I wouldn't want to live without it! Yet over time, it can subtly put a barrier up between where we are now in our faith and the deeper faith God wants us to have.

I am starting to see that knowledge has become a barrier for me. Though it feels like a comforting friend, it has started to smother the deeper, more adventurous, more exciting faith God is calling me to have.

Are you willing to exchange knowledge for deeper trust in God? A faith adventure awaits if you do!

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Though I'm not throwing knowledge out the door, I'm learning to trust God more and more every day. These are the steps I'm taking to exchange my overdependence on knowledge for trust, which I hope inspire your faith.

• Every Sunday, I spend 15 minutes on my knees in prayer over a future I cannot see. I have a list of scriptures I pray through one at a time, with my hands open in surrender, while trusting God with an outcome I have no way of predicting.
• I keep scripture-based cards on display. In my bedroom and bathroom, I have cards that a friend gave me years ago that say, "My beloved, trust me - I have everything under control." When I look at these cards while getting ready for bed or putting on my makeup, I intentionally renew my trust in God's master plan, though I can't yet see what it looks like.
• Every night, I journal about God's work in my life. It's often easier to see God's hand at work in hindsight rather than moment by moment. So I write a few pages each night, looking back on them weekly to build my trust in God because I have more clues as to how he's at work. The journal entries also move me to surrender yet again, trusting God to reveal his plans at the right time for me.

I pray that as you are exchanging knowledge for trust, your faith will grow. Rather than turning to Google, social media, or even other people first for answers, turn to the Bible and ask God to help you trust him. He will give you the answers you need in his perfect timing, and while you wait, your job is to surrender and trust him more and more. 

You never know - a faith adventure may be just around the corner if you let go of a dependence on knowledge and throw your full trust on God!

Blessings and God's peace to you,

Sarah Geringer
Finding Peace in God's Word

Photo from Canva.com

Reflection questions:

1. When have you depended too much on knowledge? How did that impact your faith?

2. In which area is God asking you to trust him more? What step will you take to surrender your desire to know and instead rely on him?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.