Winter 1989
Trusting His Fathfulness
Wade E Taylor

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" Phil 1:6.

One of the problems that we face in our Christian experience is being able to trust the faithfulness of the Lord, especially when we are going through trying times and do not understand what He is doing. This makes it difficult for us to completely commit our lives into His hands.

Some years ago, the Lord allowed me to go through a severe test involving the home we lived in. Our income had been cut off and we were unable to pay the rent. The rental agency sent us a registered letter saying that we had to move within the next week, unless the rent was paid in full.

The time expired, and we were told that we would be moved into the street. However, I felt the Lord saying that we were not to leave, but trust Him to provide the rent. While praying, I said to the Lord, "If You do not intervene soon, this will become the worst mess that anyone has ever seen." It was an impossible situation with no apparent way through.

I continued to trust, and did not move. A short time later the Lord, in a very unusual way, provided the rent and we were able to stay. Through this experience I learned that I could trust the faithfulness of the Lord to do as He said He would.

There are times when we find ourselves in situations where we feel as if we were blindfolded with our hands tied behind our backs. All we can see is a "gang plank" before us, while something sharp is pressing into our backs telling us that we should walk off the end into nothing. This "gang plank" is usually a set of circumstances that the Lord has specifically arranged so as to accomplish within us something that He desires. It will seem to us, as we walk off the end, that we have been totally let down by the Lord, BUT ...,

He permits these things to convince us of His faithfulness and to teach us that we can trust Him. Before we can become His bride, we must experience what it means to be totally dependent upon Him for all things. "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, LEANING upon her beloved?" Song Solomon 8:5a.

The Lord has wonderfully proven Himself to me. Each time that I seemingly have been forced to walk off the end of this gang plank, I have discovered that I land right in His arms. This has produced within me a spiritual stability and trust toward the Lord that is beyond all that I could have learned in any other way. I have experienced the faithfulness of my Heavenly Bridegroom. I have experientially learned that I can trust Him.

We may be hesitant, but the Lord will patiently lead us to the place where we can put our implicit trust in Him. This is not easy, for this ability to trust Him can only be wrought out through experience on the anvil of life. It can be said with all confidence, "If we completely trust our lives into His hands, He will bring us through." However, we must recognize that there is a difference between presumption and obedience. We must know that He is leading us.

There was another experience that the Lord allowed me to go through to bring about a correction in my walk with Him. In 1960, while a student at Pinecrest, the Lord prompted me to set aside the weekly checks that came from the sale of the business I had owned. My school bill began to climb as I had no other available funds. Before long I was called into the business office about my overdue account. I could not tell them why I was unable to pay. I was told that the overdue amount had to be paid in full within ten days or I was to leave.

A few days later, the Lord began to show me many things about Abraham. The Lord told Abraham to go into a land that He would show him. When Abraham arrived, there was a severe famine. He had not experienced the faithfulness of the Lord at this time. Therefore, he left and went to Egypt for provision. While there, he got into a lot of trouble.

The Lord caused me to understand that Abraham should have considered that the Lord told him to come. Consequently, the Lord was responsible and would have caused the very desert to spring up as a table of plenty. Instead, he turned to Egypt, which is a type of the world system, for provision.

The next day, I was told that a factory in town was hiring. I could go in, prepared for work, and start immediately. This seemed so good to me. I would be able to go to the business office and tell them that I was working and could pay my school bill. Quickly, the Lord reminded me concerning all that He had shown me about Abraham. He caused me to know that I was about to go to "Egypt" to have my needs met, rather than trusting Him. It was not easy to say no, but I had no choice. I was to patiently trust the Lord and wait for His provision.

When only three of the ten days remained, I had a very unusual experience. As I stood on a ladder spackling a high ceiling, I said the following within myself; "In the past, the Lord has always made a way through each difficult time. This is the same voice telling me to set this money aside. If this is truly the Lord, He will make a way through. If not, I need to know. I will get down from this ladder and tell the business office that I cannot pay my bill. Then I will pack and leave. Though I do not understand, I will serve the Lord anyway."

As soon as I made this decision, a very heavy presence of the Lord came upon me. So much so, that I had to bend over the top of the ladder to keep from falling off. The Lord clearly spoke within me and said, "This is what I wanted to hear. Now, use the money that is set aside to pay your school bill." I was very disappointed, as I wanted to go to the office and tell them that I could not pay. I thought that something spectacular would happen when I did. Reluctantly, I paid the amount due to the school.

A short time later, the Lord gave me further understanding concerning Abraham. Isaac was the result of a promise that had been given to Abraham and Sarah. Because of impossible circumstances and the greatness of this miracle, Abraham now loved Isaac more than the Lord who had given him. A correction was necessary, therefore Abraham was told to go up the mount and offer Isaac. Then the Lord showed me that I also had received a promise which was affecting my relationship to Him.

My promise was Pinecrest. While waiting on the Lord in the fall of 1959, I had been caught up and engulfed in visible glory. I did not hear words or see a form. Rather, this brilliant moving glory, as it went thru me, became understanding. I began to know that I would become the president of a Bible school at Pinecrest. I understood that I was to teach the importance of coming into a personal relationship with the Lord, and prepare lives for His visitation.

This revelation began to occupy me so much that I neglected the times of communion with the Lord that I once enjoyed. I became so involved with trying to understand "how and when" that the Lord had to deal with me in order to draw me back to Himself.

Consequently, a correction had to come. The Lord said, "You have come to love your 'Isaac' (Pinecrest) more than me. Therefore I led you to the mount(I was on top of a ladder) with your 'Isaac' to offer him. You raised the knife by saying, 'I will leave Pinecrest and serve you anyway.' Then I knew that you were ready to slay your Isaac (Pinecrest) in obedience and I was satisfied." Again, the Lord was first in my life because a correction had been made. This was all that the Lord wanted of Abraham. When he raised the knife, Isaac became second in Abrahams life. He had restored the Lord to first place.

This vision from the Lord came into being. I am at Pinecrest as He had revealed. Now I understand that Pinecrest is not mine, it belongs to the Lord for "Isaac" has been given back to the Lord. I can truly trust in the faithfulness of the Lord to lead me through all of the pressures that I face at Pinecrest.

The Lord has a purpose that He desires to work out in each of our lives. At times it may seem to us as though it will lead us off the end of the "gangplank" into nothing. However, He will abide faithful and catch us in His arms as we seemingly "fall." This has been proven to me many times. I could have gone to work and paid my school bill, but the loss would have been eternal.

The Lord may allow us to face circumstances that appear impossible, that He might reveal His faithfulness to us. Then He will be able to bring us to the place where we can, in loving trust, submit to and become dependent upon Him. As His bride, He has a right to expect this of us.

The Bride said, "Draw me, we will run after thee." To "run" means a reckless daring, where we implicitly trust Him "in spite of" rather than "because of." No longer can our responsibilities be a hindrance or an excuse. So often, we miss the Lord at this point.

A young man had a very good position. The Lord began to speak to him about moving to another area. He found that his company had a branch office there and were willing to transfer him. Then he said, "I will go, only if they pay me more than I am making now." He had not learned to be obedient to the leading of the Lord, nor to trust His faithfulness. The Lord does not accept us on the basis of our terms. This is why the Lord said, "IF ANY MAN will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me" Matt16:24. Notice that the Lord said "if." It is up to us to obey.

He leads us through these dark places, but afterwards, when the light breaks, we discover that we have a new, deeper understanding of God. While I was going through my experience on top of the ladder, the thought of Abraham never occurred to me. It was later, while waiting on the Lord that understanding came. Then I understood the experience that I had gone through. It resulted in my having a deeper confidence in the Lord. It built something into the very fiber of my being that strengthened me.

I had come to the place in my relationship to the Lord where I was able to take a step in obedience to Him, even if it did not seem reasonable, or if I did not understand. I was able to lean upon the Bridegroom, in total trust.

This Scripture has become a reality to me. "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will He give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will He give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him?" Matt 7:9-11.

We need only to trust Him, and then wait.