TRUSTING GOD, MOMENT BY MOMENT
by Eric Elder
The Ranch
I’d like to encourage you today to put your trust in God for just one moment. Whatever you’re facing, whatever you’re working through, whatever you’re dealing with or wondering about, put your trust in Him for just one moment.
Trust Him that He can walk you through it. Trust Him that He will help you all along the way. Trust Him that He will never leave you or forsake you, that He will never leave you alone, that He is working things out behind the scenes in ways that You could never imagine.
I shared a story yesterday at my son’s graduation ceremony about his commitment to working hard on the things he loves. My wife and I homeschooled all six of our kids, and this was our fourth to graduate from high school. I was speaking to a group of fellow homeschooling families in the area who had gathered to celebrate twenty-two seniors who were graduating this year. I said:
“We hit a pretty major bump in our homeschooling road about four years ago when my wife was diagnosed with cancer, and sadly she passed away just nine months after her diagnosis. Since I work from home, my wife wanted me to keep homeschooling the kids, as long as I felt it was doable for me and working for them. There were plenty of days when I wasn’t sure if it was doable for me or working for them, but we had had days like that before, so we all kept at it. I felt like some things were slipping through the cracks, though, like continuing their piano lessons. I had taught them for years when they were younger, and we had hired teachers for them at other times, but it had been awhile since any of my kids had played at all. I kept telling myself I should get them back into the piano because they were all really good at it, but I hadn’t been able to do it yet.
“One night I came home from an event and heard my son playing an incredible piece on the piano. I hadn’t heard him play in a long time and had never heard that particular piece before. I was stunned, and I asked him when he learned to play it. He said, “Every time you’re gone, I’ve been working on it. I was going to wait until I had finished the whole piece to play it for you.” I about burst into tears. (And I also thought, “I should leave more often!”) But it really spoke to my heart that even when I feel the weakest in my abilities, I can trust my kids to God and His abilities, because He’s able to do way more for them than I ever could. I also learned that I can trust my kids, that if there’s something they really want to learn, they will.”
I had no idea that God, and my son, were already working behind the scenes. As I shared that story yesterday, I was reminded that I could trust God for the things I’m facing today, and will face tomorrow, and the next day, to.
I wrote a song for the piano about twenty years ago called “Moment By Moment.” I wrote it after having attended a conference where the topic one night was about the power of trusting God, even for just one moment. The speaker asked us if we thought we could put our trust in Him for just one moment, that moment, right then. Yes, I thought. I can certainly trust Him for a moment. She then asked if we could trust Him again for the next moment, the one we were now experiencing. Yes, of course, that was easy, too. I could trust Him for another moment.
She said that if we could just keep trusting God like that, moment by moment, those moments would add up to minutes, and minutes would add up to hours, then days, then months, then years. If we can keep trusting God moment by moment, we’ll eventually end up trusting Him for the rest of our lives. “Don’t underestimate what God can do in a moment,” she said. I had to agree. There’s power in trusting God, even if it’s just for one moment.
When I wrote that song almost twenty years ago, I was just getting started with writing music. Although I loved playing the piano and had played my whole life, I had never written anything on my own until a friend walked up to me one day while I was practicing the piano and he gently closed the piano book in front of me. “Play now,” he said. “I’d like to hear what you’d play if you didn’t have someone else’s music in front of you.”
I stared at the closed book. Then stared at him. Then I stared back at the closed book again. I had no idea what to play! I had never played a song without sheet music in front of me. I sat there for over an hour, looking at the closed book, looking at my hands on the keys, and talking to my friend about why I didn’t know how to do what he was asking me to do.
But because of my friend’s gesture of closing the book in front of me, and his genuine interest to hear what I would play if I were to play what was written on my heart, not just what was written on the page, I gave it a try.
Over the next few weeks, I began turning those heart songs into piano songs that others could listen to and enjoy. “Moment By Moment” was one of the songs that came out, as I reflected on what might happen if I were to really trust God, even in a moment like that.
Last weekend, I had a chance to play that song on stage at our church during a time of communion. As I played, I couldn’t help but reflect back to the time when I first wrote that song, almost twenty years earlier– and how much God had done in my life over through those twenty years. I was now playing the music that was written on my heart, and letting God use it to touch the hearts of several thousand who had gathered to worship Him that morning.
Praise God! I had trusted Him moment by moment, and all of those moments had turned into minutes, then hours, then days and months and years.
“Don’t underestimate what God can do in a moment,” as the speaker had encourage us to do all those years ago.
Keep putting your trust in Him, moment by moment. And when you you, you, and many others around you, will be blessed.
P.S. You can listen “Moment By Moment” (and all of our music) on our website for free anytime day or night. It’s the first track at this link on my album called “Clear My Mind.”
P.P.S. If you play the piano, or know someone who does, you can also get a copy of the piano book for “Moment By Moment” and all twelve songs from my album “Clear My Mind.” Just click this link to get a copy in paperback for a donation of any size to our ministry, or from these links for our NEWLY AVAILABLE ebook version for Kindle or iBooks. Enjoy!
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