Trust and Obey
Growing up in Huntersville United Methodist Church, one of my favorite hymns was “Trust and Obey.” We sang it in Sunday School, in Vacation Bible School and we sang it during church on Sundays. Simple. Straight-forward. Easy for a child to understand. I think that’s why it was one of my favorites.
Listed as No. 467 in the United Methodist Hymnal, "Trust and Obey" was written by John H. Sammis in 1887 and beautifully illustrates the rewards of trusting God’s word and obeying His will.
1 When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2 Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey. [Refrain]
3 But we never can prove
the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows,
for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey. [Refrain]
4 Then in fellowship sweet
we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do,
where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.
I love the story behind this hymn. At a Massachusetts revival being held by Dwight L. Moody, a young man rose to his feet during testimony time and said, “I am not quite sure – but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.” The music conductor that night, Daniel Towner, was so moved by the young man’s testimony that he jotted down his words and kept them in his pocket. He later sent them to his friend, Rev. John H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister, who wrote the hymn that I, along with thousands of others, still sing today.
When I read that story, I was inspired by the young man at Dwight Moody’s revival whose genuine, spur-of-the-moment, pledge to trust and obey has no doubt influenced millions worldwide. His obedience wasn’t conditional. He wasn’t trying to be the boss. He didn’t test God. He wasn’t even sure. But he trusted and promised to obey God anyway. This is the level of obedience God wants all of us to have.
As we learned this week from studying Deuteronomy 6:16-19, when we put conditions on our obedience, we miss out of the fullness of what God is offering. When we trust and obey Him, we experience true joy.
Charles Spurgeon, a 19th century preacher, once wrote, “We will never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our deeds, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we are to overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by ‘looking to Jesus.’” I think that’s what it means to trust and obey.
“I’m going to trust, and I’m going to obey.” With my first cancer diagnosis, that became my life-plan. And in the nearly 10 years since, I can wholeheartedly attest that it’s been the reason for my happiness and joy.
Perhaps we make it harder than it needs to be. The God who created us and who loved us enough to do what we never could to conquer sin and death by sending Jesus to die and be raised again, that’s who we are trusting. That’s who we are obeying. We don’t have to understand everything. We can’t. We’re not God. But when we look at who Jesus is and what’s He’s done, how can we not trust and obey?
Brothers and sisters, will you join me in praying daily to center our hearts in the childlike faith of the young man at the Dwight Moody revival and to all the children singing “Trust and Obey”? Let’s be happy in Jesus together.
“I’m going to trust, and I’m going to obey.” Can’t be a better life-plan than that.
~ Nicole Bryan has been a member of LIFE Fellowship for over 10 years and holds a M.A. in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. She and her husband Callan have three children.