Shaken or established?

Last Sunday morning, I continued to teach from Proverbs on the subject of trusting God. This time, I began with the following verse:

No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved (shaken). (Proverbs 12:3 ESV)

Similarly, another proverb says:

When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever. (Proverbs 10:25 ESV)

Everyone faces storms in their life... the tempest is always near. What happens when the storm is blowing your world away? Do you find yourself shaken? Or do you find yourself established?

The way we respond to "storms" in our lives could be one way to evaluate whether we are truly trusting in God or if we are still leaning on our own understanding. These storms can come in the form of health or financial problems... job woes... relationship issues... but, they all boil down to one thing: Can you trust God even when he acts in a way that you do not expect?

As I've mentioned before, this concept of "trust" is about finding our safety and security in God alone. As long as we continue to trust what we can explain and what we can understand, then we are still leaning on our own understanding. If we find that we can stand firm - established - seeking safety and security in God alone even when life does not go as we expect, then we know that we are learning to trust him.