The 3 Essentials: All You Need for Success in Life by Casey Treat Page B

When I graduated Bible College, I had all my eschatology sorted out. I knew when the Rapture was coming and had figured out the millennium and all the various aspects of the last days. After thirty years of studying the Bible since then, I have come to the understanding that I know nothing. The more I learn, the more I know how little I actually know! Now, I don’t even try to figure it all out. I just trust in God.
    When Wendy and I were married in the late 1970s, we read a few books on relationships, took a few classes, and we thought we had this whole marriage thing figured out. We were confident we had everything we needed to make this thing work. While we have faced every challenge together and are stronger and more in love than ever, I still think I know less about how relationships work today than ever before. As our family grew and our kids matured, we kept facing new challenges. Throughout it all, I learned, and I am still learning. It just never gets to the place where you know everything and you have it all “figured out.” Every day, we simply put our trust in God. We don’t lean on our own understanding, and in all our ways, we acknowledge Him, and He directs our paths.
    We would be in trouble if we walked through our lives only by our own understanding. Every day we use inventions, gadgets, cars, and computers, and we have no idea how they work. Most of us have barely any knowledge of the technology we use throughout our day—but we don’t let that stop us. We still enjoy these things in our workplaces, in our schools, and in our homes. Can you imagine how difficult our day-to-day experiences would be if we refused to use any product or invention that we did not have complete understanding of? We wouldn’t even be able to get out of the door every morning! We wouldn’t be able to use the microwave, the hair dryer, the car, or the cell phone. And our food—just like I said in the last chapter when I was talking about my vitamins—we have no understanding how all our food is made and packaged or what the eighty-seven ingredients are in our energy drinks—but we consume them anyway.
    So why is it when it comes to the things of God that we believe we have to figure everything out before we trust? If we are willing to not lean on our own understanding when it pertains to the products of the world, why do we insist we have to grasp every spiritual concept before we will embrace it and trust in it? I cannot tell you how many times someone has told me they were not going to tithe because they could not figure out how God was going to help them prosper because they dropped a check in the offering bucket. Yet they trust the mystery meat in the hamburger at their favorite fast-food joint.
    Here’s a better idea: Let’s choose to trust in God at least as much as we trust in the world. Let’s put our faith in His ways, even when we don’t fully comprehend them. He’s the God of the Universe who loves us, who gave His Son to die for us, who is ready to move Heaven and Earth for us, and is patiently waiting to spend all of eternity with us—I think we can trust Him. Let’s not be wise in our own eyes, let’s lean not on our own understanding, but in all our ways, let’s acknowledge Him and then sit back and see what exciting things He can do in our lives.

But What If . . .
    I was lying in bed one night, wide awake. I’m not going to lie about it; the reason I couldn’t sleep was because I was worrying. I was thinking about our new building and all that needed to be done in order to complete it, about our finances, about how to finish the school building, and all sorts of scenarios these problems could cause. What if this happened? Or what if that happened? In the middle of it all, I felt the Holy Spirit bring a scripture to my mind: Do not worry.
    My first thought was, What? Who’s worrying? Then I realized, Dang! I have been lying here worrying! How long have I been doing that? Isn’t it funny how you