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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

3 Unexpected Ways Learning to Trust Will Change Your Life

by Chautona Havig · 2 Comments

“Help.”

I don’t even remember who I was talking to, but I suspect it was my editor, Christy.  However, I do remember the answer.  “Okay. What’s up?”

Everyone needs friends like this!!!

“I’ve done contentment and acceptance, in the Journey of Dreams Series, but I realized I don’t have a deliberate theme that evokes an obvious change in people’s lives.”

Of course, she wanted a whole rundown of everything I knew I was putting into the book.

Of course.

By the time I finished, we’d already thrown out a couple of options. Still, we’d both latched onto the idea of trust.  It just fit Madison and her needs best.

That led me to the obvious question.  “Okay, so how do we see a lack of trust physically manifest in someone’s life?  In Prairie, they age. In Highlands, they go blind.  I’m not doing deaf. Just sayin’.”

Thankfully, she didn’t try to talk me out of it.  This is Christy (I think), and if she wants to talk me into or out of something, it’s like she’s E.F. Hutton (and there I just showed my age. For you whippersnappers, see the video below to understand.

After throwing out everything from becoming crippled (you know, by fear instead of trust) to gallstones (because, bitterness… and so forth), we hit it.

I just needed to learn more about trust.  What it is, how I can use it, what the Bible says about it.

Let’s face it.  When people think of Bible verses on trust, they think of Proverbs 3:5-6.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

I wanted more.  So, I dug deeper, and this is what I found.

3 Unexpected Ways Learning to Trust Will Change Your Life

Note: links are affiliate links that may provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

3 Unexpected Ways Learning to Trust Will Change Your Life

Psalm 56:3-4

When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?”

As I studied this verse, I saw one thing I hadn’t noticed before.  It’s a cycle.  First, I’m afraid. So, I put my trust in the only One who can truly protect me. I trust the Word of the Lord and praise Him. At that point, I’ve put my trust there, so I won’t be afraid now.

It just comes full circle.  Fear leads to trust, which leads to the Word, which leads to more trust, which prevents the next fear.  It’s a picture of using the Word to drive out the lies that we tell ourselves.  All those things we fear?  It’s nothing compared to what the wrath of God will do to those who reject Him.

So, in the grand scheme of things, “What can man do?  My God is bigger than that.”  I did not expect to see a progression laid out for me like that.  Now when those little fears creep in (you know, like today and my doctor’s appointment.  Wanna know what I’m afraid of?  You can laugh already. Trust me, I am.  Whatever he’s going to say is going to delay the writing I have planned.

*sits back until everyone gets done with their inner-jogging workouts.*

Anyway, when those things happen, I discovered that I can look at where I am and how I’m responding and see my growth. How cool is that?

That brought a new verse that seemed to build on it.

Psalm 37: 4-5

Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it.

Verse four jumped out at me when I looked up verse five.  After all, it’s the “theme verse” of the entire Journey of Dreams series!

So, with that in mind, I really looked at “Commit your way to the Lord.”    I dug deep.  I was astounded by what I found. The Hebrew word we translate to “commit” means to “roll or roll away.”  I did not start singing when the “Roll Is Called up Yonder!” Wrong roll, people! Okay, that’s a lie I totally did.

But it says to “roll away…” and then the word for way is “a road, a course of life, mode of action.”  So, roll away your course of life or the kind of action you take…

And then we get to trust (after obviously acknowledging that we do this to GOD).  Trust means, “to trust, be confident or sure.”  So, now this reads:

Roll away your course of life or the kind of action you take to the Lord and be confident and sure that…”

“He will do it.”  Seriously.  The word means, “Do or make it.”  Now… to really drill this down into Chautona’s uneducated translationishness we get…

As you go down the course of life or take certain kinds of actions, roll them to the Lord (or roll all the fears and lacks of trust away from you) and be confident and sure that He will do for you what He needs to do.”

And seriously, do we want any more or less than just that?

I had no clue that this verse had such cool pictures that went with it. Not only that, it fits beautifully with the preceding verse, because with all this that he says he’ll do here? Yeah. This is what happens when we “delight” ourselves in Him.  This becomes the desire of our hearts. We desire Him to direct those paths that Solomon talks about in Proverbs 3:6.

I can’t seem to get this verse out of my head.  Every time I think about trust now, I think, “I just need to roll that over to the Lord. I can be confident He’ll take care of it for me or He’ll show me what He wants me to do to take care of it.”

In other words, my mom was right again.  Shocker.  When she says, “Chautona, God’s got this.”  It’s not flippant. It’s just succinct and a kick in the butler to stop trying to do God’s job for Him. He’s better at it than I could ever be, right?

Psalm 9:10

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

This one threw me for a loop.  Do you see what it says?  “Those who know Your name.”  Period.  Those people will… do what?  “Trust You.”  Period.  Exclamation point. It’s kind of like, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) It’s pretty simple.  And yet, it’s not.

The same is true of this one. And like the first one we looked at, Psalm 56:3-4, there’s a cycle. We know God’s name and it produces faith in us (Faith comes by hearing—Romans 10:17).  We put our trust in Him (through repentance—Acts 2:38). And He will never leave or forsake us (reiterated for us from the Old Testament in Hebrews 13:5).

If the Lord never leaves us or forsakes us, if we know His name, we’ll put our trust in Him. And He will not… do you see it?

Over and over, God shows us His amazing love that, even among our ficklenesses and weaknesses, He never leaves.  We do. We walk away.  The things in this life weigh us down and we become like Peter… catching sight of the waves and taking our eyes off Jesus.

But He’s always there.  In the waves with us.  Holding out His hand, being that beautiful picture of endless forgiveness—forgiving us “seventy times seven.”  Times seven quadrillion.  And then some.

Yeah.  Just seeing it like that.  Changed my life.  You know why?

Because I now trust in something else.  I trust that forgiveness, that constancy, that, “I love you no matter what, you silly little girl” thing that I see in these words. I had head knowledge before.  Now my heart gets it, too.

I can’t wait to put this in Seaside.

And guess what?  Seaside is one of this year’s releases. Squeee!

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Comments

  1. Florence Wright says

    February 8, 2019 at 8:38 am

    Trust is one of my biggest battles. I know, it’s silly, you’d think it’s the easy route to pass off issues to Someone Else, but I have a tendency to make simple things WAAAAAY more complicated than they have to be. I am looking forward to Seaside, I have loved this series (except the churning feeling in my mind that these people won’t ever see their family members again … maybe on the other side, but not in this life. Makes me kind of sad, cuz I’m a big family person). If you haven’t thought of a physical affliction … I can tell you from experience, my lack of trust directly targets my gut, nausea, unable to eat, vomiting, etc.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      February 8, 2019 at 9:32 pm

      I made it a thing to remove Jessa… who had no family. And Tony… well, he can’t know it, but I always pictured him being taken before something terrible happened to his parents AND… after he’d lost his grandmother (that part he knew) so he wouldn’t be alone.

      Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast
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Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 231: A Chat with RomCom author, Shannon Sue Dunlap
byChautona Havig

Shannon Sue Dunlap isn’t new to rom-coms, and her first book in the Sweetheart Series promises to be a literary riot, and it lives up to that promise. I’m only halfway through it and am thinking mean, ugly thoughts of everything keeping me from being able to escape into the crazy small-town politics and quirky characters. So far the com far outweighs the rom, which makes me thrilled to bits. Listen in to discover what makes Lone Star Sweetheart so much fun.

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Why Did This Author Write a Rom-Com about a Loveable Shrew?

Well, I think we can safely blame Shakespeare for that. Shannon Sue Dunlap has taken inspiration from Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew in her Katherine, but unlike Katerina, Dunlap’s character is actually trying to learn to tame the tongue. Maybe someone should send her over to the book of James. There’s that whole bit about not being able to tame it, being an “unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”

Kate’s isn’t that bad, but not for lack of trying. Or something.

Shannon Sue Dunlap isn’t joking when she says that her Katherine is a “loveable” shrew. Seriously, I love this character. She’s forthright, no-nonsense, and “what you see is what you get” in her approach to life. I respect that. Add to that her boss who has shaken up the town of Sweetheart, Texas, and you’ve got the makings of a great story. I’m loving Lone Star Sweetheart.

But this isn’t all Dunlap has written.

Under the pseudonym, Shannon Kent, you can find her sweet and clean romances (including one Christian romance) inspired by Korean dramas. If you said I’d be not only chomping to read a sweet and clean romance about Korean tour guides and all that entails but also ready to watch a Korean drama on Netflix… Okay, I might not have laughed in your face, but I’d’ve been laughing on the inside.

Best part… one of them ties into her Sweetheart Series

Lone Star Sweetheart by Shannon Sue Dunlap

Katherine Bruno’s passionate, unfiltered temper makes her the shrew of small-town Sweetheart, Texas. When she’s drafted to help the mayor’s wife run against her own husband, Katherine meets opposing big city political consultant Ryan Park. The good-looking, flirtatious campaign manager gets under her skin, but fraternizing with the enemy is off-limits.

Katherine must battle her lack of experience, campaign sabotage, and her growing feelings for Ryan as she strives to succeed. His unprejudiced acceptance of her strong-willed character beckons her heart, but his jaded rejection of God is an insurmountable barrier. Will Ryan return to his faith and stay with her in Sweetheart or leave when the election ends?

You can find out more about Shannon Sue Dunlap AND get that first novella in the Korean Crush series free on her WEBSITE.

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Episode 231: A Chat with RomCom author, Shannon Sue Dunlap
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