The Psalms have several recurrent themes.  One of them is that God’s protection is around those who trust in Him.  I have found that trust is an active thing on my part – I have to actively trust God by committing things to Him, praying to Him, spending time with Him and, very importantly, obeying what I believe He is saying to me.  I can’t just carry on my own way and then say that I am trusting God.

There are things I have to do deliberately to ensure that I am trusting Him.  One of these is to discipline my time so that I have set aside times in the day and the week to spend time praying alone with Him and reading the Scriptures.  Another is to obey the commands that I am not to worry or be afraid, that I am to rejoice always, pray without ceasing and in everything to give thanks.  These are not always easy commands to obey and work is required to carry them out.

We have just finished a series of studies of James at Open Arms.  Works and faith go hand in hand.