Ephesians 2:14-16 (ESV) For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

I cannot tell you how long it took me to realize that I was at war with God. I didn’t feel hostile towards God but then again, not knowing Him I had no idea how He felt about my life without Him. Coming to Christ didn’t feel like a surrender, not for a long time. My first thought was to come to know this God. I knew He loved me according to the Word but how He felt about me before that day escaped my attention.

Perhaps that is His design, that those first days of relationship are unburdened by negative thoughts about who we were without Christ. A fresh start just like the first birth with no recollection of life in the womb. It did not occur to me for a long time that just as my mother suffered pain in child birth that God might suffer pain getting me delivered in His Kingdom. If you are not there yet, do not hurry into these thoughts yet. Hold His hand and feel the warmth of His love as long as you can.

If you are there and want to explore this side of God then allow me to point out one thing that is consistent in all the translations of Ephesians 2:16 and that is how the hostility ended. Killing, death, a permanent end with no chance of rekindling those hostilities. It was not enough to say the war ended for earthly wars occur over and over by reigniting hostilities. Not so with God.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

How do you express trust? In the world it is expressed by use. You sit in a chair because you trust it will hold your weight. You drive too close to the car in front of you because you trust in the car’s brakes.

When we are new born Christians we are too inexperienced to understand trust as it is spoken of here in this proverb. The deeper appreciation of that trust might not come for some time, even if you do think you understand. Our first instinct is obedience because that is how we trust in the world.

The second line of this quoted proverb states He will give us direction after we acknowledge Him in all our ways. Obedience of faith is the end result of hearing God with the certainty which comes from experience in acknowledging God in every aspect of your life.

It is important for us to acknowledge this because we are asked to make disciples and how can we train them in the way they should go if we do not acknowledge this ourselves?

Prayer is an expression of trust. Worship is an expression of trust. Study is an expression of trust. Listening is an expression of trust. Being real and honest about yourself with fellow believers is an expression of trust. Praising God when alone is an expression of trust.

Trust is an expression of acceptance of His Lordship over your life. The song says trust and obey, not the other way around. Obedience without trust is nothing more than an exercise of self-will which is what got us in trouble in the first place.