It was my first day as a new father.

Only a few hours earlier, my wife had given birth to the baby girl we had always wanted. Between the frequent feedings and diaper changes, neither my wife nor I had gotten much sleep in our cold hospital room. But outside it was a gorgeous day, and I was on a mission. Armed with photos of our tiny newborn, I kissed my wife and baby daughter good-bye and went home to upload my digital treasures for all our family and friends to see.

Not long after I had arrived at our house, my wife called. I could sense the worry in her voice.

"Something is wrong with the baby's heart," she said. "I don't know all the details, but they've taken her away for closer monitoring, and she may have to stay in the ICU [intensive care unit]. Please come back as soon as you can!"

I hung up the phone, and questions began flooding my mind: How serious is this situation? Will our baby have heart problems for the rest of her life? When will we be able to take her home?

Before returning to the hospital, I knelt and prayed to God for this precious new life we had been given. While I was willing to submit to whatever He had in store for us, I couldn't help but ask that He would heal our baby of any serious problems she might have.

Back at the hospital, we anxiously awaited every update from the doctors and continued praying for God's intervention. Thankfully, the heart irregularity turned out to be harmless, and we were allowed to take our new baby home right on time. But we gained a valuable lesson from the experience about trusting in God.

Trusting in God is a habit we can significantly develop when we experience difficult circumstances that we cannot fully control. God wants to know whom we trust when the going gets tough.

Do we trust in other people to rescue us? Do we trust our own efforts to solve our problems? Or do we trust God to work things out for good, even when we don't immediately understand the reasons behind everything He does?

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Trust God with all your heart… We can learn to do this by relying on Him on a day-to-day basis whenever uncertainty or anxiety arises. If we take advantage of these small opportunities for personal growth, we'll be more prepared to trust God when something really challenging comes along.

You Can Have Living Faith is a free booklet that you can download or request to understand further the real meaning of living your life trusting God.

The next time you face an obstacle in life, whether big or small, remember that God is waiting to see how you answer this very important question:

Who do you trust? VT