Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.
God tells us throughout the Bible that He is our Rock. He is the only one, the only God we are to trust. Time and time again He reminds us of who we are in Him and how He can provide for everything we need. Why, then, is it so hard for us to trust Him and to do it fully? Simply because we are human. Because we live in a world where sin is everywhere and bad things happen to both good and bad people. We get confused. It is important, however, to differentiate between faith and trust. Faith is believing in God and that His Word is true. Trust is believing that the Word of God is true for your personal life. It is knowing in your heart, beyond any doubt, that God will come through for you.
Trusting the Lord with every area of our lives is a daily act of obedience. The last part of verse 9 in Isaiah 7 (NLT) says, “If you want me to protect you, learn to believe what I say.” We must learn first to believe what God tells us through His Word and through the Holy Spirit for our personal lives. Then we have to obey, and we cannot obey without trusting Him fully. It is a matter of the heart. He knows our heart and whether we have faith or not. When we don’t trust Him, fear comes upon us because we realize we can’t do anything alone.
If God has given you a big task lately, something you cannot accomplish on your own, first believe He is the one giving you this task because He trusts you to do it. Then, trust Him that He will help you every step of the way. He will equip you, surround you with the right people, and give you the wisdom necessary to do the task. Trust in the Lord always. He is your eternal Rock. With Him you can do all things.
Excerpt permission granted by Marcia Malzahn.
Marcia Malzahn (Marci) was born in Nicaragua, Central America. In 1979 she left Nicaragua due to a revolution and moved to the Dominican Republic and lived there for seven years. Marcia moved to Minnesota in 1986 and started a career in banking with Marquette Banks that continued for the next thirteen years in the areas of Cash Management, Private Banking, and Retail Banking. In 1995 Marcia became the first Online Banking Specialist in the Twin Cities.
In 1999, she moved to the IT field and started working for Living Word Christian Center (LWCC), a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. At LWCC, she held the positions of Y2K Project Manager, Director of IT, Associate in charge of Finance, Human Resources and IT, and was Corporate Assistant Secretary of the Board. She managed a budget of $31.5MM and 28 employees.
In January 2005, Marcia moved back to the banking field and helped start a new bank in Edina, MN, Tradition Capital Bank, now at over $400 million in assets. From 2005 to 2013, Marcia was the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of the bank. In January, 2014, Marcia’s role changed to EVP/COO and was promoted to Chief Risk Officer. Marcia was also the Corporate Secretary of the bank’s Board and of the holding company’s Board.
In October 2014, Marcia started her own bank consulting firm, Malzahn Strategic, focusing on Strategic Planning, Enterprise Risk Management, and Talent Management for community banks. Marcia is also a public speaker and speaks on motivational/inspirational/leadership topics as well as banking topics such as Enterprise Risk Management. She holds an Associates of Arts degree from North Hennepin Community College and graduated with a B.A. in Business Management from Bethel University. Marcia also graduated from the Graduate School of Banking in Madison, WI.
Marcia is involved in the community. She was a member of Financial Women International for sixteen years and held several board positions including president of the local group and of the District. She is a member of the Minnesota Women Economic Roundtable and served as treasurer for two years. Marcia is also chair of the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities. Marcia has also volunteered in other organizations including Matter, Pulse Movement, Opportunity International, Way to Grow, Feed My Starving Children, HopeKids, Meals on Wheels, and Farmers Market Youth Project.
Marcia was the recipient of many awards including:
• 25 On The Rise award given by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in December, 2005.
• Forty Under 40 award given by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal in May, 2006
• Virginia D. H. Furman Outstanding Woman of the Year award from Financial Women International in September, 2006
• Top Women in Finance award from Finance and Commerce Newspaper in November, 2008
• Outstanding Women in Banking award given by the North Western Financial Review magazine in November, 2009
Marcia is the author of her book Devotions for Working Women – A Daily Inspiration to Live a Successful and Balanced Life published in 2006. Marcia published her second book The Fire Within – Connect Your Gifts with Your Calling in October 2015. Marcia and her husband Tim live in Minnesota and have two children: Nicole and Patrick. Marcia enjoys spending time with her family, working out, singing, writing, and public speaking.