在狗兒魯迪將被施予安樂死的前幾天，一名婦女琳達將牠從動物收容所救了出來，讓魯迪成為自己的良伴。十年來，魯迪每天晚上都安安靜靜地睡在琳達的床邊，但從某一天開始牠會突然跳到琳達身邊舔她的臉。雖然琳達責罵牠，但此後每天晚上，魯迪都會重複同樣的動作。琳達說：「不久之後，每當我坐下，牠就會跳到我腿上舔我的臉。」

在她打算帶魯迪去參加寵物訓練班時，也開始思考魯迪為何總是舔她的臉，而且是舔她下巴的同一個部位。琳達雖然有些莫名其妙，但她還是去看了醫生，結果發現那裡有個微小的腫瘤（骨癌）。醫生告訴琳達，如果她再耽擱，可能會危及生命。琳達相信是上帝藉著魯迪，讓她能及早就醫。

聖經一再告訴我們，信靠上帝會帶來生命和喜樂。詩人說：「信靠耶和華的人有福了！」（詩篇40篇4節，當代譯本修訂版）有些翻譯更明確，如中文標準譯本說：「那以耶和華為依賴的人是蒙福的。」詩篇的福有豐富的含意，是指幸福和福氣。

當我們信靠上帝時，最終得到的是深切且真正的幸福。這種信靠可能並不容易，結果也可能不如預期。但如果我們能信靠上帝，我們必將會對此感到欣慰。

A woman rescued Rudy from the animal shelter days before he was to be euthanized, and the dog became her companion. For ten years, Rudy slept calmly beside Linda’s bed, but then he abruptly began to jump next to her and lick her face. Linda scolded him, but every night, Rudy repeated the behavior. “Soon he was jumping on my lap to lick my face every time I sat down,” Linda said.

As she was planning to take Rudy to obedience school, she began to consider how insistent Rudy was and how he always licked her in the same spot on her jaw. Sheepishly, Linda went to a doctor who found a microscopic tumor (bone cancer). The doctor told Linda that if she’d waited longer, it probably would’ve killed her. Linda had trusted Rudy’s instincts, and she was happy she did.

The Scriptures tell us repeatedly that trusting God leads to life and joy. “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,” the psalmist says (40:4). Some translations make the point even starker: “Happy are those who make the Lord their trust” (v. 4 nrsv). Happy in the psalms communicates abundance—an erupting, effervescent joy.

When we trust God, the ultimate result is deep, genuine happiness. This trust may not come easily, and the results may not be everything we envision. But if we trust God, we’ll be so happy we did.