I encourage you to evaluate who and what you trust in
Trust is one of those peculiar things which can be quite illusive for all soughts of reasons. We all value people who are trustworthy. Even those who don’t consider themselves trustworthy, look for people they can trust.
Most of us go through periods feeling as if there is no one in whom you can fully trust without doubts or fears. Humans crave friendships in which they can place complete confidence without fear of being taken advantage of or being disappointed.
David, the psalmist, possessed an uncommon degree of understanding on this critical issue of trust. He explains; “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (Psalms 33:20-22). Trust speaks of dependence upon the Lord, while hope speaks of the certain fulfilment of trust in God. Therefore, believers wait patiently, not knowing exactly how or when God will fulfil His plans, but because He is God, He will; and with that we are content.
It works like this; we are to attach our attention, our emotions, and our spirituality, consciously and subconsciously, to the unchangeable holy character of God. It’s the Lord’s inability to violate His relationship with us, plus His enthusiasm to express loving mercy, which enables us to experience gladness that overshadows life’s pains.
It’s not haphazard
We often think of trust as something that just happens at some point in a relationship when it’s earned according to our felt needs. Thus, we simply become aware that we are trusting in someone else. However, with God it’s different. He invites us to engage our trust in Him through our conscious choice. Belief, emotion, intellect, and behaviour are all activated when we say “I trust in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God’” (Psalms 31:14).
For those feeling so beaten by life’s disappointments that they feel incapable of trust, God says; “Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust” (Psalms 40:4). Out of the desperation of an abused soul, the weak child of God invites their Lord to supernaturally become the trust mechanism within them. God then enables them to place that very trust back in Him as Lord. This work of trust development by God within Christians enables them to say; “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me”? (Psalms 56:3-4).
“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act” (Psalms 37:5). Make no mistake; our choice to trust activates a response from the Lord. We trust; God acts! Therefore, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2 NIV). Give the Saviour your attention by leaning more and more on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, observe Him responding to those decisions to depend upon Him, and then respond with thanks.
I encourage you to evaluate your heart. Scrutinise your learned behaviours. Examine how you engage with others, with life in general, and with God. It may not be the most comfortable exercise you’ve ever done, but it can be revealing of some disturbing realities which the Lord wants you to change as an act of faith in Him. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).