Trust is a beautiful quality in any relationship, yet it tends to be fragile even though it can be so strengthening. Trust is spoken of often in the Bible, from human relationships to God’s trustworthiness and mankind’s need to trust Him. As with earthly friendships, trust is foundational to the health of our spiritual relationship with the Lord.
While it’s all very well to tell someone to trust others, or trust God, actioning trust can prove to be difficult, especially when trust has been violated or disappointed in the past. If left unresolved, trust damaging hurts can rob God and us of this treasure. The complexity of the human heart means we may fail to trust God while at the same time being untrustworthy ourselves. This is the devastating nature of sin; it shrewdly assaults the heart from within and without, until it doesn’t know what to think of life. Paralyzed often by fear and pain, the damaged heart simply does nothing, and in so doing, further victimizes itself. Knowing that the heart needs to trust to survive, the world instructs us to trust in anything other than God. Money, possessions, good health, politics, conspiracy, popularity, job security, pleasures, experiences, and philosophy, are all promoted as being worthy of your ultimate trust, even though every one of these will fail you.
And it’s far too easy for God’s children to unwittingly get caught in the deception of trusting these earthly things. Therefore, evaluating our trust in the Lord, or the lack of it, is worthy of our attention. Jeremiah 17:5 sounds a loud caution; cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.
Trust is believing with confidence in the certainty of another. Trust, therefore, looks to the trusted person as a refuge, a safe and dependable place of sanctuary. From its very definition, ultimate trust that survives past the grave cannot be found in anything this world offers due to the pervasive infiltration of sin at all levels. And if a person realises this without a healthy response, paranoia can escalate to a fearful level with devastating consequences. Therefore, trusting the Lord, who is governor overall, is extremely important. The believer trusts God to oversee and maintain all facets of earthly, spiritual, and eternal life. As a result, the Lord promises to keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on YOU, because he trusts in YOU. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock (Isaiah 26:3-4). Unlike the constantly changing world, which sooner or later fails to deliver on it’s promises, God does not change, and He never fails to fulfill His promises.
For the Christian, trust is central to all areas of belief and living. Trust is the epicenter of faith and therefore needs to grow and mature for the believer to experience it’s many blessings. For the child of God, trust is not about things or systems. It’s not about getting our way. And it’s not about fighting the things we disagree with. Trust acknowledges the futility of complaining about or resisting the things God has ordained. Authentic trust in God abandons personal heart rebellion, which is always against creator God, whether directly or indirectly.
With that said, we shall explore over the coming weeks a little of the nature of trusting God as exhorted by Solomon in Proverbs 3:5-7. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
To be continued…
