Learning to Trust God....

But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

Jeremiah 17:7

...Jesus told him, "Don't be afraid; just believe."

Mark 5:36

A few weeks ago our topic of discussion during Sunday School was how we trust.  More specifically, how we come to place our trust in others and in God.  We ran out of time before we got to discuss some practical ways to increase our trust in God so I thought I'd complete the discussion here.

We don't often give much thought to trust, but just as we rarely give notice to our hearts beating or lungs expanding, trust is vital to living.  Think of the things and people you trust.  You trust that the lights will come on when you flip the switch on the wall.  You trust the sun will come up tomorrow morning. There are people you count on and trust to be there for you in good times and bad.  Mom, dad, a sibling or that dearest of friends.

Where does trust come from?  For most of us we don't automatically trust new people we meet.  Trust is something very precious.  We give it away only after we're certain the person receiving it is worthy and capable of holding it.  We can give our trust to someone in a moment of crisis based on a person's credentials or expertise.  For instance, when we're having a heart attack we trust the cardiologist, who we most likely have never met, to heal us.  We place our lives in their hands.  But more often the process of granting trust occurs over a period of time as we work or relate to someone.  This happens with friends, associates at work, comrades in arms and lovers.  It happens in our relationship with God as well.   For some, trust in God comes during a time of crisis when there's seemingly nowhere else to turn.  But for many trust in God develops over time as we grow and mature in faith.

Trust and faith might seem to go hand-in-hand, especially for Christians, but one doesn't necessarily follow the other!  Faith in God's existence doesn't ensure we're ready to trust God in all things.  Accepting Jesus as my savior doesn't guarantee I'm able to release control of my life to him.  Even though we say we trust God and have faith He will take care of us, we want to go our own way, solving problems and living life using our own meager abilities.

So if trust is earned should we expect God to earn our trust?  God doesn't really owe us anything but whether we deserve it or not, incredibly, God has earned our trust by His actions since the beginning of time.  He has been faithful since the day He created us.  Faithful to provide for us even to the point of sending Jesus, His son, to the cross to die for us so that we can reside with God for all eternity. God didn't have to earn our trust but because He loves us so much He did it anyway.  He's gone out of His way to show that He is trustworthy.  If we have faith in Jesus we have to see that he deserves our trust.  We have to return God's faithfulness and love by trusting Him with all aspects of our lives.

Trusting God sounds easy but like so many aspects of our faith acting in trust can be difficult.  How do we learn to trust God more.  I saw an excellent article entitled How to Trust God When Life is Hard and they suggested the following ideas for trusting God more:

1)  Let go of the idea that life should always go your way.
2)  Turn to God in prayer and ask for help.
3)  Seek stories from others about how their trust in God has been rewarded.
4)  Be thankful for God's blessings to remind you that He is to be trusted.
5)  Seek encouragement from others to move beyond yourself.
6)  Adopt an eternal perspective.

I would add a few others:

7)  Turn to God's word and see how people in the Bible trusted God.
8)  Ask yourself what your life would look like if God was totally absent to acknowledge His        
     presence in your life.
9)  Remind yourself that trust in earthly things is often misplaced and that in the end, when all others
     fail you, God is true and faithful.  He deserves your trust.


Perhaps you have other ways that you've come to trust God more.  I'd love to hear them.

Pray for God to reveal the times in your life that He has fulfilled your trust in Him:

Dear Lord, it isn't always easy to trust in things unseen but we feel your presence in our lives.
We see the beauty of your creation and live under  the fulfillment of the promise of grace you made to us through Jesus' life, death and resurrection.
Strengthen my trust almighty God!  Open my eyes to the ways you touch me so I can grow more confident and trust in you more!  
Move me to take steps of faith and trust in you, my provider and savior.  
Show me how to trust Lord and how to be more faithful to you.
In Jesus I pray and trust.  
Amen.