Trusting God 101

Do I still trust God? Do you?

Prophet Jeremiah had a tough life. His job was to go round telling people that destruction was on its way and that if they did not surrender to the Babylonians, things would not go well for them. He was threatened with death, locked up in prison, and thrown into a cistern, but he still trusted in God’s promises. Who even does that? I would imagine that after the first death threat, Jeremiah would choose to forget about God. But he didn’t. He held on.

Did Joseph have it any easier? No! He was despised by his brothers, thrown into a cistern, sold as a slave, falsely accused, and thrown into prison – yet he did not give up. Joseph trusted in God. He held on.

Once again I ask myself, do I still trust God? Do you?

Why should we trust God?

Simple answer – because He is faithful. Now, this does not imply that we trust in God only because He answers our prayers. We should trust in Him because He is faithful by nature. God does not lie, He does not give false promises, and He does not go back on His word.

2 Timothy 2:13 “if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.” (ESV)

God cannot deny Himself, because being faithful is part of His nature!

Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations…” (ESV)

We all know from the Old Testament that God kept His covenant with His people even when they disobeyed Him. He made sure that what He promised them came to pass.

So then, why should we trust God? Because He is faithful. That’s more than enough to keep us going!

When should we trust God?

Is this a good time to confess that I often have trouble trusting God? Well, I do! I believe that what makes trusting in Him harder is that every time I get through a test, there is another one waiting up ahead! It’s like life is a series of continuous assessment tests (CATs). Upon completing one, there will be another in a few weeks that you have to study for, and what will be tested every time is different! If life is truly like these tests, the only way to get through it is by trusting God all the time. Yes, ALL the time!

Back to Joseph. He trusted God in the cistern – all alone, away from his father, and forsaken by his brothers. He trusted God while he was a slave, all alone once again, and a prime target for Potiphar’s wife. He trusted God in the prison, all alone once again, stuck in a place he did not deserve to be. Joseph had every reason to give up, but He didn’t. He held on, and in God’s perfect time, everything changed.

I know it’s hard to trust God all the time, it really is. But think about the flip side of not trusting in Him. Who do you turn to when you are in trouble and there is nobody around who can help you? Where do you find comfort when you are in deep pain and there is nobody who can comfort you? Where do you go when you need the strength which no man can provide?

The Lord is your helper. The Lord is your comforter. The Lord gives you strength when you are at your weakest. Trust in Him.

Isaiah 40:29-31 “He gives power to the faint,and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary,and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (ESV)

How should we trust God?

If you are a regular commuter, you may have noticed this particular breed of traveller who, as soon as he or she gets into a bus, will settle comfortably on a seat, and doze off. The only time this traveller wakes up is when it is time to pay the fare, or when he or she has arrived at the destination. I think it takes a lot of trust to get into a vehicle whose driver you have never seen (or in some cases can’t see) and fall asleep knowing you will get to your destination in one piece.

That’s how we should trust God. He is the ‘driver’ in this case, charged with getting us safely to our destination – living in eternity with Him. God knows the route that each one of us needs to take to get there. He knows what lessons we need to learn along the way. God also knows that there are things we carry along with us that must be left behind. He thus takes us on a journey that will force us to get rid of all our excess baggage in order to get to the destination in one piece.

When we trust in God, we are not taking a risk. We are instead putting our lives in the hands of a loving Father who knows us better than we know ourselves, and knows what is best for us. For many of us, myself included, trusting in God seems to be a battle between surrender and autonomy. It shouldn’t be like that. Trusting in God is all about surrender – leaving everything in His hands and in turn receiving the freedom to live life in a way that pleases Him and gives us great joy.

We need to trust in God fully. Wholeheartedly. With everything we have.

Are you ready to try trusting in God one more time? I know I am.