New Reminders: Trust

According to the dictionary, “trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.”  We all know that relationships have to be built on trust, which means that both parties must be able to have complete confidence that the other person can be counted on to be honest, faithful and above suspicion.  All too often, it is when trust is broken that relationships fall apart.  Business and romantic relationships alike, depend on mutual trust.  The same is true in our relationship with God––or is it?

We must believe that God can be trusted to live up to His promises, so shouldn’t God also be able to know that we can be trusted to live up to our end of the bargain?  The Question is: what is our end of the bargain?  How do we need to show God that we can be trusted just as we know He can be trusted?  The plain truth is, that without God, we cannot be fully trusted.  We are weak, and our job is to trust in God to help us be the person He created us to be.  This is hard for us to swallow.  We like to think we are in charge of our own lives and know what we want that life to be.  We don’t like to be told what to do.  We like to believe that we can be independent and can plan our own future.

In the Bible, "trust" signifies a bold, confident reliance on God's promises and character, urging individuals to place their faith in Him rather than their own understanding or abilities.  Proverbs 3:5-6 says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make straight your paths." In other words, our relationship with God is not one of equal power and reliability.  We must depend on God and make a commitment to rely on His superior power for our strength, our joy and our happiness. 

Lest we start thinking, “That’s not fair!”, we need to consider how much more we are getting out of the bargain than we are asked to give.  With God, we have hope, joy and peace.  Jeremiah 29:11 assures us: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Roman’s 15:13 says: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  The hope that these verses refer to is the hope of salvation from our own sinful natures and a better life to come with the joy and peace, of knowing that we have a loving God who cares for us and a heavenly home to look forward to.

Our responsibility is to carefully read, trust, and obey God’s Word.  And, when we do, we can bring before Him any difficulty in our lives.  He will help us not to fear but to trust Him in any situation.  If we commit to a faith in God’s ability to fulfill His promises, we know that He will fight for us to win the battles in life.  We can rely on the fact that He is always powerful, righteous, and true.  All we are asked to do is to trust Him fully.