Trust God

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be a healing for your flesh
    and a refreshment for your body.

Proverbs 3:5-8

What gives you a sense of security? In what or whom do you place your trust?

God urges us to place our trust in Him, not in the realm of His creation. We tend to trust our own ability, intelligence and power, and those deemed to be experts around us, not God, but through trouble, hardship and suffering we realize that the things of this world are not trustworthy, and there is only one rock, one foundation, one fortress, one Lord, and only One worthy of our trust – God the Father, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Christ Jesus shares in our suffering, He understands our suffering, and He helps those who are being tested.

The writer of Hebrews describes this as follows:

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying,

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

“Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. Hebrews 2:10-18

Whatever you are going through, Christ Jesus understands because He too suffered, and He is the sovereign One who can and does help. He alone is worthy of our trust.

God urges us to trust in Him with all that we are and everything that we have, yet the source of security for many is themselves, their accumulation of resources or their belief that they will continue accumulating resources. This is nothing new. It is the natural response to the world and our needs in it, and God’s holy word warns us over and over not to fall into the trap. It is inconceivable that we might, at the same time, trust the things of this world and God, because God’s realm is not of this world (see John 18:36) and friendship with the world is enmity with God (see James 4:4). We cannot do both. We must choose. God’s holy word equates placing our trust in things of this world to being false to God saying,

“If I have made gold my trust,
    or called fine gold my confidence;
if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
    or because my hand had gotten much;
if I have looked at the sun[d] when it shone,
    or the moon moving in splendor,
and my heart has been secretly enticed,
    and my mouth has kissed my hand;
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
    for I should have been false to God above.  Job 31:24-28

In context of our world, how should we interpret this? We need resources to survive, and God blesses us by granting us abilities, opportunities and other resources to satisfy physical needs, and God works through people whom He places in our path, but do we trust God the holy Creator or His creation, the Provider or His provision, the Blesser or His blessing? Our worldly selves want to trust the tangible provision, the things we see and can grasp, and when we do we reveal our faltering faith. God’s holy word explains, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

If we truly believe that God is who He claims to be, if we truly believe God is the Creator of all things, that He has all power and authority over everything, that He is faithful and loves us, and that Jesus Christ is God who came from heaven as a man and who surrendered to die so that we might gain life, how can we possibly place our trust in anyone or anything other than Him?

Trust is the essence of faith. If we claim to have faith but fail to trust, do we really have faith? Since we claim to be followers of Christ Jesus, children of God, people of faith, in whom or what do we place our trust? Do we trust God, or do we claim faith while placing our trust in things of the world?

Time and time again in Scripture we see an ugly cycle. We see God’s people placing their trust in themselves and things of this world, followed by God’s judgment, followed by repentance and revival, followed by the gradual return to the first step. It is an awful cycle, and we are at risk of falling into the same trap. God urges us saying,

He urges us to turn to Him, to trust in Him, to realize we are nothing compared to Him, to realize He alone is worthy of our trust, but we nonetheless succumb to the traps of this world.

Moses introduces his farewell speech set forth as Deuteronomy by reminding God’s people that their parents failed to trust God and God punished them. God had provided for them every step of the way as they traveled through the wilderness, yet when they encountered the people who lived in the Promised Land they were filled with fear, they failed to trust God’s promises, they refused to believe that He would protect them. Through Moses, God says,

But you were unwilling to go up. You rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; you grumbled in your tents and said, “It is because the Lord hates us that he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us. Where are we headed? Our kindred have made our hearts melt by reporting, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven! We actually saw there the offspring of the Anakim!’” I said to you, “Have no dread or fear of them. The Lord your God, who goes before you, is the one who will fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your very eyes, and in the wilderness, where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as one carries a child, all the way that you traveled until you reached this place. But in spite of this, you have no trust in the Lord your God, who goes before you on the way to seek out a place for you to camp, in fire by night, and in the cloud by day, to show you the route you should take.” Deuteronomy 1:26-33

God urges His people to consider evidence of His past provision, of His past faithfulness and trustworthiness, and trust Him now and in the future. But time and time again in Scripture we see God’s people turn back to worldly ways. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God pronounces judgment on His people because they had once again reverted to trusting things of the world, not Him, saying,

Surely, because you trusted in your strongholds and your treasures,
    you also shall be taken;
Chemosh shall go out into exile,
    with his priests and his attendants.
The destroyer shall come upon every town,
    and no town shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
    and the plain shall be destroyed,
    as the Lord has spoken.  Jeremiah 48:7-8

Through the prophet Hosea, God pronounces judgment on His people because they trusted in themselves, not Him, saying,

You have plowed wickedness,
    you have reaped injustice,
    you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your power
    and in the multitude of your warriors,
therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people,
    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle
    when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
    because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
    shall be utterly cut off.  Hosea 10:13-15

Time and time again we see God’s people turn away from God with disastrous results. We also see that God protects, comforts and saves those who turn to Him, surrender to Him, and place their trust in Him. Through the prophet Isaiah, God says,

You will say in that day:
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
and you comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid,
for the Lord God is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:1-2

Discussing King Hezekiah, God’s holy word says,

He trusted in the Lord the God of Israel; so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah after him, or among those who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following him but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. The Lord was with him; wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. He attacked the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city. 2 Kings 18:5-8

After Daniel was found alive in the lion’s den, we read the following:

Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. Daniel 6:21-23

Daniel was saved because he trusted in the Lord. God protected and provided for Hezekiah because he trusted God. Isaiah foretells a time when God’s people turn to God and receive His strength and holy, healing, saving grace. What gives you a sense of security? In whom or what do you place your trust?

If we truly believe God is who He claims to be, if we truly believe Jesus Christ is God, if we truly believe He has all power and authority in heaven and earth, if we truly believed that He died for our sins, if we truly believe that He offers salvation to all who trust in Him, how could we possibly place our trust in anything or anyone else? The apostle Peter reminds us that we have been saved, that we have been ransomed with Jesus’ precious blood, that our sins have been forgiven, that we have new life through Him, and with that in mind, he urges us to continue placing our trust in Him who is trustworthy. Peter writes,

If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:17-23

God uses suffering to shake us up. He allows us to see that the things of this world are not worthy of our trust, and that only He is worthy. He alone is the rock, the foundation, our safe place, the One worthy. Through loss and suffering, God removes the façade, revealing the foundation of our faith – that in which we have actually placed our trust.

May you focus on God through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. May you surrender yourself and everything you have fully to Him. May you place your trust in Him now, tomorrow, always, forever. Amen.

Randy AllenMarch 24, 2022