Trust Me...

Trust is something that is in high demand but seldom found. Just who can you trust these days? I, for one, have a difficult time trusting people. I’m sure you would agree that many of us have been burned—more than once—by people who proved themselves to be untrustworthy.

It can be difficult to trust the media, government officials, home contractors, automotive repair shops, and the countless phone calls telling us we have won a trip, only to be followed by another call claiming the IRS is after us for failing to pay taxes. There is no question that, as a society, we are being taught not to trust anyone or anything. To a degree, that caution should be heeded.

But is this a pleasant way to exist? For most of us, the feeling that we cannot trust anyone or anything is crushing. After all, God created us to trust and to be trusted. This is how He designed us from the beginning—until we chose to stop trusting God in the Garden of Eden. At that moment, trust between humanity and God was broken, and we began to doubt.

That is history, however, and we need to move forward and ask whether there is anything we can still trust despite the failings of Adam and Eve. Thankfully, there is something we can trust fully and without question: God and our relationship with Jesus Christ.

This statement, however, will be challenged by many on the grounds that, “You can’t trust in something that does not exist.” Certainly, that is not an uncommon opinion. But for those who know that God exists and who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we can confidently know that God is the ultimate source of unwavering trust.

Even believers—those who attend church, read their Bibles, and participate in Bible studies—can struggle to truly trust that God is who He says He is and that we can fully rely on Him for all our needs in every circumstance. The reason is that we are fighting against the very one who desires nothing more than for God’s children to doubt God. That would be Satan.

Ephesians 6:12 says it best: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

While we were ultimately created to trust God, the power of sin destroyed that perfect relationship, and doubt became part of our fallen nature. When we find ourselves in dire circumstances, it is so easy to doubt that God will walk us through the problem. Yet He has promised us time and time again that He will always be with us.

Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

What a promise! Yet how quickly we forget it. We can so easily assume that God has abandoned us or that He simply does not care when things get ugly. How often do we feel as though we are not worthy of receiving God’s help? How often do we question why God would have even placed us here on this earth in the first place? These thoughts come when we abandon our trust in God and allow doubt to consume us.

So, how do we restore our trust in God?

We first need to restore our faith in God.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Notice that Scripture says it is “impossible” to please God without faith. You may say, “But I do believe, and I have faith that God exists.” Great—but the verse goes further. We must also believe that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

In other words, our faith is not merely an intellectual acknowledgment that God exists. True faith moves us to earnestly pursue Him. If we are not genuinely seeking God, we are not fully embracing the relationship He desires to have with us. And when we refuse to seek Him, we leave room for doubt to take control.

It is critical, then, to recognize what kind of seeking God desires from us. He calls us to pursue Him with conviction and passion, surrendering our own ideas, thoughts, plans, and desires. As we learn to surrender these things to God, we begin to understand what it truly means to trust Him.

Trust is not simply believing that God exists. Trust is believing that God is who He says He is, that He will do what He says He will do, and that His plans are better than ours.

When we surrender ourselves completely to God, we can finally begin to live with the confidence that comes from knowing we are not walking through this life alone. Our circumstances may change, people may disappoint us, and the world may give us countless reasons to doubt. But God remains faithful.

And that is the One we can trust.