The Real Truth about Trusting God

I spend a lot of time with people throughout any given week; people of all ages, stages and places. One of the recurring themes I hear from them most often is about the ongoing struggle to trust God with their lives. And I agree! Not a day goes by where I don't have to choose whether to trust God and let Him handle the matters of my heart and life OR to trust in myself and my flawed abilities to manage situations and people I can't control. 

Trusting God is one of those “Christian-ese” phrases that is often misrepresented in the church. A lot of lip service without the confidence and full understanding in the one we are encouraged to put our trust in: God Himself.  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 your paths straight. 

It is easy to take a familiar passage like this one and say we trust God, but have our lives reveal something different:

• Why are we so anxious and worried?
• Why do we have difficulty surrendering those things to God that we are seeking resolution for?
• Why do we get so impatient with God's timing?
• Why do we seek comfort and control?
• Why does our prayer life feel mundane?
• Why do we continue to seek after the things in this world that are not trustworthy?
• Why is obedience so challenging?

The real truth about trusting God is that it requires us to give something over to Him that we just don't want to. It may be our dreams, expectations, control, comfort and if we are honest, love of this world. Trusting God is giving Him permission to do things His way in your life, on His timeline, for your benefit and the benefit of others.

What are the circumstances in your life today that are requiring you to trust God? Maybe you are fearful of the world we’re currently living in, struggling in school, in a marriage that feels hopeless, dealing with financial stress, a health crisis, a difficult job situation, an estranged relationship, a tough decision to make, etc… Or if like me, you are trusting God with the future of your young adult children.

We need to make trusting God a lifestyle where we are living our faith out in a way that reaps the full benefits that comes from trusting Him:  peace, understanding, and purpose in ALL things. 

Why is trusting God such a BIG deal?

When our focus shifts from the unknowns in life to what God has already revealed, it is easier to walk by faith and not by our own understanding or perception of things. Easier said than done, right? What we believe about God determines how we will respond to those things in our life outside of our control. 

The following truths strengthens our ability to trust God despite what we don't know and can't see. These daily steps we take each day, produces a faith that is not just talking about trusting God but living it out in a way that reaps the rewards we are seeking! 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.

1. Personal Relationship: 

The main reason we should trust God is that He is worthy of our trust. Isaiah 14:24 tells us, “The LORD Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’” Furthermore, His plans are perfect, holy, and righteous, and He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His holy purpose. (Romans 8:28). If we endeavor to know God through His Word, we will see that He is worthy of our trust, and our trust in Him will grow daily. Trusting God does not happen overnight but is developed over time. And takes practice. It is a spiritual muscle that requires us to exercise through practice and failure.  God knows that. He doesn't expect anything more from us than He is able to do as we seek to grow and deepen our trust of Him. But it does mean that we make efforts to know Him and what He says.

What steps can you take this week to get to know God? 

2. Promises of God:

We can learn to trust God as we see how He has proven Himself to be trustworthy in our lives and the lives of others. I Kings 8:56 says, “Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel just as He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He gave through His servant Moses.” Trusting God is a recurring theme in the Bible. We have so many examples of what it looked like for men and women to trust God with the unknowns of their life. Abraham leaving Haran, Moses leading Israel to the Promised Land, Esther finding herself unexpectedly on the throne, the disciples following Jesus without any idea of where they were going to name a few. They believed in God's faithfulness to His promises as they saw them come to fruition in their lives. And they had enough experience in their life when they chose not to trust God and the havoc it created to learn from their mistakes.  Every Christian can give personal testimony to God’s trustworthiness as they remember how faithful God is to what He has already revealed through scripture.

What steps can you take this week to get to know what God says?

3. Practice:  How does obedience fit into our lives? Obedience is the overflow of our love for God. It is a way we express our love to Him. Trust comes first, and obedience follows. When I look at patterns of disobedience in my life, it is evident that God was not around. Obedience is the fruit of how close we are to God.  From God's perspective, He allows things to happen and puts people in our life to develop a more confident and trusting faith. It is an opportunity to stop and see challenges and unknowns in our life from a place of gratitude instead of a bad attitude as to why God is allowing things to happen in a way that you don't agree or like. God cares about what we care about but He cares more about growing and maturing our faith as we learn to depend on Him.

What steps can you take this week to do what God says?

The fruit of a trusting faith is peace of mind, rest and having confidence that God will take care of things as you seek ways to lean on Him. And this my friend, is what you can expect as you change your mindset and give God permission to work in your life according to His purposes and not your own.

When you submit to God, He takes your crooked path and makes it straight.

Your job is to lean on Him.

But I trust in you, O Lord;  I say, “You are my God.”

Psalm 31:14