TRUST GOD

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“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust God. Trust also in me”. This was Jesus’ petition to His disciples on his final night with them – the night that He was betrayed. “Trust in God. Trust also in me”. Today we rattle off the phrase, “trust God” as a commonplace cliché. We have made it into a blanketed statement and the go to advice for a myriad of problems. No matter the trial, you can always answer, “Trust God” and hit the resolution nail on the head - just trust God and make it all go away. But the reminder to trust God should be more than a mere selection from the Rolodex of Christianize. It is a powerful statement and foundational principal in the Christian faith. But as the universal answerer to every problem, those very powerful words can fall on the listener’s ears with very little meaning.

Jesus said to trust God and trust also in Him. Psalm 37:3 says to “Trust in the Lord and do good”. King David also says in Psalm 28:7b, “My heart trusts in Him and I am helped” and there is of course the all-time favorite, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

But, what does it mean to “trust God”? What does that actually look like? If trusting God is such a pivotal principal in the Christian faith, I believe it is our duty to understand it fully.

The first thing that I think about when it comes to trusting God is, do not panic. Just this month, my husband and I received a surprise bill in the mail from the IRS. I’d inadvertently missed a 1099 and now the government wants its money. This would not be a problem if it were something I’d accounted for, but my husband and I are in no position to shell out unexpected cash. Immediately my mind flooded with a myriad of depressing thoughts. Where is this money supposed to come from? Wow, this is going to set us back. Why can we not seem to move forward? I instinctually went into panic mode. After a few moments of sulking I decided to stop and think about what it means to trust God in this situation.

I have been proofreading my book, “Spoiled By God”, where I talk at length about how I should be able to trust God in the various areas of my life. He is the same God, who has taken me through some trying time, so why not attempt to trust Him in this? I asked myself, “What is the worst that could happen?” and I entertained several possible outcomes: My husband and I could enter into a payment agreement with the IRS and pay them over time; we could pull the monies out of our emergency fund; I could just leave the responsibility totally up to my husband and let him deal with it (I’m just kidding); we could talk with our tax preparer and find out what our real options are.

Any outcome where my husband and I have to come out of pocket to pay an unexpected bill sucks.  But in spite of my feelings of disappointment, I knew that we would be okay. Trusting God means that I can feel secure in spite of the unfortunate outcome. And the scenarios vary. Maybe you’ve lost a job or got in over your head somewhere. Perhaps circumstances hinder you from having the life that you want, or you’ve lost the life and lifestyle you once knew. Maybe you cannot have that house, car or etcetera. Maybe your reputation has been tarnished or your expectations were not met. No matter the scenario, you can feel confident and secure that you are okay. I believe that is the foundational principal Jesus imbedded in our minds with the parable of the hidden treasure and pearl (Matthew 13:44 -46). God uses our standard of value to show us that what He has for us is even better than the richest anything we can dream up. No matter what, we are okay so long as we have God.

Lastly, to trust God means to keep open the lines of communication. God is relational (more on that in the next blog). I believe that we were created to be in relationship with Him. And, a key component of any strong relationship is intentional continuous communication. When we trust God, we do not shut down and choose to stop praying or become so anxious that we are unable to listen. Instead we remain in Him, speak to Him and listen.

Trusting God does not come into play only as we endure the challenges life throws at us - it is not reactive but proactive. In each of these verses trusting God is part of a conjunction:

Trust in the Lord AND do good. (Psalm 37:3)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart AND lean not on your own understanding…(Proverbs 3:5)

My heart trusts in Him AND I am helped (Psalm 28:7b)

Even Jesus’ statement, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust God.” could be rewritten to say, “Trust God AND do not let your hearts be troubled,” and it would mean the same thing. Trusting God accompanies action. There are consequences to your actions and you might not like the possible outcomes. Trusting God means do it anyway. The reward is far greater than what you might lose and all you can perceive. Trust in God is the fuel by which we can do those things we know to be right but contain perceived risk. It involves doing things that might not make sense to us. But, trusting God yields results.

The next time you are encouraged to trust God or urge another to do the same, I hope that your mind will not write it off as yet another Christian cliché. I hope instead that you will stop and search your heart to know what it truly means to trust God in each individual case. Do not panic; know that even if the worst should happen you are safe and secure in God; keep the conversations with Him going.

Blessings.

www.SpoiledByGod.com