Has it ever crossed your mind that even to "trust" requires some form of trust? I know that might come across as sounding strange, but it really is true. You really can't trust someone unless you know they are trustworthy. You have to trust that you really can trust someone. So when this is a person, that usually will happen by the amount time that you spend with them, the way you have gotten to know them, and the actions that you have seen out of them. However, when this is God, how do you establish that trust? Especially if a relationship with Him is new to you?
Trusting in the natural takes either seeing something for yourself or hearing something from others. For example, you may not give a company your business unless you have heard good things about them. Testimonies from others who have done business with that company saying how good they are or well they treat their customers. What you find out may be enough to either make you decide to move forward with them or not. And how about people? When we get to know someone we either establish our own opinion of whether to trust that person, or we will hear from someone else who tried to trust them. But either way, we will have to make the final choice as to whether we feel like they are trustworthy. In both of those scenarios the things you are basing your decision on is the past and the present. A company may have a long standing reputation for being a great company who treats their customers well....so their past makes them look trustworthy. However, you may meet someone and know nothing about their past, but just in a matter of days realize that this person, and the character they display, shows them to be a trustworthy person. Again, these are things in the natural that we can determine by what we see....but is trusting God any different?
There are typically 3 types of people who come to know God. One is the person who grew up in church and learned about God most of their life, until the day came that they finally gave their life to Him. Another is the person who knew who God was, but never really knew much about Him. They may have had friends they attended church (or church events) with, and one day God got ahold of their heart. Then there is the 3rd type. Someone who didn't know anything about God, never really stepped into the doors of a church, and didn't really realize what Jesus came to do for them. This person usually has an experience where God interrupts their life and changes it in a split second. Maybe they are reached by someone doing a street ministry and God found, and changed them, right where they stood. In each of these scenarios God showed them that they could trust Him with their life. One knew God's past, once knew God in the present, and one found God in an instant. But they all found Him to be trustworthy. To me that is amazing!! But the key is to grow from that point and continue to trust God more and more. Getting in God's word will show you what He has done throughout history and how men and woman fully relied on Him, and He was always there for them. It will also give us the full picture of how He loved us enough to give us His son for our benefit. Showing that we can trust Him because He gave more than we possibly ever could.
If there is anything God's word shows us the most, it is that His love is trustworthy. He gave His son to us knowing we still might reject Him. He made a way when He didn't have to. God shows us through His word that He has always been trustworthy, and He can show you through the time you spend with Him now that He is still trustworthy. But what He really wants is to show you the most is that He can be trusted with your future. Learn to trust Him by allowing Him room to move in your life. Watch what He can do and let that establish even more trust in Him. Letting go can be scary and hard, but when you see that the more you let go to Him, the more He is able to do. Then you will begin to understand that trusting Him is really what we were designed to do.
Scriptures on trust: Proverbs 3:5-8, Psalm 56:3-4, Jeremiah 29:11-14, 1 John 4:18, Psalm 13:5, Psalm 40:4, Isaiah 26:3-4 and Philippians 4:6-7.
God, thank You that You are trustworthy, faithful and true! Please help those who struggle with trust to KNOW that You hold their future in the palm of Your hands and You only want to draw them closer and closer to You. Heal the hearts that have been damaged by mistrust and allow them to see Your goodness. In Jesus name, Amen
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