More About Trust

I have continued to think about trust. We all have people and things that we trust. A simple form of trust is trusting that a chair will hold you and you sit down in it. Many people trust people closest to them. They may also trust people in authority, their doctor, a lawyer…though many of us had our trust in certain institutions and people rocked in 2020! But why did/do you trust certain people? Maybe you were taught to trust the police, governmental authorities, your teacher, etc. Maybe you’ve learned to trust certain friends or family members as you have grown to know them over the years and seen them do trustworthy things. What happens when someone does something that tears down that trust? Some people say trust has to be earned. I don’t fully agree with that, but once trust has been broken, it surely does have to be earned/built back one step at a time. It can often take years to rebuild that trust and sometimes it is never completely restored. 

What is trust? As I looked up the definition in different sources, including Strong’s Concordance, confidence and reliance on and confident expectation/hope came up several times. When I asked a dear friend who has walked with God well over 50 years she said that trust “is believing God no matter what. No matter what it looks like, feels like, or seems like." That’s a pretty good summation! We can trust God. He has shown Himself faithful over and over again.

Why do we trust God? We all will probably each answer that a little bit differently. For myself, once I caught a glimpse of how much God loves me, I was able to trust Him with my life and my heart. It was His love for me that drew me to Him and has caused me to continue to fall in love with Him. I have grown in trust for Him day by day, month by  month, year by year. How? By learning about Him through the Word and fellowshipping with Him through prayer, worship, and just talking with Him. He is a good God, a good Father, and a great friend. 

In any relationship it can take time for that trust to build. As you spend time together and are there for each other, that trust grows. It’s the same with God. When I realized that God is for me, that He wants the best for me, that He is there for me anyday, anytime, my trust in Him grows. I can talk with Him on my good days, my bad days, and everything in between. He believes the best of me and yet will help me to grow and make changes without making me feel ashamed or “less than”. 

I want to grow in my relationship with God and my trust for Him every day. When that trust has been established, it is so much easier to obey Him. We’ll talk more about obeying God later. Right now I want to invite you to think about who you trust and why you trust them. How can you transfer that to your relationship with God? Until next time, keep trusting in the Lord. He only wants the best for you!