if you have trouble trusting God
Jim
Who do you trust?
I think most people go through times in their lives when they wonder if God
can really be trusted. And that's understandable. Life is often complex.
We encounter people and circumstances that give us great joy and hope. We
encounter others that can make us doubt that any good really exists in the
universe.
The life we live has a lot to do with how we see the world, how we see
ourselves, and how we think of God. Yet human life is a manifold
experience. Few of us live the same kind of life all the years we exist on
this planet.
A man who experiences years of bloody war will not be like the man who lives
of life of peace on his farm. Yet many have been both men. A woman who is
always cherished and protected will not be like the woman who is repeatedly
raped or beaten. Yet many have been both women, at different times in their
lives. A child who is loved, trusted, and well educated is not going to be
much like the child who is abandoned, who must steal to eat, and who
survives by lying and fighting. Yet many children have tasted some of both
worlds in their developing years. (And far too many know only the latter.)
I could go on and say the same things about poverty and riches in general,
about city life as opposed to rural or even wilderness life, and so on.
Some of us have always been servants, and some always favored to lead, but
many have experienced both positions. Some of us are natural early risers,
facing each day with gusto, working diligently to earn a living. And some
of us have been night prowlers, sleeping during the daylight hours, and
staying awake all night. But many of us have known both lifestyles, either
out of habit or necessity.
Human experience is not a thin piece of glass, on the surface of which is
painted a simple image. Life is manifold, complex, a mixture of many wins
and lots of losses, broken dreams and ever-reaching hope. It's
multi-dimensioned mirror filled many moving images -- not always reflecting
us so much as the world all around us, both a tunnel and an open plane, a
game, a battle, a bitter loss of ground to confusion, and at the same time,
a new door that opens onto a victory that will never end or fade away.
In all of the variations of human life and existence, there is only one
constant. That one true constant is God Himself.
He is the God who offers us peace in the time of war, and the God takes away
our peace when our desire for comfort distorts our sense of right and wrong.
He's the God who is never a reflection of us at all, and yet He always
responds to us right where we are. He provides for the poor, the hungry,
the thirsty. He humbles the rich and powerful who make themselves fat from
the bitter toiling and suffering of others.
God is righteous no matter what. But thankfully for us all, He's also
merciful and forgiving -- kind beyond all human ability to measure or
comprehend.
The Lord God is worthy of our fear, if we take a stand against Him. Above
all things, God is worthy of the trust of all who depend on Him. As Paul
the apostle says of God, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered
Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things?" (Romans 8:32)
In my early childhood, I was a trusting child. Later, when I was about 7,
my mother and I moved into the inner city. Because she was a single mom, in
the process of getting a divorce from my dad, and because she had a
disability (from polio), we ended up as wards of the system. We moved into
public housing, received a monthly supply of commodities (I remember the
taste of powdered eggs to this day), and some kind of small living
allowance. Mom started a program where she would eventually be trained as a
florist or something. And I encountered a whole new world of racial hatred,
teen gangs, thugs, and you name it.
I quickly learned not to be trusting. And even when Mom married to get us
out of that place, I retained a certain view of people and life that I had
not even imagined earlier. To this day, I'm not a trusting person by
nature. I like people and I care about them. But I trust virtually no one
completely.
On the other hand, the very same life experiences have taught me that I can
trust God absolutely.
Jesus tells us to fear what God is able to do to both soul and body in hell.
The entire Bible teaches us to fear God. But the fear of God taught in
Scripture is not the kind of fear that some children have for their dad or
step-dad. It isn't the kind of fear that some women learned to have for
their husbands, boy friends, bosses, or pimps. Biblical fear of God does
not demand that we live in dread or terror of the Almighty. The fear of
God, as taught in the Bible, is often synonymous with trusting God. It's
the understanding that God is all-powerful, perfect in righteousness, and
that He will always do whatever He says He will do.
In other words, we can believe what God says. We can trust Him to be who
and what He is -- namely God Almighty -- in every circumstance and situation
of life. If we are His enemy, then yes, we should be afraid. But if we are
hoping in Him, trusting in Him, depending on Him for safe-keeping, looking
to Him for direction and help and mercy, then we can count on Him with all
our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
By nature, I do not trust in anything or anyone -- not even in my own
ability to do what needs to be done. But I have learned to trust completely
and always and forever in God.
You should not imagine me as the kind of person who simply rejoices when
things go wrong. That's not me. It takes God's grace to work powerfully in
me to help me over (or through) the difficulties of life. I complain. I
fight back. I resist trouble. I'm like an old warrior who is always ready
for a fight. But God teaches me to rest in Him, to give the whole thing
over to Him and then to trust.
God is faithful. Better than any friend on earth. Better than any earthly
brother, mother or father. And I'm not saying that there haven't been great
friends, some great brothers, or great mothers and fathers. I'm simply
saying that God is even more faithful, more dependable, more worthy of our
trust.
If you find it difficult to rest in God's care, to let go and trust in God,
I want you to know that the Lord isn't upset with you for that. He knows
all about our lives, what we've done, what we've received from other people.
God is not stupid, not unreasonable, not legalistic. He knows what we need,
and He will continue to work in our lives until the day we leave this
earthly life.
But when we hold Him at arm's length we do so to our own hurt. The sooner
we open our hearts to God, the sooner we trust Him with what we cannot
control ourselves, the better things will be for us -- and for all those we
really love.
God is able. God is faithful. So I urge you today to place your whole
heart and soul and life in God's care.
Take a big step in the direction of real faith. Pray and ask the Lord to
help you. He will help you. Pray and tell the Lord all about the situation
you face, the fears you have, the reason why you feel wronged, the whole
story. God will understand. Tell Him that you need peace, and a fresh hope
that things will really change for the good. The Bible teaches us that God
will take hold of the very pillars of reality itself and shake them, if need
be, to bring about whatever you need.
You find that hard to believe? Then think about this: When the needs in our
lives required the terrible suffering and sacrifice of God's only Son, the
Lord did not fail us even then. He will not fail us today.
It's true that God doesn't put on shows for entertainment. He won't act in
order to prove Himself to those who reject Him anyway. But He will move all
of heaven and earth to help anyone -- anyone at all -- who cries out to Him.
The worst drug addict or pimp or murderer or liar, or whatever else you can
imagine that a person might ever be, will be helped when they call on God
from the heart. In fact, all of these kinds of people have called on God
before, and all who placed themselves in His hands have been helped, and
rescued, and delivered, and forgiven -- and even healed.
It's a small thing to God to spin the planets, the galaxies, the universe
itself. But human lives are big deals to Him.
God takes a human soul -- the needs in any human life -- very seriously. He
will help all who call on Him in simple faith. And even if your faith is so
weak that you doubt your prayer will ever rise higher than your nose, God
will still hear it and intervene help you. He's not far away, resting on
cushions in some palace in the sky, far removed from all the things we go
through every day. He is right here with us -- with all who place their
hopes in Him.
You know what I'm talking about. Way down deep in your heart, you already
know that all these things are true -- no matter how you may be feeling
right now.
Maybe you've already written God off, and you've told Him as much. Maybe
you've even cursed at God and sworn that you would never pray again, never
trust Him again. So join the crowd. Many of us have been there. I have.
And I can tell you that God isn't holding your bitter pain, your sorrow, or
your anger against you. He forgives us all because He loves us and truly
understands us.
Don't be afraid to go to Him now. His arms are open wide for you. His
heart is ready to receive you, to forgive you, to call you His very own
child. Trust Him to protect you against whatever evil may come your way.
Dare to trust God. Dare to rise up and live as a whole person. Dare to
believe in the One who has always believed in you. Turn fully to Jesus
Christ with all your heart -- calling on God in the simplest faith -- and
you will have life, and help from God, and salvation, and joy unspeakable.
Sound too simple? Too good to be true? Only believe, and you will see that
God is exceedingly and abundantly able to do far above all that you could
ever ask or think. He will hear your cry for help, and He will respond to
the needs in your life. God is faithful.
Trust in the Lord.
Jim
If you're unsure of what it means to trust in Jesus, you can find help here: