Trust

LET’S FACE IT, trusting people is hard, especially when it involves something that is highly personal. Who do you trust with your deepest fears and anxieties? Who do you turn to when you feel mistreated or harassed? Who can you talk to when you are confused or when things are spinning out of control?

We cannot always be certain if the people or organisation we turn to have our best interests at heart, or if they care about us at all. So we trust only what we can see, and we assess someone’s trustworthiness by their behavior. We also look for signs of their reliability such as the consistency between their actions and what they say, their approachability and availability, the level of in-person support they offered in the past, and also, their transparency.

Not surprisingly, most of us struggle with trust issues.

If it is so hard to trust anyone, who then can we trust?

 People often say, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and He will make your paths straight.’ In reality, it is reducing Proverbs 3:5-6 to a crisp soundbite and a half-truth like ordering a juicy burger only to get the top and the bottom buns, and nothing in between. In its entirety, what the verses say is this: 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.

Numbers 23:19 asserts that God is totally reliable: ‘God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?’

The Bible is also full of evidence supporting the trustworthiness of God who not only has a reputation for miracles but He’s also known for using very unorthodox methods to create unimaginable outcomes.

 So, do you think you can trust God’s character and unconventional methods?

Erase all mental images of tranquil lakesides and unrestrained joy that we sometimes associate with the experience of trusting God. The real picture may have a closer resemblance to a boxing ring where our opponent can be fear and intellectualized arguments defending a course of action that seems to be better than trusting an invisible God.

If this sounds too real, it’s because we’re all too familiar with it. So don’t be discouraged if it has not been easy for you. Stay in the ring and keep trusting Him anyway! The enemy that you face is the one that you will overcome.

 But what does it mean to really trust God?

Trust in the Lord… with all your heart

The heart is where our emotions, desires and motivations are seated. ‘I feel’, ‘I want’ and ‘I will’ are expressions of the heart, and whether we admit it or not, they are powerful predictors of our actions. A heart that has been wounded without proper healing can, over time, become so hardened and cold that it is less capable of making deep connections with anyone – even with God. In addition, we usually hide emotions that we consider negative and show only positive feelings of happiness and hope. In the end, we are not really honest with ourselves or anyone.

Therefore, to trust God with all our heart means to trust Him with a heart that is unfiltered and fully exposed. No one does bungee jumping with half a heart because we know where gravity will take us: our descent is sure and certain. Even if we have any last-minute regret, we take the jump screaming and all. In the same way, God wants our total “deadweight trust” that holds nothing back. No back-up plans.

And lean not on your own understanding

We are told in James 2:17 that ‘faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead’. Indeed, faith and action feed each other so that the more we act with faith in God, the stronger our faith becomes. Faith instructs action, and God-directed action fuels faith. However, the moment we start formulating our own solutions, relying on our intellect to improve our situations, or letting our assessment of people and situations get in the way, we dull the ability to see God’s intervention and blunt our faith in Him.

In truth, where we are and what is happening in our life is less important than where God is going to take us and what He will bring about in our life – if we would give Him our total trust without interference.

In all your ways, submit to Him

Here, ‘all your ways’ underscore the importance of self-awareness. It means we need to be fully aware of our natural tendencies and hardwired behaviour that are resistant to giving God full control of our lives and circumstances. We will all face such resistance, especially when we are going through painful valley experiences where we find ourselves wedged in the most uncomfortable tight crevices full of challenges and trials.  

To be sure, submitting all our ways to God will not be easy because it is counter-intuitive to our survival instincts, and it will take all our resolve and strength to yield control of our hearts, mind and ways to God.

And He will make your paths straight.

 This is a promise that comes with trusting God. Straight paths provide us with a clear line of sight to see the surrounding conditions, directional signs, obstacles that lie ahead, and the next goal post so that we can focus better on the journey and navigate better to reach our endpoints. Straight paths are not necessarily unobstructed pathways but they give us a vantage point to see challenges further ahead so that we would not be derailed by what we don’t see coming.

God does not promise a smooth ride but He offers a straight road and life-changing experiences because His thoughts and ways are far more superior than the best of our plans. 

Drop a note in the comments below to let us know what steps you are taking to trust God for today.

Footnote

1 Psalm 116:8-9 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

2 Isaiah 55:8-9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.