Podcast Blog – Season 2, Episode 2
Christians talk much about trusting God … just as they do about believing God.
Believing God does, though, have a more exciting connotation – conjuring up accounts of ‘exploits of faith’ in the Bible and throughout history.
On the other hand, even though we know trust to be good, right, and even necessary, it does have something of an unspectacular connotation. Yet it is so central to your relationship with God that I can unequivocally say to you: trust must be your state of being!
Faith is your response to something specific that God has spoken or revealed to you. He speaks to our hearts, and in return we give Him our response of faith. So, faith is situational. God speaks. You believe Him and respond accordingly. Not so though when it comes to making trust your state of being – which is not situational, but constant.
There is no more graphic example in the Bible than that of Job – a man whom God declared to be: “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil”. And then everything went horribly wrong, and his ideal existence was turned into a disaster. Not because Job did anything wrong but precisely because he was doing everything right. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” said Satan, as taunted God to remove His protection from Job, and give him permission to afflict him. Then, declared Satan, Job would turn against God and curse Him to His face. God took up that challenge, with the result that things soon became so bad for Job that his wife said, “Why don't you just curse God and die?” Yet, even in the midst of his pain, loss and suffering, Job not only refused to turn against God, but went on to declare: “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.”
Those powerful words from a man whose God-centred existence had turned into a disaster for no apparent reason, were a powerful expression of Job’s undying and constant trust in God regardless of his circumstances.
Job’s trust in God was definitely not situational! He trusted God all the time – not so good things would happen to him, but because he knew that God was totally to be trusted. Even when his very worst fears came to pass, to the extent that he wished he had never been born, nothing could erode Job’s trust in God.
There is a yawning gap in the lives of many Christians personally, and amongst God's people generally. A gap that is characterised by much talk about faith and trust, accompanied quotes scripture and uplifting songs about trusting and believing God. Yet of those many, so few live in the reality of the truths they claim to believe and stand for.
We all find trust attractive. I want to be trusted, to be seen as trustworthy – and it’s always securing to have friends you know you can trust. Yet, to trust in God with all your heart, all the time, come what may, whatever befalls you, is a trust relationship that is so often viewed as ideal rather than real!
Beware, too, of trusting God for outcomes, as in: “I'm trusting God to do this thing in my life,” or “I'm trusting Him to sort out this situation for me,” or “I’m trusting that God will give me the desires of my heart”. Trust never has an outcome in sight, because its gaze is fixed on a Person. We trust Him because we know Him for who He is. If you claim to truly know God, personally and intimately, and have chosen to place your life in His hands, then trust is not an option. It’s a privilege.
Neither is trust something that can be rationalized or negotiated. You either trust God or you don’t … with all your heart, in every moment. And, even as you read this, don’t comfort yourself by reducing it to: “I'll try to. I really will. I do want to trust God, but then situations come along where I wonder what's happening, or I fear what might happen … and I struggle to trust Him.”
Also, beware of seeing trust as some sort of last resort – like something you grasp for when all else has failed, or things are out of control. Trusting God not something you resort to. It is something that should be already settled between you and God, just as it was for Job long before disaster came upon him.
Job trusted God while He had everything, then continued trusting God when he lost it all without warning, reason or explanation. How could he do that? Because to him, it was not even in question. Job had never trusted God for the benefits He heaped upon him – hence, when he lost them all his trust was undimmed. If your ‘trust’ in God is conditional on anything other than His unchangingly trustworthiness, He cannot be glorified in your life.
You may recall the account, in Matthew 4:36-41, of that night when Jesus and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee by boat, with Jesus fast asleep in the stern. A furious squall suddenly came up and the waves broke over the boat …while Jesus slept on. The ferocity of the storm was so great that the disciples began fearing for their lives. Shaking Jesus awake, they accused Him of not caring if they drowned. In their fear and panic, the very fact that He remained asleep while their lives were in danger, proved He did not care. Jesus stood up, rebuked the wind and the waves … and then it was His turn to be annoyed. Not because they had woken Him, but because of the reason why they did it. They shook Him awake to rebuke Him for not caring about them … yet, of everyone in the boat, He alone was completely at rest. Not because He didn’t care, but because He was trusting God during the storm just as He had been doing when the water was calm. No doubt the disciples were happily trusting God and Jesus too … until the storm broke. Which only proved they were not really trusting at all.
When trust is your state of being – that place where you choose to live – the storms of life cannot overwhelm you. Yet, whenever I write (or say) anything that sounds so categorical, I know it will not go down well with those like to think that life – even life with God – is never so cut-and-dried. It is all too easy to construe what I say about these things as idealism which is out of touch with reality. But what can I say – other than I have walked with Jesus for many, many years, through many and varied situations. I know of course that others could say the same, and we can all talk about other people’s situations and experiences that we have read or heard about. But the only ones that are completely real to any of us are those we have personally experienced. So I speak of mine here.
Throughout my life with God, in all kinds of situations, whether big or small … or when nothing of any particular significance is taking place … it has been my constant experience that He is entirely to be trusted. And so, from my own deep, personal experience I know that this trust I am writing about must be the baseline from which I live. All that I do, every decision I make – even when I'm going through the day with nothing in particular is affecting me so as to cause me to think ‘I just need to trust God right now’ – I have the sureness, the security, of trusting my God. He cannot make me trust Him. Nor can He give me a gift called ‘trust’ to enable me to trust Him. Yet, God is constantly with me, making Himself known to me as the One who can be trusted.
Hence those well-known words of Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with al your heart and lean not on your own understanding”. That’s not something to aim for in the future. It is about trusting God with all your heartnow! Your heart, as referred to in the Bible, is the very core of your being. It is where your spirit resides, where God has placed His life within you, and where He makes Himself known to you. And it’s also that's the place from which you express His love to others … and your love to God.
God knows whether or not I am trusting Him with all my heart. No one else can either prove or disprove that, but God knows, and I know!
Security, as defined by this world, is non-existent – and any so-called security apart from God is nothing more than a superstition. If you are anxious about your own life and want to make it secure, you can try your hardest – as so many do, Christians included.
Jesus said, “…do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink? Or ‘What shall we wear?’ for the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Those who don’t know God for who He truly is will always be driven by insecurity. But what about those who do know Him … you for instance? Do you really believe what Jesus said: that your Heavenly Father knows your needs and loves to supply them? There’s an old saying: ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ But the truth, according to Jesus, is that God helps those who trust in Him! Simply put, you will either be your own provider – constantly seeking to establish your own security – or you will make God your security.
The story of God’s people Israel in the Old Testament is rife with a sadly familiar cycle. Whenever they diminished God's place in their lives, they were inevitably drawn to worship the idols of the nations around them. Why did those nations have idols? Why does anybody have them today? Idols are false gods, and to worship them is idolatry – which not only existed in Old Testament times but still exists today. Present-day idolatry can be found in a variety of religious or mystical settings, but more often it is not.
Idolatry is the worship of anything other than the one, true, living God – and an idol is anything you put in the place of Him. Which means anything other than God that you look to for your personal security – whether an actual object of worship or something you look to for safety and security. That can take many forms: financial security, emotional security, and a whole host of others – but none of them can quell your fears or fill that gaping void within you that only God can fill.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were faced with the choice to either affirm their belief and trust in their Creator and Provider, or to believe the lies of God’s enemy, the devil, who promised them more. He asserted that God was keeping from them something that would make them ‘like God’. Once they began to believe that lie, they immediately experienced lust for what the devil offered and mistrust towards God and His provision. They believed the lie that they had a lack!
The apostle Paul wrote, “…the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight”. Yet there are many Christians who, having settled for the ‘security’ this world offers, will say to you, “Yep, sure. Trust God and believe in Him … but let’s face it, you have to live in this world and look after yourself!”
Whether or not it sounds radical to you, I say categorically that you cannot go wrong if you trust the Living God with all your heart. He is the God I love to talk about – He is the One who made Himself known to me 66 years ago and who continues to do so. The desire of my heart is that you know Him as I do – and that, in knowing Him like that, you will abandon your life to Him in complete and utter trust. This is what you were made for. Not as some far-off ideal to strive for, but as something to enter into now, as you embrace God for who He is and make Him your absolute security.
When you open your heart to Jesus and receive what He has done for you in laying down His life to free you from your sins, you become a child of God. But that’s just the beginning. God’s desire is to bring you up into sonship – into maturity. To give you a completely new life that begins here and continues on into eternity. A life in which you walk with Him step-by-step, moment-by-moment. This is not some kind of ethereal, otherworldly experience. It is feet-on-the ground reality – a life to be lived to the full in this world … now.
Jesus came and lived in this world so that we, in turn, would live that same life as Him – walking as He walked, being that same true expression of God in this world that as Jesus was. That's why He came. That's why He died. That's why He rose. That's why He ascended to His Father and poured out His spirit on His church.
If it is your desire is to fulfil the purpose for which you were created by God, then don't only come to Jesus for salvation. Don't only respond to Him for the benefits you receive. Embrace the thrill of living for Him every day, as you constantly make Him your only security.
When Jesus said to his disciples, “In this world, you will have trouble,” He did not stop there, but went on to say: “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” This world can and will make things difficult for God’s people – but your relationship gives you all you need to make your life about Him. And never forget that His life is about you!
If you choose to place your trust in anybody or anything else in the place of God, you have an idol. And the apparent security you get from that idol is no security at all. It is false. It is a superstition. It is a lie. And it comes between you and God.
When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments to give to His people Israel, He said: “You shall have no other gods before me.” Nobody! Which does not mean making God number one, then other gods after Him. “No other gods before me,” means no other gods between God and you. Not one.
If your life is God-facing, it is because you have chosen to stand before Him. Looking in His face you see Jesus and you put your trust in Him, making Him your everything. Thus, you are transformed into the image of Jesus Himself. Only God can bring that about because it is the inevitable outcome of having Jesus as the focus of your life.
Don't be deceived. Don't be misled. There is no other security. And when you trust God with all your heart as you go through life, not only is everything secure, but you also discover what real peace is. Because it does not depend on your efforts, your wits, your knowledge, your abilities, your achievements … anything. It only depends on what exists personally between you and God.
Trust God with all your heart. He does not say, ‘trust yourself’. He says: ‘trust me’.