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March, 2005 Bible Mini-Study
Why Trust God?
“He who trusts in the Lord will prosper.
He who trust in himself is a fool.”
Proverbs 28:25b-26a
The dictionary says that trust is a firm reliance on the integrity, ability and character of a person or thing. Christians are to trust God. We are to have a humble, patient confidence that God will act. It is not to be a striving ambition for God to give us our way. It is to be a loving abandonment to God’s way.
God has planned the very best for us. He has given His very best -- His Son’s sacrificial death – so we can enjoy close fellowship with Him and know how much He loves us. But we will know little about His loving care unless we trust our difficulties to Him. In Old Testament writings, God reveals how important our trust is:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” “Trust in the Lord and do good; so you will dwell in the land and enjoy security. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will act.” Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:3-5
God’s love is unlimited, yet He never forces Himself upon us. Instead, He waits for us to trust Him. God will occasionally allow circumstances that will challenge us to trust Him more deeply.
When we entrust something to God and we see Him at work, our hearts are filled with gratitude and love. This is what God wants most from us -- to return His love with our own. (Matthew 22:37-38) In addition to fostering love, trust speeds the maturing process in us. Our faith and wisdom grow as our eyes are opened to what God is doing.
Some of us think we are being selfish by bothering God with our problems. But nothing is more important to Him than the welfare of His beloved creatures. We are encouraged to trust Him with every detail that is causing us anxiety, or where we need His peace and wisdom to “guard our hearts and minds.”(Philippians 4:6-7)
Unfortunately, most of us have been taught to be self-sufficient, to trust primarily in ourselves. What are you trusting in now to make you happy and secure -- what you own? -- your marriage? -- your children? -- intellectual, athletic or artistic pursuits? -- amusement or excitement? Are you insisting on your own way and resisting God’s way? When the focus is on ourselves, anything that comes along to disturb us disturbs our whole world because our whole word is self.
The greatest reason we are to trust God is that it issues in love for Him. Our love deepens when we experience God’s response to our trust. The next important reason is that trust leads to peace, hope and joy.
As I trust my problems to God and wait for Him to act, He lovingly places His peace in my heart. (Isaiah 26:3) The more I trust and experience His peace, a wonderful hope fills me. It is not like the hope that the world knows (a vague expectation for the future). It is Christian hope, which is the confident assurance of the future blessings of God. It comes as a gift from God because I am trusting Him. (II Thessalonians 2:16-17) The peace and hope that fill my heart form the foundation for joy. It is a quiet and secure feeling that God is in charge and I will more than conquer through Him who loves me.[1]
The apostle Paul prayed that all believers would share in these blessings:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
I have found there is one primary thing that closes my heart to these blessings. When I indulge in negative thinking it eats away at my trust, especially when I have feelings of unworthiness, fear or self-pity. David knew the importance of his thought life. He prayed,
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:24
Is there some circumstance or person that is troubling you? Trust it to the Lord and ask Him to help you. Are you disappointed about something in your life? Release it to God and ask Him to redeem your circumstance (transforming it into something good). Don’t allow negative thinking to defeat you. (Hebrews 12:12-13, 15)
Anything negative is not of God. When I cannot let go of my negative thinking, I ask God to help me think differently, or I pray as Jesus did, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me.” (Matthew 16:23) And then I ask God to help me be positive and trusting once again.
Occasionally I ask, “What am I not trusting completely to you, Heavenly Father? What is keeping me from trusting you?”
Trust something to the Lord today. As you release your anxiety, you will receive His peace. As you dwell in peace, hope will grow in you that there will be future blessings from God. You will feel a quiet joy as you rest in Him.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes, its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
Why do you think it is true that, for most people, trust in God will lead to greater love for Him?
Suggestions for Prayer-Listening
Lord Jesus, is there something in my life that I am not completely trusting into you care?
What has been keeping me from trusting you?
Suggestion for Meditation
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. Jeremiah 17:7
In quiet meditation, take yourself to a beautiful stream of water and imagine yourself as a tree beside the stream. The Lord is nurturing you and your roots are drinking deeply of His living water because your trust and confidence is in Him.
It seems as though God frequently allows something in our lives that leads us to trust Him more deeply. I began to realize this when, soon after trusting to Him the growing challenges of ministry, He asked me to release my children into His care.
Trusting God at a deeper level is not easy for most of us, and many times we have to ask for His grace to enable us to do so. But each time we surrender to Him in trust, our inner lives become more peaceful and our relationship with Him is richer.
Two additional things happen when we surrender – we learn to love Him more deeply and He enables us to love others more unconditionally -- in a way that affirms them and calls them forth to discover the wonders of the Christian faith. So trusting in God, in a profound way, equips us for ministry.
[1] Romans 8:37