Who or what is the object of your trust and faith? Is it God? Yourself? Someone else? Or maybe some material asset or resource? In who or what do you place your confidence that problems of today and the fears about tomorrow will be handled to your benefit?
Consider the advice of the Psalmist:
Some nations boast of their armies and weapons, but we boast in the LORD our God. (Psalm 20:7, NLT)
It is better to trust the LORD than to put confidence in people. (Psalm 118:8, NLT)
Oh, the joys of those who trust the LORD, who have no confidence in the proud, or in those who worship idols. (Psalm 40:4, NLT)
The more you get to know God, the more you will understand how committed He is to you. As a result, you will be willing to entrust more of yourself into His capable care.
Three Reasons Why You Can Trust God
1. God has the ability to accomplish what concerns us.
I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27, NIV)
Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. (Jeremiah 32:17, NIV)
For nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37, NIV)
2. God is committed to our well-being.
In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you. (Psalm 33:21,22, NIV)
But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, (Psalm 33:18, NIV)
Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. (Psalm 32:10, NIV)
3. God will do what He promises.
Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23, NLT)
For the word of the LORD holds true, and everything he does is worthy of our trust. (Psalm 33:4, NLT)
The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24, NIV).
God is completely trustworthy. He has the ability to accomplish the things that concern you. He is committed to your well-being. And God will do what He promises. He has the integrity; He has the character to follow-through. He is faithful.
Trust involves faith and hope. Isaiah admonishes us,
Who among you fears the LORD and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the LORD and rely on your God. (Isaiah 50:10, NLT).
How many times have you felt like you were totally in the dark? You didn’t have a clue what to do next? These situations finally bring us to a point when we turn to God in desperation hoping He will respond to our prayers and bring deliverance. God wants us to trust Him during difficult times. Consider the following promises.
Trust God During the Good Times, As Well as the Bad
We all understand the need to trust God when we are in a time of crisis. We see that pattern repeated throughout the Old Testament. But during the good times, the children of Israel would forget about their God — they became self-reliant and turned away from Him. Then God would again put them into difficult situations and after awhile they once again turned to Him for help.
God explained to Isaiah,
I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. (Isaiah 45:7, NIV).
When we find ourselves in darkness, there’s a reason why God has chosen to take away the light. When you’re in darkness, is it comforting to know that God is the One who is in absolute control of your difficult situation? Our sovereign, loving God brings good and bad into our lives to shape us and fulfill His purposes. We need to trust Him for the good, as well as the bad.