Putting our trust in God requires much from us

Do you trust in God?

It’s easy for Christians to speak of trusting in God while living a life that says otherwise. When the world sees a gap between our words and reality, our testimony for Jesus Christ is tarnished.

So what does trusting in God actually look like?

First of all, trust kills worry. Those who live by faith don’t fret, and they refuse to let anxiety be their dominant emotional response to unwanted circumstances.

The tangible evidence of this kind of faith is peace; a strong and palpable sense of wellness rests on those truly trusting in God. It’s described in Isaiah 42:3: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

Do you lack peace in your life? Or do friends and family members see strength and settled resolve when you’re going through tough, stressful times?

We don’t get to choose whether we’ll experience storms in life. They’re guaranteed. Our choice is whether to focus on the storm or the sovereign God who can keep us through it.

Trust in God also means we desire his will to be done rather than asking him to bless ours.

I’m struck by the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus. When the wine ran out at a loved one’s wedding, Mary turned to Jesus with the scandalous news: “They have no wine!”

Yes, Jesus miraculously turned six giant pots of water into wine that day, but Mary did not ask him to do so. She simply gave a burden to the son of God, and trusted that whatever he did would be the right thing.

I want to trust God this way, don’t you?

Can you imagine trusting God so much that you give him a burden, and believe that whatever he ordains will be right and best?

So many Christians live with discouragement and even depression because they’re waiting for the fulfillment of promises God never made. May we learn to hope in God, not what we think he might do for us.

Finally, trust leads us to participate in God’s promises, not presume upon them.

When God promises to provide, protect and guide us, he invites us to order our lives in the direction of those promises.

As we trust God to provide for us, for example, we ought to do everything possible to participate with him in meeting our needs.

I met a man last week who is unemployed and has been for many months. He’s rightly frustrated, and he’s fearful of the future. But he’s also done very little to change his circumstances. He simply says he is “trusting in God.”

Friends, there’s a big difference between trusting and presuming. Trust in God is not an excuse for idleness, poor planning and careless living.

It troubles me to see Christians speak of trusting in God when in reality they are trusting in our government, or other people, to make up for their own lack of hard work and diligence.

The life of Abraham helps us see what trust looks like. God promised Abraham a land for his people, and that his descendants would prosper.

Abraham didn’t sit back and watch it happen. He obeyed God’s call to leave his home, “to go out to the place he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8, New King James Version).

He acted according to his faith in God’s promise.

Real trust in God is not merely words. It’s measurable, observable and remarkable.

Do you trust in God?