How Do We Trust Him?

How do we trust Him? Well, to learn how we can trust in God we first need to know what trust is. Google says that trust is “a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” I think, like Google says, the foundation of trust is a belief in the truth. I believe trust is an outflowing expression of the faith we have in the truth of God and the truth of His word. So how do we begin to trust in Him?

The first step to trusting God is intimacy.  I mean, how many of you would trust your life to a stranger? You need to build your trust on the character of God, His word, and His promises. Proverbs 3:7 (TPT) says “for wisdom comes when you adore Him with undivided devotion.” Trust comes when a true relationship is formed. When you know who He is and can rely on what He says. So spend time with Him. Ask Him questions. Study His word. He is always available, always willing to let you know Him.
 
As I have grown in intimacy with the Lord, I have come to realize that the world that we can see is not necessarily the reality in which we live. That’s why I think God tells us to trust Him with all of our hearts. How? By leaning not on our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5) Our perspective is limited; our understanding is bounded.
 
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 puts it this way, “outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

In order to trust God we need to be humble enough to accept that we don’t know everything, and we don’t know what is best, but we can choose to believe that God does.
 
That is where faith and wisdom come in. Faith is the evidence of things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). Faith shifts our perspective and allows us to believe in the grander view. It is what allows us to believe that we are made clean by the blood of Jesus and that all of God’s promises are yes and amen. It is what gives fuel to our trust. Wisdom is what helps us gain a heavenly understanding.

Proverbs 3:13 says, “happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom, and the man who gets understanding [drawing it forth from God’s Word and life’s experiences].”
 
So how do we grow in faith and wisdom? We ask God! He says “call to me, and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known" (Jeremiah 33:3)! It is His great joy to go deeper with us. We just have to make ourselves willing.

You might still be asking how can I grow in trust? What can I do? I think that we can look back at our lives and identify the times when we have seen God show up for us. People are always saying trust is earned...so how has God earned your trust? How has God been faithful to you? Has he proven Himself trustworthy? Maybe you don’t trust Him at all. Maybe you feel like you have no reason to. Maybe you feel like He hasn’t shown up for you in the past. Maybe you are trying to build up trust with Him again. To you I would say start small.  Begin to try and trust Him with the little things. Then as you grow more confident in Him you can begin to trust Him with the big things. Remember that we are putting our trust in God’s character, not the outcome of decisions or our expectations. Trust brings action to our faith. It is our reaction to having faith. I believe God is ______, so I will trust Him even when it doesn’t make sense.

“If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.” - 2 Timothy 2:13 (amp)

Author | Ashlyn Williams