Trust — Essential for Daily Living
I grew up in a Christian home and was saved at an early age. I learned Bible verses and had a strong faith. I would have said I trusted in God. However, as I look back on it, there was a lot of fretting, worry, and stress that was a part of my everyday life. So much so that it had an impact on my health. I realize now that these were all evidence of lack of truly trusting God. I still have plenty of room to grow in this area, but I am a long way from where I used to be.
My journey in learning to truly trust God started with a chronic illness. I didn’t really trust that everything was going to be okay or that the way He took care of me would turn out for my good—in my opinion, of course. I spent a lot of time studying the book of Job as Job exhibited the type of trust I hoped to achieve.
“Though he slay me, yet will I trust (to make, wait with hope) in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” (Job 13:15)
God really tested what I truly believed about Him and how real He was in my life. I remember glibly quoting, “All things work together for good,” to my sister-in-law who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, but my thoughts and actions showed that I really didn’t live it out.
I did a word search, and learned that trust has several different meanings: confidence, refuge, lean on, roll on, to hope, and to persuade. I trust in the Lord who is the “horn of my salvation.” As a Christian, the foundation of our life is trusting in the Lord for our salvation and our eternal destiny. This trust is a total dependence on God, to lean on and be confident in Him.
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.” (Is. 12:2)
If this is a trust you are struggling with, it is explained more thoroughly here. Salvation changes your life from walking in darkness to living in God’s light.
“Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.” (Is. 50:10)
Once our eternal destiny is secure, our trust in the Lord should encompass every area of our life. This is where I struggled without even realizing it. I would worry about so many different things and try to control everything. I heard a preacher say once that how you live your life shows the unsaved world what kind of a God you serve. If you examined my life carefully, you would assume I served an untrustworthy, weak God. A God who didn’t care about the details of everyday living or lacked the power to help me with everyday situations. This would mean that God didn’t really love me.
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the thing which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:17-18)
God sends hard things into our lives to grow our relationship with him and develop our inner person. One of the first areas of trust I had to grow in was the confidence that God loves me. In our human understanding, we want love to be expressed in giving us what we want and meeting our expectations of good. One of the verses I claimed as a life verse just out of college was Psalm 84:11:
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
The God who created the universe also cares about me and my everyday concerns. So, as I walk with Him, if there is something I think I should have and He hasn’t provided it for me, then it isn’t good for me. I must look at things the way He sees them. Illness and hardships are sent as expressions of His love, not lack of it. Even on the tough days, as I look for things to be thankful for and evidence of His love, they are all around me.
“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” (Ps. 9:10)
Being secure in God’s love doesn’t mean there won’t be trouble. Before and after my illness, there are times in my day when I am overwhelmed with something that is happening – a work situation, health situation, or reactions to something that has occurred.
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5)
At times like these when we are overwhelmed, we have to run to God like the Old Testament example of a high tower. This tower was within the city, and the citizens would run into it when the walls were breached. It was their last place of defense and safety. These times in my life when everything is going wrong, multiple stressors happen at the same time, or Satan is just attacking, I can flee to Christ as my High Tower. I can run to Him for the strength, and protection, with confidence that He has everything under control.
“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” (Ps. 18:2, See also Ps. 144:2 & 2 Sam.22:3)
I often wonder why sometimes this is the last thing I do as opposed to my first response. God is always that High Tower, waiting for us to depend on Him for strength—a place to take refuge when we have come to the end of our own resources.
“And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.” (Ps. 37:40)
We trust God to be our refuge when we need Him, but we really should be living in a trust that is always evident in our lives. That is what I needed to learn and am still working on.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” (Is. 26:3-4)
“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” (Ps. 57:1)
I remember hearing sermons growing up about this “shadow of thy wings” and had always heard this used the same as the high tower – somewhere we run to for safety. However, I saw something one spring that made me think about it differently. I was at the park taking pictures, and as I walked down the path, I noticed a mother duck that hadn’t moved from her sleeping position. As I walked closer, I realized a duckling was sheltered underneath. Then two, three . . . nine babies in all. The thought came to me that “under the shadow of His wing” is not just a place we run to when we need help. We should be living in the confidence that He is there all the time.
“I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.” (Ps. 61:4)
We cannot run out of God’s shadow. A friend recently introduced me to a new song. “In the Shadow of His Hand” by Amy Kent talks about how what we perceive as darkness is actually the shadow of God’s hand. I think she describes this perfectly. As a Christian, God is always there, we just have to trust.
“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” (Ps. 91:4)
“As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler (shield) to all them that trust in him.” (2 Sam. 22:31, see also Ps. 18:30)
These two illustrations of trust, the high tower and the shelter of God’s wings, are ones that come to mind most frequently, but as I did this word study on trust, I discovered that it is also referred to as a buckler. I learned that this is the small shield a soldier would take into battle. So, not only is our trust in God a defensive place like the high tower, a place where we live continually live like the shelter of his wings, but it is also a protection for us as we fight against Satan and actively live out our faith daily. Trust in God is something that we need to claim even on the good days, relying on His strength and protection when we are tempted to do things in our own strength and power.
Working on living a life of trust has dramatically changed how I live—from constant worry and fretting to peaceful reliance on God in both word and deed.
“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” (Ps. 34:8, see also Ps. 2:12, 31:19, 34:22)
