By: Steve Wilmot
There’s a story about a father who boosted his young son onto the railing of their porch. He stood on the lawn and encouraged the little fellow to jump into his arms. “I’ll catch you,” the father told him.
It took a lot of coaxing and assurances, but the little boy finally made the leap. When he did, the father stepped back and let his child fall to the ground. He stooped over, picked his son up, dusted him off, and dried his tears.
“Let that be a lesson,” he said sternly. “Don’t ever trust anyone.” Far too many people have had experiences where they dared to trust someone and were disappointed. Hurt and frustrated, they silently vowed, “I’ll never trust anyone again.”
Regrettably many people conclude the same thing about God. They feel God let them down in the past, and it eroded the trust they once had in him.
That’s a problem for believers because the essence of the Christian life is faith. “Without faith [trust] it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11.6).
You can’t please God unless you trust him enough to do what he says. Notice the order: trusting God comes first, then obeying him. If you don’t trust him, you’ll not obey him unless you’re sure of the outcome.
The root of every sin is not trusting God. His commands are for our benefit — to make our lives better and shield us from things that will hurt us.
when we aren’t sure we can count on him to point us to the right path, we take matters into our own hands and search for happiness our own way.
It started when God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He gave them free reign of the garden paradise with only one prohibition: “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2.17).
For a time, they obeyed. They had no reason to doubt God’s trustworthiness. Everything was perfect. But one day Satan, disguised as a serpent, slithered up to Adam and Eve and planted a seed of doubt in their minds about whether they could trust God.
“God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3.5).
“You can’t trust God,” Satan hissed. “He’s holding out on you. He’s keeping the good stuff from you. He acts like he loves you, but he has ulterior motives.”
That seed of doubt grew into distrust of God’s goodness and intentions. For the first time, they questioned whether they could trust what God had told them.
Do you see why trust is more important than obedience? Not to imply obedience isn’t important, but you won’t consistently obey God if you don’t believe you can trust him. Trust in God always comes before obedience to God.
Take this example. God promised to meet all your needs if you are generous with your money. But that sounds risky. “I don’t have enough money to pay my bills now, and you want me to give some of it away?”
So, whether you’re generous or not actually boils down to a matter of trust. Do you believe God will meet your every need if you are generous as he said he would?
So how do you learn that you can trust God? First, consider the proposition — God is trustworthy; you can trust him completely. This proposition is stated repeatedly throughout the Bible, but here’s a sample:
“God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should change his mind. Does he speak and not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23.19). “No word from God will ever fail” (Luke 1.37).
“If we are faithless, God remains faithful” (2 Timothy 2.13). But words alone won’t convince anyone they can trust God. They need proof.
So, you must search for proof that the proposition — you can trust God — is true. There are three sources to examine. First, factual stories in which God showed his faithfulness to someone.
“I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread” (Psalm 37.25).
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed [God’s decades-delayed promise] and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be’” (Romans 4.18).
And you can find even more examples of God’s trustworthiness on the pages of Scripture. Second, your own stories.
Think back and draw up a list of the times God pulled you through grueling times and seemingly impossible situations. Times he demonstrated he is trustworthy.
Third, take a test drive. Step onto the water. Jump off the porch railing. Take a leap of faith. The only way you’ll know you can trust God is to do what he says and see if he keeps his word.
Here’s my guarantee: the more you put him to the test, the more you’ll trust him because he is trustworthy. I know that from experience, and you will too if you give him a try.
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.