How to Trust In the Lord God with All Your Heart

Do you trust people you don't know?

I would venture to say absolutely yes without a shadow of doubt. We do it all the time. How well do you trust strangers, acquaintances, friends, or your family?

Who the person is generally determines what level of trust we have in them.

I don't have the need to use public transportation very often, but when I do, the person operating the vehicle is usually a total and complete stranger. When was the last time you personally met the pilot who flew the airplane you took to go visit your relatives? How well do you know the bus driver that picks up your kids every morning to take them to school? If you were in a car accident and the ambulance rushed you to the emergency room at the hospital, would you first want to see the credentials of the doctor or would you trust him to know what to do? We assume to trust strangers in a lot of daily circumstances without even a moments thought about who the person is or there competency. Sometimes, as with the pilot of an airplane, or the doctor in the emergency room we literally put our lives in there hands, trusting they have the experience and knowledge to do the job based on there title and position.

Trust, faith, and belief are synonyms that we interchange frequently in our Christian conversations.

Webster’s Dictionary Definition

From a technical perspective, the dictionary definitions are:

Faith

• believing without proof; trust;
• unquestioning belief, specif. in God, religion
• complete trust or confidence

Trust

• firm belief in the honesty, reliability, etc. of another;faith

Belief

• state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing
• something believed; especially :a tenet or body of tenets held by a group
• conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence

Faith in God:

• unquestioning acceptance as true or real, without proof, in the honesty and reliability of God

If you trust in God, then you must also believe and or have faith that God is able to accomplish whatever it is you trust him to do.

Proverbs 3: 5-6

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all you heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

Hebrews 11:1

¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Trust – To trust God is to act on what you believe. Faith is trust in action. You can have faith, and you can trust God,but you can’t say you have “Faith in God” without being faithful and trusting God.

Think of “Faith in God” as water.

Faith is oxygen.

Trust is hydrogen.

You can have each element separately, but you can’t have water without both together!

Anyone can believe God is capable of doing something. But believing God is capable of doing something and putting yourself in a position so that you must trust God to do something you can’t do for yourself, is more than just believing in God.

Sometimes there is a price or risk with trust. It may be danger or some other potential for loss. How you react is an indicator of your level of trust. Your reaction may be fear, on one extreme or calm assurance on the other.

To trust in the Lord means we need to let go of our own abilities and surrender our thoughts and actions to be guided by Him.

A good example of complete trust and confidence in God is portrayed in 1 Samuel 17 as David is facing off with Goliath, the Philistine champion.

1Samuel 17:45-7

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORDS, and he will give all of you into our hands."

In this story David is completely outmatched in size and experience. From an external perspective, there is no chance of victory for David. But David had an immeasurable faith in his Lord, and he put that faith in action as he charged forward into victory against the giant.

We can have faith in our own abilities, belief in ourselves to be able to accomplish certain tasks. But faith in God should stretch beyond anything we have of ourselves.

Matt. 14: 28-32

²⁸ And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
²⁹ So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

This is such a beautiful illustration of simple faith in action. “Lord, if it is You, command me to come…” Peter immediately climbs out of the boat and begins to walk towards Jesus. Now do you suppose he slowly climbed out of the boat testing the water to make sure it would support him? No! I don’t think so. Peter was a little impulsive. I would be more inclined to believe once Jesus called to him he leaped over the side with both feet and started walking towards Him. However, once the reality of what he had done hit him, he became afraid and began to sink. The point I would like to make is that Peter put his faith in action. As long a Peter kept his focus on Jesus, and what He could do for him, he was able to walk on the water. Once he became distracted and began to doubt Jesus’ ability to keep him safe is when his faith was weak, and he began to sink.

This same principle is true with any of the promises of the Bible. Believing we can have any of the promises, and living your life so that you trust God to deliver those promises is more than just believing he is capable.

I can say I trust God, but unless I am actively involved in “trusting” God, I might better say “I would like to trust God.”

Anyone can say: “Yes, I trust God to be true to his word.”

But to make that statement and actually putting trust in God to keep His word are two totally different things.

Have you gotten out of the boat?

Have you faced insurmountable odds, overcome the nay Sayers and thrown the stone anyway?

Our action, the measure of faith that we demonstrate by trusting God when all outward signs say it is impossible to accomplish are a testimony to those who witness our behavior.

Especially now in a world of such uncertain times, our trust and or faith in God is one of our strongest witnesses. We need to demonstrate to people that trusting God is more than just believing that he exists or going to church, it’s a state of mind that displays a sense of peace in the worst of times, and or humility in great success. It’s a behavior that proclaims that we are living in the world, but not controlled by the influences of the Evil One who roams about causing havoc and misery in every ones life.

Peace and contentment is not found in material prosperity or for that matter in perfect health. True peace is found when we realize that we are on this earth for only a short time, just a single grain of sand in a beach of eternity; When we are convinced that Satan is a defeated foe, and that Jesus has prepared a place for us to spend eternity that is far greater than our wildest imagination could ever picture; It’s when we realize that by accepting Jesus Christ as our savior and have committed to repenting from our sinful nature, that even though we may stumble, there is still a place reserved for us in that beautiful, glorious place called Heaven.

It’s when we accept the simple fact that while we are on this earth, life will be filled with ups and downs, good times and bad, sickness and health, and that how we deal with each of these cycles is part of our training that makes us better servants for God. He knows the weaknesses of all our hearts. He knows exactly what we need to learn to overcome those weaknesses. He will provide us with various trials to teach us what we need to know. Trials can come in the form of great blessings or in tragedy. How we respond to each of these trials is the path that we choose to follow that forms our lives. We can choose to live with anxiety and stress or with peace and tranquility as we trust that God is in control.

Every person is precious to God. Every action or word we speak plays a role in the fulfillment of time. Each action has the potential to affect the life of another individual and or create a ripple effect that could impact as many as hundreds or even thousands of people over time. So no matter how insignificant you think your part is it may be the seed that grows into tremendous accomplishment in the life of someone else. Therefore, demonstrate your trust in God. Turn your ear to hear his voice and respond in such a way that gives glory to Him. Surrender your talents to God. Let them be instruments for His glory.

If you find yourself desperate – faced with unbeatable odds, with the appearance of no chance of success, or despondent – void of any hope, call upon God.

Remember, God is never early or late, he arrives precisely when He means to. He is omniscient. He knows exactly when and where He needs to make His presence known. Even though we may not be able to see beyond our own struggles, God knows what is best. The burden is heaviest when we try to carry it alone. Trust God! Put it in His hands and let it go. Letting go is not giving up, it’s more a change of leadership. It is trusting God at a level beyond what is visible or within our own understanding.

Let go! Let God!