Unshakeable Trust

CHAPTER 1

What Is Trust?

Anytime we trust anyone or anything that proves trustworthy, it puts an end to anxiety. Therefore it is very important to learn what trust is and how to trust. We especially want to learn to trust God.

Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines trust as: “Confidence; a reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person.”¹ He who puts his trust in the Lord will be safe (see Proverbs 29:25).

Trust enables us to live without weights, burdens, or cares because we have confidence that another will deal with those things for us. Instead of feeling that we are continually carrying a heavy load, we can enjoy a wonderful lightness in our souls.

Putting our trust in God and casting our cares on Him requires that we make a decision to do it. The psalmist David spoke frequently about putting his trust in God. The word “put” is an action word that we often find in God’s Word when He is giving us instructions on what to do—things like put on love, put on the new man, put on your shoes of peace, as well as put your trust in God. (See Colossians 3:14; Ephesians 4:24; Ephesians 6:15; Proverbs 3:5.)

The Bible says, “Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you…” (Psalm 55:22 [AMPC]). I like the idea of releasing the weight of a burden. We often live with a heavy heart and a burdened mind, but God is inviting us to a better quality of life that is only experienced by putting our trust in Him. Noah Webster said that trust is a resting of the mind. The apostle Paul confirmed this when he said that those who believe (trust) God will enter His rest (see Hebrews 4:3).

One of the ways we can discern that we are truly trusting God, rather than merely trying to trust Him, is whether or not our souls are resting in God’s faithfulness. If I say I am trusting God, but I continue to carry the weight of the burden by worrying and being anxious, then I have not released the burden to the Lord. I may want to. I may be trying to. But I have not done it yet.

Understanding this has helped me to learn what real trust in God is. It is more than words—it is releasing the weight of my burden; a decisive action that brings rest to my soul (mind, will, emotions). Just imagine that you are carrying a backpack filled with rocks everywhere you go. You take it to work, to the market, to church, and it is a heavy burden, but you continue to carry it. Now imagine that you decide to drop it—just think how much better you would feel and how much easier everything would be. That’s the way it is when we worry and carry the weight of burdens with us instead of entrusting them to God. We continue functioning and doing what we need to do, but the weight of the burden places a great deal of stress on us and makes our life very difficult. You can decide to drop your burden today by trusting God, if you choose to, and you will be glad you did.

I encounter many people who are quick to tell me that they are trusting God to take care of their problems, and yet, they also tell me they are afraid, worried, and desperately trying to reason out what they should do. This tells me they believe they should trust God, and they want to trust God, but they haven’t done so yet. They say they trust God, yet they are weighed down with the cares of many things.

I’ve learned that the best way to function in our relationship with God is to be truthful with Him. He already knows the truth, but it will help us to face it. I wasted a lot of years claiming that I was trusting God while I was worried and miserable, and it really helped me to recognize that true trust has good fruit. It produces peace—the peace that passes understanding!

If a person has not yet come to the point of being able to trust God totally, it is best to be honest with God about it. In Mark chapter 9, there is a good story about a father who sought healing for his son. He told Jesus that he believed but needed help with his unbelief (see Mark 9:24). I have always liked his honesty, and the good news is that he received his miracle. We all have some doubt mixed in with our faith at times. Hopefully, we are growing and learning to trust God more all the time, but growth takes time and there is no reason to be condemned if your trust in God is not perfected yet.

I have been teaching God’s Word for over forty years, and yet I have learned a lot about trusting God in the past year. I strongly imagine that I will learn even more while I am studying and doing research for this book.

The Character of God

The Merriam-Webster.com dictionary defines trust as: “belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc.”² Trust is dependent on what we know about the character of the one being trusted. If we cannot believe the person is good, just, kind, loving, and trustworthy, then we cannot put our confidence in them.

I have found that a thorough study on the character of God has helped me tremendously in learning how to put my complete trust in God. For example, one of the aspects of God’s character that gives me a lot of comfort is that He is just. That means that He will always make wrong things right.

I have experienced His justice in my life many times, and when I am enduring what seems to me to be unjust or unfair treatment, I can trust God to make the wrong thing right in His own way and timing. Life is not always fair, but God is, and when we put our trust in Him, releasing the weight of our burden, He works in our behalf and brings justice in our situation.

Trusting God to bring justice relieves me of the job of trying to do it myself. God says clearly in His Word that vengeance is His and that He repays the enemies of His people:

In order to experience the justice of God, we must be willing to turn the situation over to Him and refuse to try and take care of it ourselves. This is the hard part! For me, and I think for most of us, we usually wear ourselves out trying to take care of ourselves, unsuccessfully, until we finally are willing to give trusting God a try. Once we do that and begin to experience His faithfulness, it becomes easier to trust again and again. One of the reasons why trusting God can be challenging is because He doesn’t always immediately give us what we ask for. We receive from God through faith and patience. The waiting part is a test that usually stretches our faith to new levels.

God is good, merciful, holy, and kind. He is gracious and He is faithful and true. God is love! He is the same at all times, and we can depend on Him to keep His word.

It is easy to put our trust in someone we believe loves us and not only has the power to help us, but also wants to help us! God is waiting to help you and me, and all we need to do is trust Him to do so.

As I look back over my life, I can definitely say that God is faithful. He is always there for us, even when we don’t see Him or feel Him. As long as we believe He is working, He will manifest, or reveal, the evidence of His work at the right time. Don’t give up when the wait seems long; continue trusting God!

Anytime I am having difficulty trusting God, I remember things He has done for me in the past and I am reassured that He will do it again. I have kept journals for forty years, and I ran across one recently from the 1970s, when I asked God to provide me with a dozen new dishtowels. Dave and I had no money to purchase them, and since I was just beginning my journey of trusting God, I approached Him as a little child and asked for them. Imagine my elation when a few weeks later, a woman I was barely acquainted with showed up at my door and said, “I hope you don’t think I’m crazy, but I kept feeling that God wanted me to bring you some new dishtowels!” I got so excited that she was shocked until I explained to her that I had asked God to provide them. That is one of my vivid experiences with the faithfulness of God, and there have been many others through the years.

In the Bible, we read that when David needed to kill the giant, Goliath, and everyone was discouraging him and telling him that he would fail, he remembered the lion and the bear that he had previously killed with God’s faithful help. His faith was strengthened and he went on to slay Goliath. (See 1 Samuel 17:34–36.)

I want to encourage you to take time, perhaps even right now, to make a list of some of the times you have experienced God’s faithfulness in your own life. I can assure you that it will feed your faith and enable you to trust God more easily for the current needs in your life.

I have heard the word “faithful” defined as “to be trusted or relied on.” We can rely on God! We can lean on Him. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us, but to be with us always (see Matthew 28:20).

When we are in need, we can trust Him to be with us and help us (see Hebrews 13:5). When we are going through trials, He is with us and always helps us (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). And when all others forsake us, He is with us and remains faithful (see 2 Timothy 4:16–17).

A sincere study of each aspect of God’s character is very beneficial in helping us learn to trust Him. I will mention more of His character traits throughout the book, but I also encourage you to seek out resources on this subject and do your own study.

Confidence

Trust is said to be confidence! We all know how much easier life is when we have confidence. Having a belief that we can do a thing enables us to live life boldly with joy and positive expectation. As believers in Jesus, our confidence needs to be in Him. We all have confidence in some areas, but we can be confident in all areas of life through trusting God. For example, sometimes I feel confident when I am teaching in a conference, but there are also times when I don’t. In those times I can choose to be confident as long as my confidence is in Christ and not in myself or how I feel.

The apostle Paul was very clear when he stated that he put no confidence in the flesh. Although he had many natural advantages, he did not put his trust in those outward things. He emphatically says that our confidence is in Christ (see Philippians 3:3). Trust is confidence in the one who is trusted, and confidence in Christ makes us comfortable! It allows us to work with ease because we believe we can do what needs to be done. Confident trust removes stress, pressure, worry, and the fear of failure.

I said that we can “be” confident even when we don’t “feel” confident, and this is a very important point. Feelings are fickle; they are likely to change at any time and without notice, so putting our confidence in how we feel isn’t very smart.

You might go to apply for a job and initially feel confident because you believe you have the skills needed. But halfway through your interview, you get the feeling that the person interviewing you doesn’t like you very much, and suddenly that thought (which may not even be true) causes you to lose your feeling of confidence. However, if your confidence is in God, you can trust Him to give you favor, and you can continue the interview while being confident that if it is the right job for you, you will get it.

Satan does not want us to be confident because he knows that without it, we will not accomplish much in life. Even people who are very talented, intelligent, and capable still need confidence. Confidence is to us what fuel is to an airplane: An airplane has the capability to fly, yet it remains on the ground without fuel.

It is impossible to be consistently confident if our confidence is misplaced in people or things, because they are changeable, but God never changes and He does not lie! He is the Rock we hang on to in a world that is often a swirling sea of uncertainty.