Who do you trust?

I think most people go through times in their lives when they wonder if God can really be trusted. And that's understandable. Life is often complex.

We encounter people and circumstances that give us great joy and hope. We encounter others that can make us doubt that any good really exists in the universe.

The life we live has a lot to do with how we see the world, how we see ourselves, and what we think about God. Yet human life is a manifold experience. Few of us live the same kind of life all the years we exist on this planet.

A man who experiences years of bloody war will not be like the man who lives a life of peace on his farm. Yet many have been both men. A woman always cherished and protected will not be like the woman repeatedly raped or beaten. Yet some have been both women, at different times in their lives. A child who's loved, trusted, and well educated won't be much like the child abandoned, who must steal to eat, and who survives by lying and fighting. Yet many children have tasted some of both worlds in their developing years.

I could say the same things about poverty and riches in general, about city life as opposed to rural or even wilderness life, and so on. Some of us have always been servants, and some always favored to lead, but many have experienced both positions. Some of us are early risers, facing each day with gusto, working diligently to earn a living. And some have been night prowlers, sleeping during the daylight hours, and staying awake all night. But many of us have known both lifestyles, either out of habit or necessity.

Human experience is not a thin piece of glass, on the surface of which is painted a simple image. Life is manifold, complex, a mixture of many wins and lots of losses, broken dreams and ever-reaching hope. It's a multi-dimensioned mirror filled with many moving images -- not always reflecting us so much as the world all around us. It's both a tunnel and an open plane, a game, and a fierce battle, a bitter loss of ground to confusion, and at the same time, a door always opening onto victory that never ends or fades away.

God as the solid rock.

In all of the variations of human life and existence, there is only one constant. That one true constant is God Himself.

God offers us peace in the time of war, and He takes away our peace when our desire for comfort distorts our sense of right and wrong. God is never a reflection of us at all, and yet He always responds to us right where we are. He provides for the poor, the hungry, the thirsty. He humbles the rich and powerful who make themselves fat from the bitter toiling and suffering of others.

God is righteous no matter what. But thankfully for us all, He's also merciful and forgiving -- kind beyond all human ability to measure or comprehend.

Fearing & trusting.

The Lord God is worthy of our fear, if we take a stand against Him. Above all things, God is worthy of the trust of all who depend on Him.

God gives whatever is needed. Paul the apostle says of God, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32)

Transitions and change.

In my early childhood, I was a trusting child. Later, when I was about 7, my mother and I moved into the inner city. Because she was a single mom, in the process of getting a divorce from my dad, and because she had a disability (from polio), we ended up as wards of the system. We moved into public housing, received a monthly supply of commodities (I remember the taste of powdered eggs to this day), and some kind of small living allowance. Mom started a program where she would eventually be trained as a florist or something. And I encountered a whole new world of racial hatred, teen gangs, thugs, and you name it.

I quickly learned not to be very trusting. And even when Mom married to get us out of that place, I retained a certain view of people and life that I had picked up in a relatively short time. Other events and people along the way deepened my sense of wariness. To this day, I'm not a trusting person by nature. I like people and I care about them. But I trust very few people completely.

On the other hand, the very same life experiences have taught me that I can trust God absolutely.

Jesus tells us to fear what God is able to do to both soul and body in hell. The entire Bible teaches us to fear God.

But the fear of God taught in Scripture is not the kind of fear that some children have for their dad or step-dad. It isn't the kind of fear that some women learn to have for the men in their lives. Biblical fear of God does not demand that we live in dread or terror of the Almighty.

The fear of God, as taught in the Bible, is often synonymous with trusting God. It's the understanding that God is all-powerful, truly perfect in righteousness, and that He will always do whatever He says He will do.

In other words, we can believe what God says. We can trust Him to be who and what He is -- namely God Almighty -- in every circumstance and situation of life. If we are His enemy, then yes, we should be afraid. But if we're hoping in Him, trusting in Him, depending on Him for safe-keeping, looking to Him for direction and help and mercy, then we can count on Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

By nature, I don't trust in anything or anyone -- not even in my own ability to do what needs to be done. But I've learned to trust completely and always and forever in God.

You should not imagine me as the kind of person who simply rejoices when things go wrong. That's not me. It takes God's grace to work powerfully in me to help me over (or through) the difficulties of life. I complain. I fight back. I resist trouble.

I'm like an old warrior who is always ready for a fight. But God teaches me to rest in Him, to give the whole thing over to Him and then to trust.

God is faithful. Better than any friend on earth. Better than any earthly brother, mother or father. And I'm not saying that there haven't been great friends, some great brothers, or great mothers and fathers. I'm simply saying that God is even more faithful, more dependable, more worthy of our trust.

If you find it difficult to rest in God's care, to let go and trust in God, I want you to know that the Lord isn't upset with you for that. He knows all about our lives, what we've done, what we've received from other people. God is not stupid, not unreasonable, not legalistic. He knows what we need, and He will continue to work in our lives until the day we leave this earthly life.

But when we hold Him at arm's length we do so to our own hurt. The sooner we open our hearts to God, the sooner we trust Him with what we cannot control ourselves, the better things will be for us -- and for all those we really love.

God is able. God is faithful. So I urge you today to place your whole heart and soul and life in God's care.

Take a big step in the direction of real faith. Pray and ask the Lord to help you. He will help you. Pray and tell the Lord all about the situation you face, the fears you have, the reason why you feel wronged, the whole story. God will understand. Tell Him that you need peace, and a fresh hope that things will really change for the good. The Bible teaches us that God will take hold of the very pillars of reality itself and shake them, if need be, to bring about whatever you need.

You find that hard to believe? Then think about this: When the needs in our lives required the terrible suffering and sacrifice of God's only Son, the Lord did not fail us even then. He will not fail us today.

It's true that God doesn't put on shows for entertainment. He won't act in order to prove Himself to those who reject Him anyway. But He will move all of heaven and earth to help anyone -- anyone at all -- who cries out to Him. The worst drug addict or pimp or murderer or liar, or whatever else you can imagine that a person might ever be, will be helped when they call on God from the heart. In fact, all of these kinds of people have called on God before, and all who placed themselves in His hands have been helped, and rescued, and delivered, and forgiven -- and even healed.

It's a small thing to God to spin the planets, the galaxies, the universe itself. But human lives are big deals to Him.

God takes a human soul -- the needs in any human life -- very seriously. He will help all who call on Him in simple faith. And even if your faith is so weak that you doubt your prayer will ever rise higher than your nose, God will still hear it and intervene to help you. He's not far away, resting on cushions in some palace in the sky, far removed from all the things we go through every day. He is right here with us -- with all who place their hopes in Him.

You know what I'm talking about. Way down deep in your heart, you already know that all these things are true -- no matter how you may be feeling right now.

Maybe you've already written God off, and you've told Him as much. Maybe you've even cursed at God and sworn that you would never pray again, never trust Him again. So join the crowd. Many of us have been there. I have. And I can tell you that God isn't holding your bitter pain, your sorrow, or your anger against you. He forgives us all because He loves us and truly understands us.

Don't be afraid to go to Him now. His arms are open wide for you. His heart is ready to receive you, to forgive you, to call you His very own child. Trust Him to protect you against whatever evil may come your way.

Dare to trust God. Dare to rise up and live as a whole person. Dare to believe in the One who has always believed in you. Turn fully to Jesus Christ with all your heart -- calling on God in the simplest faith -- and you will have life, and help from God, and salvation, and joy unspeakable.

Sound too simple? Too good to be true? Only believe, and you will see that God is exceedingly and abundantly able to do far above all that you could ever ask or think. He will hear your cry for help, and He will respond to the needs in your life. God is faithful.

Trust in the Lord.

Jim

If you're unsure of what it means to trust in Jesus, you can find help here.