Trust: Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something; to allow someone to have, use or look after (someone or something of importance or value) with confidence.
How often do we see the word trust, in relation to trusting God, used in the Bible? The answer is a lot—somewhere around 210 times, according to Google. How often do we say we trust in God, while actually holding back the things that mean the most to us?
Confidence: The feeling, or belief, that one can rely on someone; firm trust.
Trust and Confidence are practically synonyms. We say we rely on God, that we trust Him with our stuff, but do we really? I know I don’t. I let my human-ness take over. What if He doesn’t follow through and I’m left to deal with it? What if He doesn’t actually care about me?
When we let ourselves wallow in the doubt and the “what ifs,” we end up not trusting our Creator.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Another word for understanding is intuition, or knowledge. We say we trust in God, but we constantly rely on our own knowledge, intuition, or even just the things we are comfortable or familiar with instead. Maybe if we spent more time with God, He would be something we are comfortable or familiar with. How can we expect to trust someone we don’t know? How can we put our confidence in someone we don’t get to know throughout the week?
How often do you feel like you’re far away from friends, family, or your spouse just because you haven’t gotten to spend quality time with them? The same is true with God. You can’t build a relationship—a trust—without putting in time.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Our trust in the Lord should be so strong that we won't worry even in the darkest of times. Even during a pandemic. Even when our relationships aren't the way we imagined or hoped. God should be our foundation—not a topping we add to our lives. We must trust in Him.