Do You Trust Me?

There has been one question that God is continually putting on my heart in this season of life: “Do you trust Me?”

Every season and circumstance requires some element of trust. We all have times of doubt and questioning, but God doesn’t. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful- for He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13). As explained in my previous post, God is holy, holy, holy. It is against His own character to make mistakes. In our previous lives of sin, this created complete separation from the Lord. But as Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ came to this broken earth to meet us exactly where we are. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person- though for a good person one would dare even to die- but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). There was no work and no sacrifice done on our parts. The ultimate sacrifice of the spotless lamb was the holy and perfect plan of our sovereign God.

The best example of trust that I find in scripture is Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus came to this earth fully man and fully God. He experienced suffering, sorrow, and even temptation from Satan himself (Matthew 4:1-11). As Jesus prepared to face His death, I cannot even begin to imagine the trust and hope He had in His Father. According to the Passover tradition, within the Psalms that Jesus prayed over His disciples is Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”. Less than twenty-four hours before Jesus is beaten within breaths of death and nailed to the cross, He uses what little time and life He has left to praise the Father. Jesus knows and trusts that the Will of His Father is indeed holy, holy, holy. “And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will’ (Matthew 26:39). Jesus has complete faith and trust in His Father. As David writes in Psalm 23:6 “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever”. Jesus has confident faith that God is good and that He is holy, holy, holy.

I believe that sincere trust in God leads to genuine community with Him.  Again the best example of this I know is God Himself. Our God is a trinity, three in one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three are distinguishable yet indivisible. God Himself dwells in community. We see from the very beginning in Genesis 2:18 “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a helper fit for him”. In God’s creation of woman, we see that we are not meant to go through life alone. We are designed and created for community. I have realized that my own tendency is to base my ability and choice to trust based on past experiences and feelings. Based on what I have known in the past, I think I know what is good. But I know that I do not see the whole picture. Only God in His eternal perspective knows what is truly best. He sees the entire journey and story of my life; only He holds all the pieces of the puzzle. The puzzle only shows the real picture and stays together when all of the pieces are present and aligned. When I try to see and hold the picture with only the few pieces I have it is unclear and fragile. So knowing and trusting that God knows the whole picture and that His plan is holy, holy, holy, my ability and choice to trust changes. I know that pain, confusion, and victory are all a part of His sovereign plan because of His great love for me. He loves His children too much to allow anything other than what is best for each of them according to His eternal glory. I’ve heard it said “God gives us what we would’ve asked for if we knew everything” (Timothy Keller).

So in every circumstance and every season, pause and consider God’s question to you: “Do you trust Me?”