Placing Trust in God

The phrase “In God We Trust” has been the official motto of the United States since 1956. However, this inscription can be found on the country’s money beginning around 1862 where it arose during the Civil War. Interestingly, the motto was also frequently seen on banners and the like in the Confederacy. The phrase derived originally from an obscure stanza in our National Anthem which reads “”And this be our motto-“In God is our trust.” President Theodore Roosevelt was vehemently opposed to placing the motto on our currency but was fine with the inscription showing up on government buildings. There was some basis in his reasoning. He felt that putting it on our currency and coins could lead to a degrading of the motto and even invited levity and ridicule. Roosevelt was somewhat vindicated with this stand as frequently one would hear it said “In God we trust, all others pay cash,” and other such epithets. Nonetheless, it has remained. Efforts to remove it have failed. Challenges based on the First Amendment have not succeeded as the motto does not create an accommodation for a single religion since the motto could be used by any religion. Also, the courts have stated that “ a repetitious invocation of a religious entity in ceremonial matters strips the phrase of its original religious connotation.”

As Christians, we are often told to “Trust God.” But what does trusting God look like? What do I do to be able to trust Him more? It’s one thing to say we want to trust God, but it is something else to make it happen. How?

There is no shortage of statements made by Christian leaders about trust. Buzz Williams said “Trust is the tie that binds any and all relationships with God, our spouses, our friends, and our community. The more trust we have, the more influence we have.” Really? Isn’t trust more than influence?

Rick Warren – “The more you believe and trust God, the more limitless your possibilities become for your family, your career – for your life!” The key here is trust. Even the demons believe.

Joel Osteen – “When you’re really believing, when you’re in peace, you’re showing God by your actions that you trust Him.”  Again, believing isn’t enough. 

Brett Harris – “It’s amazing what we can do if we will trust God enough to step out of our comfort zones!” God gives us comfort when we trust.

All of these sound good, they may motivate us to want to trust God more, but none address the “How” of trusting God.

I readily admit I don’t have a definitive answer to trusting God, but there are some specific things we can do to move us closer to Him. A Google search will give you a three-step, five-step, seven step, ten step plan to accomplish this. So I’m going to outline some steps that I think have enabled me to trust Him more fully. It’s not a comprehensive list, it’s probably not the best list, but it’s something I have found helpful. Before I go any further, I want to address one thing that it is not. We cannot just sit back and wait for God to move. Isaiah 40:31 reads “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”

The first line tells us to wait upon the Lord, then it goes on to describe what happens. Waiting on the Lord is not sitting in our recliner, waiting for God to act. Waiting on the Lord is an active waiting, continuing what we have been doing for Him. When we are doing His work, we are drawing closer to trusting God more.

 Brittany Yesudasan writes that trusting in Him means believing what He says about Himself, about the world and about you is true. Secondly, she states that “trusting God is more than a feeling; it’s a choice to have faith in what He says.” Our feelings and circumstances may not be reliable and we can easily deceive ourselves. Third, trusting God is living a life of belief in and obedience to God even when it’s difficult. Our feelings and circumstances should not be ignored, but are two factors in trusting God.

I have identified seven behaviors that we can undertake to increase our trust in God.

First, Our trust in God is rooted in our faith and knowledge of God. This means we should talk to Him regularly in prayer and learn about Him through reading His message to us. As we make this a habit we become more confident in Him and His character. As we learn about Him through His word, we can use our knowledge of Scripture as a checkpoint. In our prayers we should not hesitate to cry out to God. We should confess our unbelief. In Mark 9, a father was asking Jesus to heal his son. He cried out “I do believe; help my unbelief!” 

In John 8:31-21 Jesus said “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Other translations use the word abide but the concept of remaining in Him seems to be a term we can more relate to. To remain in someone or something means that it is a part of us.

Second, Our trust in God is obedience and, yes, dependence on Him. Don’t depend on yourself. And when we trust Him and need Him, we cry out to Him. In I Samuel 7:9 we are told that “Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.” God does not change. When we cry out to Him, He hears us even today. 

But we must obey Him. In Acts 5, Peter and the Apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin and ordered them to stop teaching in Jesus’ name. Under threat of death they responded. “We must obey God rather than men.” In today’s world, there are many who deny Christ, many who would attempt to discredit our faith. We must stand firm, obeying His word, or He will deny us. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus said “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ If we deny Him on Earth, He will deny us at Heaven’s gate.

Third, Our trust in God is believing in spite of our feelings. We may feel Him leading us in a certain way that seems the opposite of what we think we can do. Faith is a steadfast trust in His truth, feelings are fleeting emotions not grounded in faith. Think about your favorite sports team. They play a lousy game and lose. We are disgusted with them and vow never to watch them again. Yet, your emotions fade and you are once again avidly watching them, only to disavow them then in their next unfortunate showing. Our faith in God is steadfast as He never fails us.

Fourth, This should go without saying, but in today’s world we need to be aware that evil is very present. We should never accommodate evil. That first, seemingly harmless, step may be our first step to destruction. Our trust in Him should have us running from evil. Psalm 37:27-29 reads “Turn from evil and do good, So that you will dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice and does not abandon His godly ones.” Other translations show urgency, implying us to “flee from evil.” 

Fifth, God sent us the Holy Spirit to be our comforter, our advocate. Listen to the Spirit and build your trust. In John 14:16-17, Jesus told us “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.” This helper, the comforter is the Holy Spirit. Two things to note here. The Spirit can only be received if we are in Christ. If you are of the world, you cannot receive the helper. Next, we see the word “remain” in relation to our relationship with Him. The Spirit is always with us when we remain in Him.

Sixth, Our trust in God is bolstered when we remember things grateful for which we are grateful. Times when God led us in the right direction. Henry Blackaby called these times “spiritual markers.” Remember your spiritual markers. Write them in your journal to help you recall them. In Joshua 4:8 we read “So the sons of Israel did exactly as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the Lord spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the encampment and put them down there.” This was to help the people remember God bringing them into the promised land. Maybe they never returned to this spot, but they remembered the celebration of God’s faithfulness.

Finally, When we place our trust fully in God, we can find rest in Him. God established the sabbath as a weekly day of rest. In today’s world, we often find ourselves running to and fro, non-stop. This is not God’s design. He intends for us a time of rest. Matthew Sleeth was an emergency room doctor who was worn out from constant work. At the time he was not a Christian. Yet, he felt led to take a weekly “sabbath” one day a week to do nothing. He learned that he was refreshed and accomplished as much or more in six days as he had previously done in seven. He later discovered God’s plan for taking a sabbath day of rest, and became a Christian. Take a day off. Take a nap. Give rest to your body, mind, and soul. This is so important to God that He established it as one of the Ten Commandments. And it is also the longest of the Commandments. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”  (Exodus 20:9-11).

It takes time to build trust. But we know that God can be fully trusted all the time. Why not take the next step and trust Him?