We are creatures of control. We want to know the future and be in control of every step of the way. We want things to go our way – because we know what is best, of course. Yet, God calls us to trust Him. And that can be really difficult for many Christians.
But what many Christians don’t realize is that when you actually see God for who he is, you can’t help but trust Him! You actually don’t want to do anything else but that. When you see His character and His greatness compared to your frailty and faultiness, it brings you fear to trust in anything else but Him.
So join me in this journey as we discover how to trust God and what it looks like in your practical everyday life.
This post is all about how to trust God.
How To Trust God
Get to know Him
First, in order to trust God more you need to know Him more. Yes, in simple terms this means reading your Bible. But let’s take it a little deeper.
Many people read their bibles and they are still not well acquainted with God. As you read your Bible you need to ask yourself, “What does this tell me about God?” and “What does this tell me about His character?” As you proactively read large portions of scripture and books of the Bible you can start to see God’s character more clearly and how he acts with people.
As you see these things, you are able to know Him more.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the attributes of God that help us know Him more and in turn trust Him more:
1. He is solitary – there is no one like Him.
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”
Exodus 15:11
“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.”
Psalms 86:8-10
2. He knows all things
“O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”
Psalm 139: 1-6
3. He is supreme and rules
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand, it is to make great and to give strength to all.”
1 Chroni 29: 11-12
4. He is sovereign
“Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose”
Isaiah 46:10
“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Daniel 4:35
“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will”
Ephesians 1:11
5. He does not change and His word does not change
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
Matthew 24:35
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
Isaiah 40:8
6. He is all-powerful
“Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God”
Psalm 62:11
“The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.”
Psalm 18:13-15
7. He is faithful
“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations”
Deuteronomy 7:9
“If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”
2 Timothy 2:13
8. He is good
“The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.”
Psalm 145:9
9. He is patient
“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”
Nahum 1:3
“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”
Exodus 34:6
10. He is merciful
And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”
Exodus 33:19
11. He loves us
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved”
Ephesians 2:4
The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink dives deeper into understanding these attributes – a must-read!
Get to know yourself
Now, let’s take a moment to get to know ourselves – in light of what we just read about God. What does the Bible (and our own personal experiences) tell us about ourselves? Who are we, apart from God?
1. We are sinful
“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
Isaiah 64:6
“As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one”
Romans 3:10
2. We deserve God’s wrath because of our sin
“But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”
Romans 2:5
3. We are fleeting
“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you.”
Psalm 39:4-5
“The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.”
Psalm 90:10
4. We need a Savior
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23
5. Our hearts are deceitful
“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10
I could go on but I think you get the point. We desperately need God, without Him we are very sad creatures. We think ourselves so big but when we compare ourselves to God, we are truly nothing.
So who do you want to trust? Does knowing God and his character and attributes change the way you see Him?
Embrace the Process
I wanted to end with an important note. Just because you read all these Bible verses and see how God is so much greater than yourself does not mean your doubt and lack of trust in God will be fixed overnight. It takes time.
Knowing God in your mind is the first step. Next, you need to know Him in your daily experiences. You need to experience His character coming through for you in small and big areas of your life.
This happens over time. It is a process! Someone who has walked with God for 40 years and seen His faithfulness over and over in her life trusts Him more than someone who just started reading their Bible at age 25.
I feel like that’s something people don’t talk about. The process of growth. The process of trust. The process of sanctification.
But you know the best part? God understands the process and He is with you every step of the way. He knows your frame, he knows that you are but dust (Psalm 103:14) and he is walking alongside you helping you grow your faith.
You need to take those steps forward of obedience and trust and then He will come through. Then you will see it becomes a beautiful cycle of trusting and growing in trust. As He comes through for you and shows Himself to you more and more in your everyday life you will trust Him more.
Celebrate the wins! Journal the ways he has shown Himself faithful, merciful, gracious, and loving to you. Remember those times when trials and difficulties come.
As you do this you trust God more and in turn live a life of peace, joy, and fulfillment in Him. Blessings and encouragement in your journey!
Love,
Jessica Ruth
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