Trust

Do you believe?

When my kids were little and they were trying something new, like diving off the high board, I would encourage them. “I believe in you!”

I wasn’t saying, “I agree and give intellectual assent that you exist.” Believing in them was based on a relationship.

When I first met my wife, I believed that it was the beginning of something amazing.

Not that I had studied it and could answer all the right questions when it came to a test about who she was. Believing was based on a relationship.

So when we come to God, and I ask that question, “Do you believe in him?” Why is it that we immediately start looking for the scantron or the answer sheet? We pick up a number 2 pencil and start scratching our heads.

“What do you mean by believe? What am I supposed to believe? Which version or translation of the Bible do you want me to use? Which set of catechisms am I supposed to confer with? What creed do I memorize?”

All of those things have their place. But they remove one very important – the most important! – aspect of belief. Relationship.

The word believe means more than thinking right thoughts about God it means to have confidence in God. To trust in God doesn’t mean we pass the test with flying colors. It means that we put all of our hopes, dreams, aspirations, and affections on him. We have full confidence that – even though we don’t have all the right answers – he will see us through.

Trust is the foundation of any relationship and when you lose trust it is a long difficult road getting it back. Do you know the only way that you can 100% be sure you can trust someone? It’s by trusting them. Only then can you know if they are trustworthy. Sounds like a risky proposition.

But when it comes to this life, we have two options – God or ourselves. The writer of Proverbs 3:5-6 says that when we put all that trust in God, he in turn makes our paths straight. That doesn’t mean every obstacle is removed from our path or every road is easy. It means that our outcome is secure in him.

On the other hand, when we put all of our trust in our own understanding we are left with a shaky foundation and an unsure future.

Jesus put it this way:

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Matthew 7:24-27

To hear Jesus’ voice and respond to it. That’s the ultimate measure of trust in him. And trust is the ultimate expression of belief.

So let’s get back to belief. It’s not the content of Jesus’ words that made the difference. It was the person’s willingness to follow through. Both people heard, they understood, they knew the right answer. But one failed to put it into action while the other one went all in on Jesus’ words.

What made the difference? It was relationship. The one closest to Jesus was willing to go all the way and put them into practice. We spent a few weeks talking about those practices. They aren’t some spiritual short cut, but a full expression of our relationship with God. It’s the same with wisdom.

I’m never going to have all the answers on this side of eternity. I don’t need to. Sometimes I think I do. When the path starts to get a little bumpy, maybe even curvy, I tend to panic and grasp for the answer key. But then that’s putting my trust in my own understanding.

Instead, when I throw all my trust onto God, I know he’s going to see us through and everything will be all right. How do I know that? Because of my relationship with him.