If you have a piece of American currency or a coin in your pocket, you’ve noticed the inscription, “in God we trust.” It is so unfortunate, that so few have actually experienced what it is to be, in a trust relationship with God.
Perhaps you’ve wondered who is he, who is God? You may have even thought, should I trust Him or can He really be trusted. Nearly everyone has a story or two about someone that broke your trust or let you down. After you’ve been betrayed, it’s hard to trust again. One must remember that it’s a mistake to evaluate God based on our experience with people. However, I find that oftentimes people are skeptical of God based on negative interactions with each other. Have you been resistant to open your life to God? Have you found yourself struggling to seek his intervention? Sooner or later you will come to realize you need God in your life. It is impossible to really trust God if you haven’t take time to know Him.
King David tells us to seek, examine and perceive the goodness of God and that we will be blessed for trusting in him. Psalm 34:8 NKJV says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
I remember driving across the Mackinac Bridge back in 1984, the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the western hemisphere. Knowing even back then that I could not swim the distance between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, I thought it best to trust the provision of passage the bridge provided. The bridge was a wonderful alternative to the 230 foot depth of water beneath. By comparison, the roughly 4-mile drive across the mighty structure was comparatively easy. In a similar way, God is available to us and He invites us to trust what He has provided for us through His Son Jesus. Invariably, life’s unexpected events and unforeseen circumstances will leave us unable to cross over… it is then that God will give us access to the on ramp of faith’s reliable bridge. Unlike the Mackinac bridge that occasionally closes due to extreme weather and wind, the love that God has for each of us is the means by which we can always find safe passage.
Recently, my family and I learned of some news that caught us entirely off guard. Difficulty usually shows up with little or no advance warning. So what does one do when adversity comes to challenge our hopes and dreams? How should we face the mountains of heartbreak and disappointment? The scriptures are God’s invitation for us to know Him, so that we can trust Him. Proverbs 3:5 and 6, is a personal favorite of mine; it reads as follows, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” When you know there is someone you can trust it makes the unknown much less frightening. Knowing the reliability of God to care and correct the problems we face allows us to proceed with confidence.
During Job’s time of testing, he expresses his assurance that God could be trusted, even though he didn’t understand everything that was happening to him. He had this to say regarding the intense calamities that were occurring. “…He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. Job 23:10 NKJV Job expressed that he was content to know that God knew the details of all he faced and that God’s purpose would be known through the test. My family and I are choosing to trust the Lord in this same manor.
Friend’s, we live in a world of constant change and uncertainty, yet we can be confident in God. Listen to what the scripture declares to you and I in the book of Jeremiah. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:7. Let me encourage you to trust the Lord yourself.
Oh and by the way, the view from the bridge is spectacular! If you are struggling in the currents below, God’s bridge is open to you. Crossing over is simply a matter of trust.
