WHO DO YOU TRUST?

John 14:1 “"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”

Martin Luther once said, “Faith is a living well-founded confidence in the grace of God, so perfectly certain that it would die a thousand times rather than surrender its conviction. Such confidence and personal knowledge of divine grace makes its possessor joyful, bold, and full of warm affection toward God and all created things -- all of which the Holy Spirit works in faith. Hence, such a man becomes without constraint willing and eager to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer all manner of ills, in order to please and glorify God, who has shown toward him such grace.”

We have trusted many people and many things. We often trust our families and we have trusted our friends. We have trusted our financial institutions. We trusted our national security services. We trusted our military services. What do all of these things have in common? Sometimes they fail our trust.

God wants us to trust him. Moses trusted God to deliver the Israelites at the Red Sea. Joseph trusted God while he languished in the Pharaoh’s prison. David trusted God for a victory when he was facing down Goliath. Jonah trusted God to answer his prayer in the belly of the whale. Peter and John trusted God as they stood before the Sanhedrin and gave their defense of the Christian faith.

Trust is defined as “basic dependence on someone or something; belief that something will happen or someone will act is a prescribed way.” Godly trust is found in our unwavering belief that the God of Heaven will indeed work on our behalf to bring his perfect will for our lives into being.

Sometimes, it seems that God is asking me the question , “Do you trust me?” Far too often in life we become completely focused on the trials and difficulties and we lose our focus on Christ. When Peter walked on the water with Jesus he was doing well until he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the waves. The same is true of us today. God can get us through the most impossible situations but we must keep our focus and trust on him. How can we ever expect to find help and healing when we are still focused on our difficulties and not our deliverance?

In our scripture, Jesus was calling the disciples to trust God through any and every circumstance of life. He was about to be crucified and they would be scattered. Jesus was telling them to trust even when they did not understand because God was still at work

If you were asked, most of you would very quickly say that you trust God but there are times when trust is not so simple. Trusting God means we believe in that which we cannot see and sometimes may not understand. Trusting God is literally against our human nature. Trusting God means that we have to admit that we are not in control of our lives.

We need to place our trust in something or someone and we do it every day. We trust our cars to get us to our destination. We trust our employers to deliver paychecks. We trust our doctors to heal our illnesses. How much more should we trust God?

Disasters strike and tragedies happen in our lives. Life can indeed be hard. Life can be uncertain. Life is beyond our control. In times like this, we are left with raw emotions and tough questions. Answers are beyond us as we grapple with the question of why.

Nothing that we go through in life is beyond God. The truth is that we can and must rely on God in every situation in life. In times that just don’t make any sense in human terms, we need to trust in God. The more senseless life becomes, the greater our need to trust in God. God wants you to trust even when you don’t understand. When life just doesn’t make sense. God wants us to follow him when the future seems uncertain. It is only when we completely trust God that he will give us the power of his direction and the power of his presence. When we feel weak, God is our strength. When we are pressured by life, God is our relief. When we need security, God is our refuge. The full resources of God are at our disposal when we place our trust in Him.