Do you really trust him?

The Bible talks a lot about faith and believing. Our lack of trust inhibits our prayers, causes anxieties, and keeps us from boldly sharing our faith. It seems simple, but we all need to learn to trust God more than we do right now.

Looking at David’s response to hardship, danger, and enemies, might give us an example of what it means to live by faith – to trust God in every situation. I recommend you read Psalm 27 in its entirety, but will insert a few excerpts here to guide our thinking:

First, when David realizes God’s overwhelming power compared to the merely human power of his enemies, he conquers fear:

The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. (vv.1-3)

Then, he seems to realize that focusing on relationship with God is the main thing he needs to do. As he does that, he recognizes God’s help in the past and asks him to do it again.

Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Do not hide your face from me,

do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper.

Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior. (vv. 7-9)

The result? Steadfastness. He knows his situation. He knows the power and authority of God, and he lives in patient confidence, waiting for God to act:

I remain confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (vv.13-14)

Don’t we all want to trust God more? To live confidently and without fear? Maybe we should follow David’s example in this psalm as we think about the many good reasons to believe God is trustworthy:

He loves us.
He’s powerful and able to help.
His character doesn’t change.
His purposes don’t change.
He keeps his promises
His past blessings in our lives help us believe he will keep blessing us.

If all that is true, there is no reason not to trust him. If we would put that trust into practice as David did, maybe we would . . .

. . . be comfortable not being in control of every situation.

. . . stand back sometimes while others make decisions without our input.

. . . be more confident and less fearful in new situations.

. . . enjoy each day for what it is, including both challenges and blessings.

. . . see life as an adventure, knowing God has a good and perfect plan he will unfold one step at a time.

. . . be OK with not having all our questions answered, believing God has reasons we don’t know.

. . . live to please God alone, even if it means we won’t always please others.

Are we ready to grow our faith in God? Let’s think about what he has done for us so far in our lives and then let him know we’re trusting him with the rest of it. He will never let us down!

Faith is a reasoning trust, a trust which reckons thoughtfully and confidently upon the trustworthiness of God. - John R. W. Stott