The Choice of Trust

From The Voices and The Choices by Roxanne Parks on YouVersion

I absolutely love referring to the Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary as many of Noah Webster’s original word definitions contain references to the King James Bible itself; this was all before it was diluted into our contemporary dictionaries. Literally this is the definition found in that dictionary:

TRUST, noun

1. Confidence; a reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person.

He that “putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” Proverbs 29:25 KJV

2. He or that which is the ground of confidence.

…”O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth. Psalms 71:5 KJV

Trust is a confident expectation. Trust, like faith, is not a feeling. It is a choice. I love that “he that putteth his TRUST in the Lord shall be safe” part of the definition above. Safe? Hmmm? In this world we simply cannot put our trust into imperfect humans. There is only One that cannot fail or forsake us. Do we believe that? I do; therefore, I choose trust.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 – The person who trusts in the  Lord, whose confidence indeed is the  Lord, is blessed.  He will be like a tree planted by water:  it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.

Trusting God can be a challenging choice. It can be nerve-racking, because you eventually need to be okay with not knowing His plans but believing that they are good. This is another trust choice to be made. Do we believe that He is a good, good Father? I do.

At the same time, trusting God can bring peace and security, because now you are hooked to the Creator, the source of life, power, and prosperity.

Isaiah 26:3 – You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace,  for it is trusting in you.

We need to realize that trusting God does NOT mean that you believe everything will go the way you want it to. It also doesn’t mean that God will explain everything that is going on in your life. As I daily choose trust, I often remind myself to lean not on my own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart,  and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. 

But trusting God does mean that no matter what happens, you will turn to Him instead of away from Him. It means that whatever we suffer, in the end we trust God will use it for our ultimate good. This brings rest in my trust. I choose His will, His way over my will, my way. Sometimes this is very hard and is a practice of discipline.

Psalms 125:1 – Those who trust in the  Lord are like Mount Zion. It cannot be shaken; it remains forever. 

The sooner we reconcile His sovereignty and His faithfulness, the sooner we can move on to trust. After trust we can live in peace. The Good News: God is just waiting for us to humbly trust Him so He can guide us forward and act with our best interests in mind.

Ponder:

Where do you wrestle with trusting God? Do you really believe that your will, your way is better than His will, His way?

Prayer:

Lord help me to trust You and lean not on my own understanding whenever my control freak wants to step up and step in. I choose Your Lordship over mine every day.