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Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but
endures forever. (Ps 125:1)
When Bryan, our youngest son, was a small boy, he asked his dad to lift
him onto a large seven-foot-high concrete platform. Eddie did so. After a few minutes, Eddie reached out his hands.
“Jump, Bryan! Daddy will catch you,” he said. Bryan was not so sure.
“I won’t let you fall. You can trust me to catch you.”
Cautiously, but obediently, Bryan jumped into his daddy’s arms.
About four months later, Bryan was climbing a tree at a park. When it was
time to go, Eddie reached out his arms to Bryan and quietly said, Jump. To
Eddie’s astonishment, Bryan joyfully jumped into the arms of his loving
father.
Trust God and love people
Most of the disappointment and pain we have suffered has come from
misplaced trust. We have loved God and trusted people. Some of those people
have violated our trust. Now we must learn to trust God and love people (Beyond the Veil, p125-126)
The issue of trust can be a tough one, can’t it? The Scripture has something
to say that will help you understand trust a little better.
It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. (Ps 118:8) As if to
underscore His point, God says in the next verse: It is better to trust in
the Lord than to put confidence in princes. (Ps 118:9)
Could it be that the people who have brought you the most disappointment
weren’t really your problem after all? Is it possible that the greater sin was your expectations of them? You weren’t supposed to put your trust in them; you were supposed to love them and trust God.
This has been true for me. Every time I have looked to someone with an
expectation of how they were to treat me, I have been let down. I remember how excited I was because the pastor gave me a Sunday School class to teach. I prayed, I prepared and I waited for the date to come. Just one week before my class, a member of staff called and cancelled. I was so disappointed! And mad. The Lord began to speak to me about my problem. Alice, trust me, love others and you won’t live a life of constant disappointment.
Pray confident prayers
Does this ring true for you? Does your prayer life indicate your trust in God or are you praying worry-filled prayers? God wants you to pray confident prayers based on who
you know Him to be and what you know He has promised to give you. I turned
my disappointments into a lifestyle of prayer, and now the Lord allows me to
teach people all over the world.
Trust is necessary for a deep and abiding relationship with God. It is the
doorway to intimacy. Has your trust been damaged because you
misplaced it by trusting someone to do something that they failed to do, or
to be someone that they refused to be? I’m sure you found it hard to trust
the next time around. If so, grab hold of your trusting heart and place it
squarely in the hands of your unfailing, unconditionally loving Father in
heaven. I have had to learn this, and so can you.
Pause here for a moment, take a deep breath and prepare yourself for a
revelation: God Himself has allowed men to fail you in order to teach you to
trust Him alone. He is jealous of your trust.
He says, For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Exod 34:14)
Wow! Did you hear that? His name is Jealous! He is seriously committed to receiving your trust. So committed, that He guarantees failure to some of your relationships so that you will finally learn to place your trust in Him alone. (See Ezek 13: 10-15)
Why do you think this is true? Because He is the only one who will never
fail you. Even those who love you most will hurt you from time to time. Not the Father! He is completely trustworthy. Your failure to trust Him calls into question the integrity of a loving Father. You may say, I’m just cautious; you can never be too careful, you know.
Perhaps. But you can also use those words to disguise your unbelief. I have.
But today is a new day. Learn to put your trust in the Lord alone.
Solomon’s words give Godly counsel:
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy
paths. (Prov 3:5-6)
Will you trust the Lord to hold you, to love you, to heal you? Will you jump
into His loving arms? Others will continue to disappoint you, but you can
trust God. He will not let you fall. Guaranteed!