Trust Comes from Faith -

Trust Comes from Faith - Ron & Nathele Graham - twotug@embarqmail.com

 
We all go through battles. Some are physical, such as an illness, and some are spiritual, such as temptation to sin. No matter what the battle is, our faith has to be in the Lord, and our faith must lead us to trust Him. "The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." Nahum 1:7. Physical battles can be tough because our strength is often depleted. Maybe we are worried about a job and lose sleep at night. That can weaken even a strong person. Spiritual battles often seem the most difficult to fight because we can't physically see the enemy. Quite often the spiritual battle also manifests in physical problems. The enemy is very busy. No matter how much we'd like to fight our own battles, mere humans are no match for malevolent supernatural beings. We need to trust God to fight those battles for us; the enemy has no chance against God. Whether our fight is physical or spiritual, if our faith and trust in God is lacking, our ability to stand the test of those battles will also be lacking.
 
Trusting God is something we learn to do one step at a time. In order to trust God in all things we must recognize that it is God who provides for us rather than our own feeble abilities. David had faith in God and knew that it was God who had protected him when he had faced a lion and a bear. That faith led him to know that He could trust God to protect him when he faced something bigger than a lion or bear...God would help him defeat a giant.  One day King Saul's army was in battle with the Philistines. The Philistine champion was a giant named Goliath. Goliath must have been a frightful sight and King Saul's entire army was afraid of him and none would fight him. Goliath mockingly called for King Saul to send a man out to fight him; the only one who responded was a young shepherd named David who trusted the LORD. "David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine..." 1 Samuel 17:37. David had learned to trust God and only took a sling into the battle. He trusted God to deliver him from this one giant yet he picked up five stones. Why? Well, we learn in 2 Samuel Chapter 21 that Goliath had brothers and David was ready to fight them all. It was David's faith in the LORD that gave him the courage to face Goliath and any other giant that came along. David trusted the LORD, but Saul's army only saw the giant and hid themselves away from the battle. It was their lack of faith and trust in the LORD that would have defeated them, not the giant.
 
David learned the lessons of trust well. He wasn't a perfect man, but he did place all of his trust in the Lord. David wrote many Psalms in which he sang of his trust in the Lord. "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD." Psalm 4:5, "But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee." Psalm 5:11,  "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed...Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:3 & 5, "In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me...In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me." Psalm 56:4 &11. These verses are just a few of the Psalms David wrote proclaiming his trust in God. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a national leader whose faith and trust was in God rather than serving the satanic powers around him? "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes." Psalm 118:8-9. One day soon Jesus will return and set up the Millennial Kingdom, yet even then people will refuse to trust Him. Oh, how blind we can be.
 
Most people, even those who claim to be Christians, find it hard to place full trust in someone we can't see and too often place their faith in fallible humans rather than our infallible God. Then, God's word is brought into question. The true born again believer knows that faith in God builds trust. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1. Though we have faith in unseen things, this isn't blind faith. One battleground that Christians are conceding to the enemy is creation. Secular humanists say everything evolved from nothing, and rather than trust God's truth and fight the giant battle, many Christians cower in the hills just as Saul's army did. We can look around us and know that the things we see aren't just a random accident, yet many people refuse to trust God and believe His word. As our faith in our Creator God grows so does our trust in Him, but many Christians don't have the faith to trust God's word and they refuse to accept the Biblical account of creation. This lack of faith in God brings a lack of trust. Even a superficial look will tell you that God spoke everything into existence. David, who had learned to trust the Lord rather than rely on human folly, wrote "[[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.]] The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." Psalm 19:1. How many nights had David as a young shepherd boy looked up at the night sky and been in awe of God's creation? King David trusted God in all things, from faith in knowing God is the creator to trusting the LORD to lead him in battle. Our faith in God will sustain us in every battle we face and our trust in His wisdom and power will grow in us. We miss out on so much if we don't trust God.
  
To a Christian, trusting in God means we've laid aside our feeble attempts at trying to run our own lives and have now turned it all over to Him. His abilities are far greater than we can imagine. God is fully capable of directing our paths but we deny His power when we don't have faith to turn our entire life over to Him. Because we hold back we never fully trust God. "But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;" 2 Corinthians 1:9-10. Paul faced many physical and spiritual battles, but his unwavering faith led him to trust God in everything.  Faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross is powerful. Christ conquered death and by His power we will be delivered from that second death which is eternal separation from Him. Do you trust Him to deliver you? If you haven't placed your trust in Him (that is accepted His death, burial, and resurrection as the atonement for your sin) then you have placed your trust in nothing. Only Jesus can give you eternal life.
 
This life we've been given is as fleeting as a vapor of smoke. Whether a person lives a few short years or lives to be a ripe old age, faith and trust in God is essential for facing the daily battles of this life and to gain eternal life after death. Those who don't acknowledge God or don't believe He even exists often mock us for placing our trust in God. Don't let the mockers weaken your trust in God. "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)"  Hebrews 10:23. God may ask you to trust Him enough to boldly step out in faith to share the Gospel with a family member or a friend. Could you do that? If you trust God you can. God may ask you to step out in faith to trust Him to help you fight a battle with cancer or overcome an addiction to drugs. Place your trust in Him and you will win the battle. If we have faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then the life and death battles on this earth will always end in victory. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21.
 
God wants each of us to trust Him in all things. From believing His word (from Genesis to Revelation) to facing our own battle with giants, He wants us to trust Him. You and I must decide for ourselves if we truly trust God. If we can't trust Him with the account of creation, how can we trust Him with our salvation? If God misled us and everything evolved, then Adam's sin didn't cause death to enter creation. If sin had always been a part of the world, then why did God Himself have to die on a cross to redeem us? We must trust God that His Word is true and that He spoke everything into existence, that Adam's disobedience brought sin and death into the world, that God did enter His creation and become a man, the man Jesus the Christ. By faith we believe He did die on a cross to redeem His creation, and in Him alone is salvation. By faith we know we can trust Him to help us fight our battles.
 
Only a perfect God could have accomplished this for His rebellious creation, and all He asks of each rebellious child is to trust Him.
 
 
God bless you all,
 
Ron & Nathele Graham