Can You Really Trust God?

Remember the first time you buckled into a roller coaster or boarded an airplane?

Even the unsettling thought of barreling through the skies is enough to make you reconsider. But once we’ve seen others walk off the ride or the plane, it’s a lot easier to have faith those vehicles are safe. Proven experience makes it easier to trust.

From the cars we drive to the electricity in our homes, we plan our lives and go through our routines expecting everything will work. We’ve come to trust so many things, so why is it still so difficult to trust God sometimes?

Why Trust is a Big Deal

Trust is a difference maker. It makes or breaks relationships.

You can’t see it or touch it, but it’s obvious if it exists between two people. Trust will determine the success or failure of all of our relationships—with our friends, spouses, children, and even with God.

All of our behaviors and attitudes will be governed by whether or not we trust God’s character.

Trust is a difference maker. It makes or breaks relationships.

An Old Reminder of Current Promises 

In Psalms, we learn about God by someone’s response to Him. David was a man who became a king, but before that, he was a shepherd who wrote songs to God. In the midst of his daily work and being on the run from enemies who wished him dead, David took his circumstances and wrote honestly about his emotions and thoughts. That’s where we got Psalm 16, which reads like an entry of a personal journal. He reminds himself to ask God to keep him safe, to choose God over all else, and to affirm that the Lord will be faithful to His promises.

This affirmation saturates Psalm 16: God is better than anything else. David admits we have options when it comes to how to live. We can seek other purposes or chase after good things—but if we seek things and not God himself, our sorrow will multiply.

We don’t need more; we need the Lord. More things won’t satisfy us—not more money, prestige, or friends. Only God will satisfy us for the rest of our lives. Everything else is temporary. Everything else will leave us wanting. He alone will satisfy our souls. Our contentment is grounded in who God is, not what He can give us.

We can, like the psalmist, realize, “I have no good apart from [God].” We did not earn our gifts or abilities or even our blessings. The real gift is the Giver himself.

An Exercise in Trust

Sometimes your heart needs to be reminded of truth by declaring it with your own voice. Try reading Psalm 16 aloud.

Yes, it might be awkward for a minute. Yes, you’ll want to stop halfway through. Yes, it was written by a songwriter who lived long ago and some of the phrases sound out of place in the 21st century. But don’t let that stop you from hearing the profound reflections of someone else trying to remind himself of what matters.

Go ahead—read it now.

After you’ve read the psalm, consider this: Were there any phrases you said but weren’t sure you believed? Pray over those verses specifically. Ask God to make the words that pass through your lips true in your heart.

The Constant Choice

Trusting Jesus is not about a single moment, but about a series of choices to trust Him. It’s a daily, hourly process.

It’s not supposed to be easy. You’ll have trouble trusting God completely with everything, all at once. Try one thing at a time. Trust begins with one choice.

Something powerful happens when we take God at His word. Trust is what takes our good intentions and turns them into progress following the One who has more in store for us.

God will take us further if we will trust Him and exercise that trust by taking one step at a time.