Whom should we trust?

The woman (Eve) said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:2-5 (NIV)

What was going through Adam’s and Eve’s minds when they decided to eat the fruit? Did they really believe the word of the serpent over the word of God?

God told them that if they ate the fruit, they would die. The serpent told them that, if they ate it, they would become like God. I doubt they believed the serpent to be more trustworthy. Rather, the serpent tapped into their own desire to rule their pride. They chose their own self-will and desire for power over trusting God. They suffered from their decision and the world has suffered ever since.

Like Adam and Eve, we are given the choice of whether to trust God or trust the world and our self-will. I have found that, when I trust in myself, I achieve things that I am proud of but, when things don’t work out, I am humbled. When Adam and Eve did not trust God and they ate the apple, they did become more knowledgeable as they had hoped. They understood good and evil for the first time and they were ashamed. However, instead of becoming powerful, they recognized their vulnerability for the first time. God also cast them out of His presence.

Adam and Eve provide an example of people who did not trust God but the Bible has plenty of other examples of people who did. I will focus on two instances, one from the Old and one from the New Testament.

In the Old Testament, David is an example of one who trusted in God. When Goliath threatened Israel and no one had the courage to face him, David went out and said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45, NIV). God chose David to lead the people of Israel because David trusted in God. I often meditate on the Psalms of David to restore my own trust and faith in God and they have helped me during times that I had trouble finding the right words to pray.

For those of us who struggle through times of doubt, we can look to the example of Peter. When the disciples saw Jesus walking toward them across the lake, Peter asked, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Matthew 14:22-28 (NIV).

When Jesus replied, “Come,” Peter came. As the wind and the waves increased, Peter began to sink and cried to Jesus for help. Jesus took him in his arms and, I presume, lovingly reprimanded him for his lack of faith (Matthew 14:29-31, NIV). Peter also doubted Jesus when he denied he knew Jesus three times after Jesus was arrested. However, God gave Peter second and third chances and Peter ultimately trusted enough that he became one of the primary leaders of the early church.

Personal reflections on trust

We are told: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths,” (Proverbs 3:5-6). But how often do we trust God?

Early in my career, I worked for a company that was in a bad financial situation. They were having trouble finding the cash to pay their bills and the losses continued to mount. Even though I had become a Christian a couple of years before that, I lived in fear that the company would go out of business. My fear led to stress and unhappiness and made me difficult to be around, because there were times when my stress took up too much of my emotional energy. Ultimately, my first wife left me, which led me on a path of personal and spiritual discovery but also several years of depression. One of the great lessons of this experience was that I learned how powerless I was to control situations and influence people through my own self-will.

For the most part, since that time, my level of trust has been more like a roller coaster. I have made decisions that did not show trust in God and I have made other decisions where I trusted God. Although I have seen the hand of God in the good and the difficult times in my life, I did not make life-changing decisions based on trust. More recently, I came to the realization that trusting in my own strength would never provide me with the sense of calm and joy that I was seeking. If I wanted the peace and joy that comes through faith, I needed to act in faith.

In the beginning, my prayer was, “God, please help me to desire to seek You, trust You and to do Your will.” I did not yet desire to do His will but I wanted to have the desire. Soon after, Rita (my wife) and I acted in trust by increasing our giving and hosting families who were fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Through spiritual disciplines such as finding more quiet time to meditate, read, and pray over the word of God, I continue to learn to trust God over my own self-will. Since taking a few days off work during the Christmas/New Year’s break, I have also been making a conscious effort to set aside a few minutes of every workday to re-center myself and focus on God.

Some ways I have done this include focusing my thoughts on God during my daily walks and/or taking a few minutes a couple more times during the day to say and write a prayer that will help me focus on trusting in Him. I have noticed that the more I trust God, the more contented I am, which makes me a better father, husband, employee, and supervisor.

This past week, as I have been working on this blog, another situation came up in my life that caused me some unease. After worrying about it for two or three hours, I turned it over to God. Though the situation is yet to be resolved, I continue to trust that everything will happen in accordance with His will.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? Psalm 56:3-4 (NIV)