What do you trust in?

Some people trust in wealth. Some people trust in a select group of individuals – a spouse, or family, or friends. Some trust only in themselves. Others trust in the government of the nation they live in. One of the great tragedies of the time in which we live is the erosion of trust across all aspects of our society.

Trusting God should be a priority, but even Moses had to plead with the people of Israel to trust in God as He had humbled the mighty nation of Egypt, “And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace’ ” (Exodus 14:13-14, NKJV).

Stories of trust in the Bible are encouraging, from simply being reminded of what God promises (Isaiah 57:13-15) to how God works with and encourages those whom He calls (Joshua 1:9). We cannot function, physically or spiritually, without trust. We have to trust the engineer that designed and built the bridge we drive across, or the plane we fly in, or the elevator we ride in – the list goes on. Spiritually, it is imperative for us to trust God because only He can direct the future and only He has the truth of life.

A lesson in trust

I learned a piece of this lesson when I was 16 and looking forward to taking a Driver's Education course. The High School instructor for the course was also the boy's Physical Education instructor and the basketball coach – a man known for not being very accommodating. When the assignments for the road driving portion of the course were posted my heart sank, because it was all done on Saturday. I knew I couldn’t do that. The seventh day is the Sabbath and I had to obey God first.

I did go tell the instructor, and true to my fear, he told me I couldn’t take the course. I was devastated. If I didn’t take the course, I couldn’t get the discount on my insurance for taking Drivers Ed. Without the discount, I couldn’t afford the insurance to be able to drive. I resigned myself to the bleak prospect of depending on my parents to drive me to work, track practice and other activities.

Then during Spring Break I received a phone call from the school. It was the Driver's Ed instructor asking me if I would be interested in taking the course if the driving portion was on Sunday.

I couldn’t believe it! The reason this accommodation was extended was that there were a handful of students that couldn’t take the Saturday course. The fact that most of them were part of the basketball team definitely influenced the decision the instructor made.

The faithfulness of God

What impressed me the most about this incident was the fact that God can work things out for all of His people – even 16 year old high school students. When I had given up, God came through. What I thought was an impossible situation, God made possible. I learned that I needed to trust God more.

How well do you trust in God? How much do we trust others to look out for us, to help us in time of need, to properly challenge us and to simply be there for us? Are we trustworthy, ourselves?

God has promised to take care of us, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). We can take comfort in knowing that He is faithful and that our trust is well placed.