“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.’” (Genesis 12:1)
Trust is a concept we’re all familiar with. We all have people in our lives whom we trust, and then other people whom we most certainly do not. But what about God? How does this concept apply to Him? When it comes down to it, what does it really mean to trust God?
There are several examples throughout the Bible that address this pertinent question. From the very beginning of creation, mankind has had the choice of whether or not to trust God. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, their action displayed a lack of trust. They listened to the doubt Satan planted in their minds, and suddenly they wondered if God really did know what He was talking about. In the end, they chose to not trust, and now we still live under the consequences of that choice.
But there are also several people in the Bible who chose to listen to God. When God called Abram to leave his home and go to a new land, he did so without hesitation. He trusted that God would fulfill His promise and lead him to a new home, and that trust gave him the courage he needed to make such a drastic change. In a similar situation, Jesus’ disciples left everything they knew to follow Him. When He called them, they didn’t debate with Him or question His wisdom; they simply came when He called.
In all of these examples, the people involved had a clear instruction from God: don’t do this, do that, follow Me. But none of them had the full picture. God didn’t tell Adam and Eve, “Don’t eat this fruit, because if you do, you’ll bring sin into the world and curse the universe for all of history.” He simply told them not to do it, and then left it up to them to obey. With Abram, God didn’t reveal that one of his descendants would be Jesus Himself, the Savior of the entire world. All He said was that He would make Abram into a great nation, and it was his choice whether or not to believe. Jesus didn’t tell His disciples that He would use them to spread the message of salvation across the world. He just asked them to follow Him. Adam and Eve chose not to trust, and so the world was cursed; Abram and the disciples chose to trust, and so the world now knows the hope of salvation.
Trusting God is not easy. He always asks us to do scary things, and He usually doesn’t tell us how it’s going to turn out. That wouldn’t be too bad in itself, except that we know bad things sometimes happen to good people, even to those who are following God wholeheartedly. So, how do we know that something terrible won’t happen if we do what God is telling us to do? Well, we don’t. But that’s where faith comes in. If we truly trust God, then we will also believe that He knows what’s best and that everything that happens is all a part of His master plan. Even though the world is full of chaos, God is still in control. He knows every single detail of the future, and because of that, He always knows the best decision to make. Yes, it is frightening to see where God is leading us and not know what’s going to happen. But even though we can’t see the ending, God can. And because He wants what’s best for us, He will lead us to an incredible future. Trusting Him is never the wrong choice!
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