Text: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart….” (Proverbs 3:5).
Trust in the Lord. Do you really trust in the Lord? What does it mean to trust? To trust means that you have complete confidence in a person or in a thing. Children have complete trust in their parents.
In other words, there is no doubt children believe their parents are telling or showing them something right. In their heart, children do not even consider that their parents would lead them in the wrong direction.
We have all seen children jump into the arms of mom or dad. They have complete trust that mom or dad will catch them and not let them fall. When a child is learning to ride a bicycle, the parent will say, “Keep your hands on the handle bar, your eyes straight ahead, and keep peddling, I’m not going to let you fall.” The child trust the parent will not let them fall and get hurt. The result is that they learn to ride the bicycle.
Married couples place their trust in their spouse. They are the best of friends and know they can count on each other under all circumstances. There is no fear of any kind. The things they tell each other can be taken as the truth.
Employers trust the people who work in their organization. A congregation has confidence in its pastor. A policeman has the utmost assurance that his or her partner will be there if they need help.
A fireman relies on his co-workers to drive the truck safely, turn on the water after the hose is dragged near the fire, raise the ladder on the ladder truck, and assure backup as the building is entered.
School teachers trust their principal or superintendent to make the right decisions enabling them to carry on their work of teaching. Patients place a great deal of confidence in what their doctor tells them. When people go to the booth to vote, they vote for the person whom they trust.
When we say we trust people, we are saying we have complete confidence in them, we totally rely on their word, we have faith in them, and we can depend on them to remain true to us. The bridge of trust is a solid connection between us and the other person. When an event happens that breaks that positive connection and weakens the bridge then distrust becomes a reality.
Have you ever said to a person, “Trust me?” We have probably used those two words. Sometimes a person will tell us something, gossip, and then tell us not to tell anyone else. We say, “Trust me, my lips are sealed.” Do you know what we do? Right! We tell someone else and they tell us the same thing, “Trust me.”
We share confidential information with our physician, our pastor, our family, our attorney, and our close friend. We share this information because we trust these people. If this confidentiality is broken the trust is lost and problems occur.
There are some people we can place our confidence in and there are others that we cannot trust. We must be careful of what we share with people, because we never really know who we can trust.
Is there anyone you can trust fully all the time? The answer is “Yes!” Who is this person that is so trustworthy? This person is none other than our Lord, our Savior, and our God.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). When we trust someone, we are placing the weight of our thoughts upon the shoulders of another person. We may be carrying a burden we want to share with someone. When we share a burden, our load becomes lighter, but care must be taken to share it with the right person.
At times, we are faced with making an important decision, but feel as though we need direction. Is there anyone we can trust? The only one we should trust is God because he knows what is best for us. He will never guide us in the wrong direction. Since He created us, He knows us inside and out.
Many times we rely upon our own understand and decide to follow our own thoughts. Scripture tells us we are making an error. We are to trust only in the Lord and not in ourselves. We are to go to God in prayer with all of our issues. It could be a big issue or a small issue, but it doesn’t make any difference to God, He is ready and willing to help us if we will only place our trust in Him.
In our Scripture reading, we are told that Jesus crossed by boat to the other side of the lake. When He arrived, there was a crowd waiting for Him. People gathered around Jesus because they were eager to hear what He had to say. They went out of their way indicating they placed their trust and confidence in what He was doing and what He had to say.
One of the people who met Jesus by the lake was a man named Jairus. Jairus’ daughter was sick to the point of dying. He was so confident that Jesus could save his daughter that he fell at the feet of Jesus and pleaded with Him for help.
Jairus said to Jesus, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live” (Mark 5:23). He placed his full trust in the only one who could really help him. Jairus knew no one else had the capability to perform his requested task.
Before Jesus was able to get the Jairus’ house, some of his men came with the news that the daughter had died. When Jairus heard the news, he was afraid, discouraged, sad, and confused. At this point, he might have lost hope, but it is interesting to note what Jesus said to him. Jesus told Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe” (Mark 5:36).
It appeared that the other people in Jairus’ household had lost faith and really believed the child was dead. “People were crying and wailing” (Mark 5:38).
This is the sort of thing that happens to people today. When a crisis occurs, people tend to lose hope and become discouraged. They cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. They are afraid and a dark cloud of negativity covers them. This is the time when we need to listen to the Holy Spirit who says, “Don’t’ be afraid; just believe” (v. 36).
Jesus took care of Jairus’ daughter and He will do the same for us. Our part is to place our trust in Him and lean not on our own understanding.
Another person who placed their trust in Jesus was the woman who had a bleeding condition for twelve years. She had trusted and leaned on the understanding of many doctors. Scripture tells us that “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, but instead of getting better she grew worse” (Mark 5:26).
According to her doctors, the condition she had seemed incurable. The bleeding was probably from a menstrual or uterine disorder. If this were the case, the woman would be considered ritually unclean (Leviticus 15:25-27). No woman wanted to be unclean because this would mean that she was socially unacceptable. She would be socially unacceptable because everything she touched would be unclean.
The woman did not give up hope. She had trust and confidence in Jesus that if she could only touch the hem of his robe, she would be cured. Her faith and belief in Jesus was exceedingly strong. All she needed was the opportunity to get near enough to Him to touch His robe. She got that opportunity.
“When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touch His cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed’” (Mark 5:27-28).
When she reached out and touched His robe, “Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering” (Mark 5:29). She reached out by faith and trusted Jesus to heal her condition.
Jesus knew the woman touched Him because He felt power leave Him. He knew who touched Him, but He still asked, “Who touched my clothes?” (v.30) The woman came forth and fell at his feet. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (v.34). I can hear Jesus saying, “Thank you for trusting Me!”
Sometimes we feel that our problems will keep us from God. Sometimes we feel God is not interested in what is bothering us. At times, we feel unworthy to consult God about what is on our mind. The problem this woman had drew her close to God. She knew He would help her. She placed her trust in Him.
She did not let fear keep her from God. By the same token, we should not let fear keep us from God. Our faith, trust, and obedience in God will give us healing and peace within our inner most soul.
There was a group of twelve who placed their trust in Jesus. When he called each of them, they responded. When Jesus called Simon and Andrew, Scripture tells us, “At once they left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:20).
Jesus called James and John “and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him” (Matthew 4:22). When Jesus called Matthew from the tax office, “Matthew got up and followed Him” (Matthew 9:9).
These men placed their trust in Jesus without question. They did not know what was in store for them. They could not see into their future. They did not know the difficulties they would encounter. Without knowing their future, they placed their trust in Jesus. In essence, Jesus was really saying to them “Trust Me!”
Trust is also illustrated in the disciples when they told Jesus about the fever that was making Simon’s mother-in-law sick. They trusted Him to heal the sick woman which He did. (Mark 1:29-31).
Remember the story of David and Goliath. Goliath was a very big warrior of the Philistine army. It is thought that he was somewhere between 9 and 11 feet tall. David was probably of average height. I don’t know for sure how tall he was, but I would guess between 5 and 6 feet.
David volunteered to fight the giant. David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him” (1 Samuel 17:32). David knew that he could kill Goliath because God was on his side. He placed his faith and trust in Almighty God.
When David faced Goliath, he said to Goliath, “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 Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45).
With this kind of faith and trust, there was no stopping David. People laughed and thought he was crazy, but David thought otherwise. The result was David killed the giant with a stone to the forehead released from a sling. David placed his faith, trust and confidence in God
Can we be or are we like David? When someone tries to discourage us from doing something because they tell us it is beyond our capability or that our education is insufficient or we do not qualify for a job or position, are we like David and step up and proceed in the name of the LORD Almighty? When we are faced with a situation that appears to us like a mountain, do we put our trust in God and proceed to go over it?
When the seas of trials and tribulations of life make us feel like we are going to drown, do we let go and sink to the bottom or do we place our faith and trust in God and rise above the surface? Do we believe that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26)?
None of us have ever gone through what Job went through. Job was a very wealthy man and a man of God. He had a wonderful wife who loved him and a large family who respected him. He had a large estate with many kinds of animals. He possessed more than one could dream of.
The first thing that happened to Job was that his oxen and donkeys were carried off and the servants watching them were killed. Then fire fell from heaven and his herd of sheep and the servants watching them were destroyed.
Next, Job’s herd of camels was carried off by the Chaldeans and the servants taking care of them were put to death. Then a wind swept through the house where his sons and daughters were partying resulting in the house falling on them and killing them.
One would think that would be more than a person could handle, but other things began to happen. Job was “afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head” (Job 2:7). Job was told by his wife to “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9), but he did not follow her advice.
Job’s faith never faltered. He never lost confidence in God because of the things that happened to him. His suffering drew him closer to God. His trust in God enabled him to withstand the test and as a result, God made him twice a prosperous.
Job trusted God to work through him. People saw what Job went through and they saw the outcome. Job was a walking testimony of what God can do. He gave up all he had for the kingdom of God and restoration took place. This is proof that our God is a God of love, a just God, and a God who is always waiting for us to welcome Him into our life.
Conclusions:
Whom can we trust fully? Should we put our trust in man?
Psalm 146:3 says, “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save”.
Should we put our trust in ourselves?
Proverbs 28:26 says, “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe”. A person who relies strictly on themselves is headed for failure. The person who depends on and trusts God’s direction is the wise person.
In whom should we put our trust?
“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:8).
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
“Trust Him”
Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee,
Trust Him when thy strength is small;
Trust Him when to trust Him simply
Seems the hardest thing of all.
Trust Him; He is ever faithful,
Trust Him, for His will is best;
Trust Him, for the heart of Jesus
Is the only place of rest?
Trust Him, then, through cloud and sunshine;
All thy cares upon Him cast –
Till the storms of life are over
And the trusting days are past.
-------------------Gospel Herald
Amen.
