Remember the time the Disciples were with Jesus on the lake and a storm came that was so strong that men who had spent most of their life as fishermen, were terrified. This was one serious storm!
“One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and started out. On the way across, Jesus lay down for a nap, and while he was sleeping the wind began to rise. A fierce storm developed that threatened to swamp them, and they were in real danger.
The disciples woke him up, shouting, "Master, Master, we’re going to drown!"
So Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waves. The storm stopped and all was calm! Then he asked them, "Where is your faith?" (Luke 8:22-25 NLT)
Why did Jesus rebuke the Disciples for their lack of faith? Didn’t they turn to Jesus in the midst of the storm and ask for help? Wouldn’t you consider that coming to Jesus in faith?
I believe that Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith, not because they believed that Jesus could save them FROM their trial, but because they didn’t have enough faith to believe that Jesus could get them THROUGH their trial.
Learning to trust has it’s roots in obedience. If you are having a difficult time obeying God’s commands, you are actually having difficulty trusting Him.
*You prove that you trust Him by your obedience to Him and it grows as a result of trust.
Therefore, if you are lacking in trust, you will have a much harder time being obedient because you are not truly believing that what He asks of you is in your best interest. Because God has called you to forgive those who have wronged you or deeply hurt you, you know that you can obey this command because He is trustworthy.
Trust comes through obedience, and obedience brings trust. If I tell you to do something for the first time you may hesitate about doing it because you are afraid that it won’t work. But then, when you do it out of obedience and it does work, the next time I ask you to do something you haven’t done before, you will be much more likely to do it because I proved myself trustworthy. By being obedient to His commands you will grow in your trust of Him. When God says go to the person you have hurt and ask for forgiveness—or harder still, go to the person who has hurt you and seek reconciliation—you can do it because He has proven His ways are worthy of your trust.
I have always loved being around a lake, a river, or the ocean because it brings me much joy and has an invigorating effect on me. As a child, swimming became second nature to me.
One of the techniques used to teach children to swim emerged during my youth. The premise was that the best way to teach a child to swim was to start them as a toddler. The “experts” believed that a child should be thrown into the water, which would cause a natural response in them to hold their breath and start a basic "dog paddle" struggle to the surface. This was a scary way to teach a child to swim!
My sister was taught this way. The instructors actually requested that the parents not be present when they did this because of the fear it created! It was not easy for mothers to stay calm as they watched their babies being thrown into the water and fighting for their life back to the surface! Not everyone agreed with this method, but it is still used by some today.
Years later, a group of researchers discovered that it was much better, and less traumatic, to start with a little older child. Most pool accidents happen to children who aren’t dressed to go swimming. These researchers taught that the instructor should go into the water with a fully clothed child, and gently teach them to roll over on their back and stay still, simply floating on the surface after a short dog paddle to rise to the surface. Their premise was that it is far safer for the child to learn to relax in the water by floating on their back than it was to make them waste lots of energy by struggling to stay above the surface. This technique caught on, and is used quite frequently.
I learned of this new way of teaching kids to swim while I was going through the stress of losing the house and business. I remember that on the day I saw this taught, and watched its amazing results, I suddenly realized that this was what God was trying to teach me about trusting Him in all circumstances! I saw that I had been getting nowhere by "treading water," trying to keep from drowning in all my problems. Instead of struggling to keep myself above it all, God wanted me to roll over on my back, face away from my problems, stop struggling to stay on the surface and learn to "float" in His presence—looking upward to Him for my help. He showed me that He would keep me "in perfect peace" as I “learned to trust Him.” (Isaiah 26:3)
I found that I could have peace in my trials by trusting Him just as the children who calmly gave up the struggle to stay above the water by floating on their backs. I also saw more clearly what it meant to "enter into His rest." (Hebrews 4:11)
Having faith in God is totally and completely placing your trust in Him. Webster defines trust as: "To place confidence in; to rely on the strength, character, ability, or truth of someone or something. To commit to placing one’s care or keeping." Proverbs says, "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." (3:5-6)
Faith and trust are synonymous. Faith is also a synonym of hope and hope is a synonym of love.
*When you say that you love God, you are actually saying that you trust Him because you have faith and hope in Him.
*When you worry about the future or how something might turn out or what might happen to you, you actually make yourself out to be a spiritual orphan.
Yet God has promised that “when you go through deep waters and great troubles, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you go through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:2 NLT)
When you first became a Christian by putting your trust in the Lord, you accepted Him by faith. In professing Him as leader and forgiver, you became a believer by acknowledging Him as the Lord and Creator of the universe. You were saying “I believe, or trust, that through Your shed blood, forgiveness can, and will, penetrate every area of my life.”
*Worry is practical atheism. By not trusting Him in every circumstance you tell the world that God doesn’t really exist!
Trust is something that grows stronger based on past experiences. Each of us must prove ourselves trustworthy to one another. We learn to trust others as they prove themselves trustworthy. This is a difficult and continuous task and something that is not easily done on a day-to-day basis. Trust in others will slowly grow until they do something that hurts us.
Once you have been wronged, you lose some of that trust. Until that person proves him or herself trustworthy again, you will not be able to trust them as before. You will hesitate and experience great apprehension in reconciling your relationship for fear of being hurt again. That is why it’s imperative that you obey God’s command and ask those you have hurt for forgiveness, as well as forgive those who have hurt you.
To help in understanding our Lord’s character and nature, read Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. Below, I have replaced the words "charity" and "love" in 1 Corinthians 13:1-9 with the name of Jesus.
Jesus suffers long,
Jesus is kind,
Jesus envies not,
Jesus doesn’t boast of Himself,
Jesus is not puffed up,
Jesus does not behave Himself unseemly,
Jesus seeks not His own,
Jesus is not easily provoked,
Jesus thinks no evil,
Jesus rejoices not in iniquity,
Jesus rejoices in the truth,
Jesus bears all things,
Jesus believes all things,
Jesus hopes all things,
Jesus endures all things.
Jesus never fails.
*When you see your Lord for who He really is, love incarnate, you can truly understand and "rely on the love God has for us," because, "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:16)
Read how deeply and intimately God cares for you:
“He is merciful and tender toward those who don’t deserve it; he is slow to get angry and full of kindness and love. He never bears a grudge, nor remains angry forever. He has not punished us as we deserve for all our sins, for his mercy toward those who fear and honor him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west. He is like a father to us, tender and sympathetic to those who reverence him.” (Ps 103:8-14 TLB)
Jesus is the only one in the universe who has, once and for all, completely and totally proven Himself trustworthy by shedding His blood and dying on the cross. He no longer needs to prove He is trustworthy, yet He does so on a moment-by-moment basis in every circumstance and situation in which you find yourself.
Trusting in His commands will bring about the healing, restoration, and reconciliation needed in every relationship you have had or will ever have. By trusting your entire body, mind, soul, and spirit completely into His hands, you will experience His peace.
*Jesus has promised us that nothing can take you out of His hands. (See John 10:28-29) The apostle Paul proclaimed, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword.” (Romans 8:35)
There is no person, or tragedy, or calamity, or accident, or natural disaster, or anything in the universe that can pull you out of the hands of Jesus. His hands are grasping you, holding you with a firm grip. He has your life under His control. He can be trusted in every circumstance in which you will ever find yourself.
You must learn to trust Him.
*The way you will learn, and the way you will grow in faith, is by "hearing the message . . . through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)
Reading and studying the Bible, growing in fellowship with other believers, along with hearing the preaching and teaching of the Word, will increase your faith and trust. It is through trusting Him that you will be able to bring the message of God’s forgiveness and reconciliation to the world.
If you long to “flow with hope” so that others might come to know the love of Jesus, then you must learn to trust Him with all your heart.
*When you do, He will fill you to overflowing with ”His joy and His peace through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
