Trust God

Common perception is that a follower of Christ is someone who believes in the existence of God and believes in the deity of Christ. Simply believe that God exists and that he sent his son, and you are considered a Christ-follower. Such thinking, though, is flawed. It misses the critical distinction between belief and trust. A person might believe an airplane can fly but not be willing to trust in the airplane by actually boarding it and experiencing flight. Scripture not only calls us to a belief in the existence of God, but we are exhorted to entrust our lives and well-being to God through Christ. James wrote, “You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:29). Or put another way, even enemies of God believe God exists and that he sent his son. Abraham was called a friend of God, not because he believed God exists, but because he entrusted his life to God. Humanity looks to many things other than God for security, purpose, and well-being, effectively making these things their god. Most common, possibly, is an unbridled trust in money. Money is important and plays a critical role in our lives, but we understand without explanation when Scripture commands those who are rich to “not put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God” (1 Timothy 6:17). There are many things we can trust in with the kind of ultimate trust that should only be put in God: social status, vocational advancement, beauty, marriage, family, politics, and more. These, and others, are often both good and necessary aspects of life, but we make a critical distinction when we internalize the truth that they make lousy gods of ultimate trust. David, the warrior and king, knew this distinction well when he wrote, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).