Trust is one of the essentials in our daily life. We enter a restaurant and eat what comes out of the kitchen; that is trust. We drive on top of a bridge that leads to the other side of the river; that is trust. We board a plane that will carry us across the Pacific Ocean; that is trust. We trust the pilots, the manufacturer of the airplane, and the airline maintenance crew that they have done a good job to ensure the plane will carry us safely to our destination.
We
cannot get on with life if we do not trust anyone or anything that has been
made. But sometimes, a trust has been broken and what do we do? We stop
trusting those persons, brands, and establishments. We stop patronising a
restaurant that had served us unclean food. We stop buying a certain brand of
product which cannot last very long. We will not travel on an airline that has
a bad safety record. We will not trust a person who had cheated on us.
Solomon
says there is yet one person we need to trust with all our heart. His name is
God. He calls on us to trust in Him at all times; in times of affliction,
temptation, and darkness. We are to trust in His infinite power and strength to
help us. We are to trust in His infinite love, His amazing grace, and boundless
mercy to protest us. We must believe that He is able to do what He will, wise
to do what is best, and is faithful in all His promises to us. We are to trust
and love Him with all our heart and serve Him with all our might (Pro 3:5; Mark
12:30).
There
is a misconception by some that trusting God means life will be smooth sailing
and free of troubles. And when problems, sickness, afflictions come their way,
they blame God and stop trusting in Him.
We
trust our parents. That does not mean our lives will be trouble free. But it
does mean when we are in trouble, we can go to them. They will help us when we
are down and we are sure of it. They will continue to love us with
unconditional love even when at times we made them sad and disappoint them and
stop trusting in them.
Trusting
God does not mean a trouble free life but it does mean we can go to Him for
help in times of trouble. Even when we do not understand why certain things
happened in the way we deem undesirable, we trust God .We trust that God knows
what He is doing. God knows what is best for us. God can see the end result; we
can't. Hence, even if things happen that we do not understand and do not want
it, we can trust God’s nature, character, power, and love. “And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).
Solomon
further warns: "Lean not unto thine own understanding." To
lean on means to rely on. Leaning on our own understanding means to rely on our
own intellect, training, experience, perceptions than to rely on God. It means
to trust our own judgment instead of trusting God. Frank Sinatra had a song
called “My Way.” Its message is, “I did it my way.” It is to trust no one, not
even God but himself. It is a recipe for disaster. Why?
Because
when we lean on our own understanding instead of fully trusting the Lord, then
we become stressed or anxious. We begin to worry about tomorrow (Matt 6:25-34).
But God knows what will happen tomorrow; He has been there and seen it. If we
let Him lead the way, He will guide us and keep us away from the danger spots.
And
even when the storm is in front and cannot be avoided, we trust God to lead us
safely through the storm. Have you travelled in an aircraft that encountered
strong turbulence and a heavy storm outside the plane? In such condition,
your trust is on the pilots to bring the plane safely through the storm. The
pilots already knew the storm and turbulence were in front of them but they
still needed to pass through them. God is our pilot. He knows about the storms
of life. He says: “Trust me and take my hands.” Indeed, “Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art
with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).
There
will always be storms in our lives; let us trust God. “He hath said, I will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my
helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb 13:5b).
Jimmy Lau
Psa
119:97 Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.
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