Praise God for the truth of the Gospel, and the freedom that is delivered to us by the shed blood of Christ at the cross of Calvary. We as a faith family have been walking through the books of Exodus and James, and one of the clear and ever-present truths we see in these scriptures is: “trust Him.” Minister John H. Stockton (1813-1877) penned down the words to Only Trust Him which became a favorite of D.L. Moody.
Moody, founder of the Moody Bible Institute and evangelist, often stated that hymns prepare our hearts for worship and to receive the Word of God. He said of Only Trust Him, “Salvation is not achieved, it is received. And it is received by trusting Christ alone – now.”
If you are unfamiliar with this hymn, read a couple of impactful lines in this song:
- “Come, every soul by sin oppressed, There’s mercy with the Lord; and He will surely give you rest, by trusting in His Word.”
- “Yes, Jesus is the truth the way that leads you into rest; believe in him without delay and you are fully blest.”
Jesus is the way, and we trust in His Word. God has spoken to us through the person of His Son Jesus. (Hebrews 1) His Word tells us that Christ is the way of salvation. It is the Word of God that points us to Him, sanctification and a great and living hope. This trust in God is not a singular decision, but a daily commitment. In Exodus and James we see a pressing and encouragement to trust the Lord with this truth: He alone holds provision and our tomorrow in His hands.
JC Ryle shared that, “Tomorrow is the devil’s day, today is God’s. If we defer obedience and have anxious planning, we can masquerade wisdom. Scripture repeatedly draws us back to today. Today’s obedience, today’s faith, today’s dependence.”
This trust is cultivated when we have a right view of God and His sovereignty. God’s control and orchestration of all things is not meant to lead us to fear and indecision but should be a comfort above all things. Where the world sees luck and happenstance, we know from God’s Word that He is alone in control.
“If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God’s sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled.” – RC Sproul
Trust Leads to Obedience
James warns, as pastor Zad shared this past Sunday Night, “where trust is absent in our plans, we arrogantly become self-sufficient.” Any of our planning done apart from God will lead us to live as though God is real in theory, but not in daily practice. Spurgeon gives us his thoughts on this tension, “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” When we become anxious and worry over provision or what tomorrow will bring, we are exercising a failure to trust God’s provision, timing and purpose.
True trust will lead to an absolutely obedience, even when it feels costly. We saw in Exodus 16 that God’s people had to gather manna in God’s way. James reminded his readers to submit their planning to trust God’s way. This reminds us that trust is not proved out by the words we use, but putting our actions under submission to the Lord.
James 4:17, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
How Are We Trained to Trust?
1. Scripture Trains Trust
Trust is a vital part of scripture’s command to believers, but it does not stop with telling us what to do, but how to do it. It is the Word of God that anchors our soul’s trust by showing us the character of God. His truth and promises are all found in God’s Word, pointing us to our ultimate deliverance and security in Christ.
17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” – Hebrews 6:17-20
This faith comes from knowing who God is and what He has done. Faith will continue to grow as the Word is made alive and applied to us by the Holy Spirit. Scripture does not leave us just reading words, it is living and active. His Word will stabilize hearts that are wicked and deceitful. When we as believers ignore God’s Word, we are starving our spiritual man. We open the door for trust to decay and fear to take its place.
2. Prayer Trains Trust
When we pray, we ultimately confess our dependence on the Lord. When we pray, we are saying “God, I am not able to do this without you.”
John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, said this: “Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan.” Prayer moves us from we can do this ourselves, to we do not want to do this without God. It is not in the eloquent words, but the earnest seeking of God and His will. His timing. His purpose. His Glory.
3. Testing and Experience Trains Trust
We see repeatedly in scripture that God will train us through His testing. Israel was trained in trust by God’s daily provision of manna. James’ readers would learn humility because of uncertainty. Our need for these truths is no different today. God still trains us by what we go through.
Adrian Rogers reminded his congregation that, “God is far more interested in what He is making of us than what He is giving to us.”
From church history, the account of Hudson Taylor gives us a practical application of this type of trust in God. He began the China Inland Mission in 1865 to carry the good news of the Gospel to unreached people. He served with limited resources and danger. He would learn that God is worthy of trust even amidst death, exhaustion and struggle. Taylor is famously quoted, “God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.” How was Hudson Taylor trained to trust God? Through hardship and experience.
God will lead us and train us to trust Him. He shows His children that He makes provision, gives grace and leads us to depend fully on Him today, and forever more.
Closing Thoughts
How do we depend on the Lord? How can we practically take what His Word says and apply it to our lives? How do we ask the Lord to work this trust in us?
God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He still feeds His people with a sustaining grace that we do not earn. The God who provided manna teaches us that tomorrow is in His hands, and He trains us to trust him.
Biblical application to grow in daily trust:
- Pray for grace and growth.
- Do not forget that God is in control and He is faithful.
- Hold your planning with open hands to God.
- Remember your past trials and remember God delivered you and kept you.
- Rest in the Lord. When we trust Him, there is peace and security.
Remember, His steadfast love endures FOREVER. Amen.