Can God Be Trusted?

Trust is powerful. Without it, there is very little we can do. Think about all the times we show trust. A chair to support us, a car to decelerate, your oven to stay within appropriate levels of incineration, your food to be safe, the list goes on and on.

There are some people or things we trust within reason but wouldn’t count on if we were in trouble. However, there is an elite circle of those we trust with even our disasters. The one friend we go to with important news we have to share, our hairstylist with the catastrophe of our at home haircut attempt, or a specific co-worker with the crisis client situation. There are a few special people in our lives by repeated times of success, overcoming impossible odds, or constantly exceeding our expectations, they have earned our trust.

And trust is powerful.

That is why the Army and Fire Department invest in their team’s absolute trust in each other. It is why a relationship’s success is determined with the question: “Do you trust them?” Or why a brand or company transacts not in dollars and cents but in the consumer’s trust.

Yes, trust is powerful.

Once someone has earned our trust, it is remarkable what we will allow them to get away with. One quarter into the sales cycle, and the reports are reading a record drop, but you aren’t worried at all because they’ve earned your trust.

The first snip of the scissors, then another, then another, and then *gasp* “what were you thinking!? You can’t pull off this look!! It’s going to take…” But then you remember, you trust them. They would not, could not, let you down.

Trust is powerful.

There is something about walking into the fires of life and having your one specific, trustworthy person to count on, no matter how bad the situation becomes, to have succeeded with your greatest interests and outcomes. Trust is powerful in the moments where fear, disappointment, or injustice sets in.

So, the question is, can God be trusted?

You may be walking through or into the biggest challenge of your life right now and you’re looking around, looking back at your history, and you’re wondering “Should I be trusting this to God? Should I be looking to something else?” Because if you are noticing all the potholes on our course right now, it may not seem like this driver knows where he is taking us. Are we sure He is credentialed? Does His Curriculum Vitae stand up to the task at hand?

Can God be trusted?

You and I are not the first people to wonder that. In fact, the very hype man for God-in-flesh, John the Baptist, asked the same question. After having sensed and seen the triune God , Father, Son, Spirit, at the baptism of Jesus and having announced Jesus was the much anticipated one to be trusted; after all of this, John found himself in jail. After hearing updates about the modus operandi of Jesus, he wondered if he could trust Jesus with his situation.

“Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”-Matthew 11:2–3

Shall we look for another? Are you sure you are “the guy?” Can we trust you? Life was not happening the way John expected it to go. Things were not looking good. (Spoiler Alert: they got worse; John was later executed.) So, John is looking at life and wants to be sure, can he really trust God?

Trust is powerful. Can God be trusted with his life?

“And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Matthew 11:4–6

Jesus lets his past performance do the talking. He quotes accomplishments of God’s power through Him, that directly fulfill prophetic teaching about the One to be trusted (Isaiah 35:5–6; 61:1). He anchors His trustworthiness, and clarifies the outcomes: blessed, happily satisfied in the deepest ways, are those who trust me. Those who are not angered, no matter the situations they are in, the expectations I do not meet, the ways I offend you, but blessed are those who trust me.

God can be trusted.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5–6

Trust is powerful. Our powerful God can be trusted.