How can I trust God more? Greater trust in God is built from a greater relationship with God. Here are three ways to begin to build that kind of trusting relationship:
We must learn to see and deal with sin the way that God would have us to. God hates sin so we need to hate sin. Romans 12:9 says, “...Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” Here we are told to hate evil (sin) and to hold onto God because He is the ultimate good. 1 Peter 3:11 says, “Let him turn away from evil and do good...” and 2 Timothy 2:22 says to “flee also youthful lusts...” So, we are to learn to hate sin, turn away from sin, and to run from sin. Paul adds to this by saying in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 to “abstain from every form of evil.” In other words, if you think it might be bad, wrong, or sinful, get away from it. God wants us to take sin seriously, because He does, and deal with it immediately, or He will. However, if we learn to immediately ask for forgiveness when we sin, He will immediately forgive us, and we will develop greater trust in Him as He faithfully forgives us.
His Word is more of a love letter to us than it is a list of dos and don’ts. In this love letter, He explains to us His characteristics, His attributes, and how we can grow closer to Him. “Moreover He said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the House of Israel.’ And He said to me, ‘Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.’ So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness” (Ezekiel 3:1,3). In these verses, God did not want him to literally eat the paper. God wanted him to take His Word and appropriate it, to make it a part of who he was. As Christians, if we want to know God better, if we want to trust Him more, we must be a people of the Book. The Psalmist said, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD (the Bible), and in His law He meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2). “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies (the Bible), who seek Him with the whole heart! Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:2, 97). The more time we spend in the Bible, the greater our trust in Him will become.
The more we practice trusting God, the more we will understand that we can trust Him. He is always with us, He knows more than us, and He is more powerful than us. Psalm 118:8 says, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” Man will let us down, and we will even let ourselves down, but God will never let us down. We should do as the writer of Proverbs said in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all of your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” So, distance yourself from sin, devour the Word, and depend on God, and you will watch your faith and your trust in Him grow mightily!
