Is Your Trust Unshakeable?

Do you have trust issues? We live in a time where almost everyone has trust issues of one kind or another. We don’t trust our institutions and we don’t trust our leaders. Can it be that we even struggle to trust God? Before you proclaim your trust in God as being unshakeable, I ask you to think more deeply for just a moment. Do you trust God when His answer is no? Do you trust God when He allows unimaginable evil to occur? Do you trust God when you see good things happening to bad people and bad things happening to good people? Do you trust God when He is silent in the middle of your storm? Trust is powerful but it cannot be faked. The evidence of trust will show up when God does something other than we think He should or hoped He would. At that moment we will have to decide whether we will trust in our perception of what is most important or will we trust in God even if it costs us. Ermines are small animals with snow-white fur. Ermines are known for fiercely protecting their fur against anything that would soil it. Fur hunters take advantage of this unusual trait of ermines. They don’t set a trap to catch the ermine, instead they find his home, which is usually in the cleft of a rock or the hollow of an old tree. They smear the entrance and the interior with black grease. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to find and track the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward its home but he will not enter it because of the grease. He does not want to get his fur dirty. He thinks keeping his coat clean is more important than even saving his life. Do you think what you know and what you want is more important than trusting God even when He does not do what you think He should do? The Bible can help us sort out our trust issues. Isaiah 12:2, “Surely God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord Himself is my strength and my defense, He has become my salvation.” The author makes an assertion – “Surely God is my salvation…” That assertion is then tested and a choice must be made. Do I trust God when He does what I think needs to be done or do I trust in God period? You can read the choice that Isaiah made, “The Lord, the Lord Himself is my strength and defense” … not God when He does what I think He should. Isaiah then concludes by saying God “has become my salvation.” What he said was not really real until it was tested and he chose to trust God no matter what. This is how we raise the bar on our discipleship.