Am I really trusting God?

Are you anxious? Losing sleep? Are you longing for a rest you just can't seem to find? If that's you, this is an episode you'll want to hear. We're discussing the nuts and bolts of trusting God and how we can trust Him more. 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:03

H i everybody, you're listening to the People Get Ready Podcast. I'm Heather Duff, and in just a minute, we'll be jumping into a conversation with Barb Ho. We're talking about everyday issues from a Christian perspective while we eagerly wait for Jesus. People get ready. Let's go.

Speaker 0:20

We cannot have an effective prayer life if we don't fully trust God. That's just take it to the bank truth. If we don't really trust the Lord, we are not going to have the prayer life or the walk with Christ that I believe God wants us to have. And it makes me wonder how many of us really understand what it means to trust in God and where we kind of dilute it sometimes in our understanding of what trust means. There are at least a hundred plus verses in the Bible where God invites us or commands us to trust in Him. And it doesn't always say trust, but it uses that idea where God invites us and God commands us and God urges us to trust in Him. The definition of trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. The basic understanding of trust is who you trust, right? You don't trust a stranger. I'm not going to walk up on us to a stranger in the street and give them my trust. I'm not going to trust my next door neighbor if I don't know them. And so who do you trust? You trust somebody that you know. You do not trust a stranger. And it makes me question how we really know God. How well do we know him?

Speaker 1 2:30

In the beginning, you said th at we dilute what it means to trust. So I thought it might be good to talk about how are we diluting trust and and why are we not fundamentally understanding what trust is. Maybe merits actually pausing to think about have I diluted what trusting in God means?

Speaker 2:47

Right.

Speaker 1 2:47

We approach trusting God the same way we approach trusting people, but it's a completely different relationship because God will never fail. That's a really good point. People have let us down, but God will never do that. We can't go through life not trusting anyone. We definitely need to be able to trust people, especially those in our intimate circle. But above that, our trust in God is there's just a rock solid foundation there.

Speaker 3:14

Our trust is built on three core areas of understanding God. And the first one is our understanding of who God is. We misunderstand who God is because number one, people have failed us. How many people in the world have lost trust because they've been so mistreated by people or or their expectations of how they think they should be treated? It's ruined the understanding of God. And I think too, what you said is true in their understanding of expectations of God Himself. How do you think that people lose their trust with God in that way, Heather?

Speaker 1 3:47

Bad theology, bad doctrine, people use the expression, I am believing God for fill in the blank. And they're believing God to do a certain thing. Most of the time when you read about faith in the Bible, it's not faith for, it's faith in.

Speaker 4:05

Yeah, exactly. Trust in God because he's God. Our understanding of God can be limited. Our understanding of God can be severe. You know, sometimes we think that God isn't the loving God He is. Sometimes things happen in this world.

Speaker 1 4:19

We'll have trouble. That's what we're doing. We will. And and you know, sometimes suffering hurts and it hits some people, it seems like they're just going through a season of one thing after another. I know I've felt like that. I know you felt like that. We don't approach that intending to start doubting God. We want to have faith in him. We want to trust him. But when you're being beat down by a lot of life circumstances, it really can crush you. When you're in a position like that, you may not even understand what's beginning to happen. But, you know, Satan, of course, is going to be right there just whispering, why did God allow this to happen? Why me? Can I not just get a moment where I'm not struggling or fighting or feeling pain? And, you know, God is a He is a God of compassion. That's scripture in Exodus 34. When God proclaims who he is to Moses, the first thing he says is the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate, compassionate and gracious and slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth. Getting back to what you're saying, that is the foundation. Like we we have to know who God is, and he is not a man that he should lie.

Speaker 5:26

Um, Heather, you and I were at this conference this past weekend, and and the speaker, Nancy French, shared something that really blessed me. And she talked about the time that Jesus healed the blind man. And his disciples asked him, Why is this man blind? Is he was he blind because of the sins of his parents? And Jesus said, No, this was so that God would be glorified, right? And she went in talking about our lives and how so many of us were born with situations that we see as just so terrible. And maybe it's how we look, or maybe it's things that we struggle with, or things that we battle with, or maybe it's physical ailments or emotional, or maybe it's financial, or whatever it is. We were born certain ways and we think, man, what what did I do? Like, why is why is God doing this? And she was saying that turn it around and say that so God can receive glory because God is going to be glorified through your life. However your life is, God is going to be glorified through it. And that really helped me. It helped me to deal with a lot of issues that I struggle with and just understanding that God is God and He has a He has a plan and He has a purpose and and He and He's loving and I can trust Him in it because I'm getting a better understanding of who God is.

Speaker 1 6:38

I heard this expression, how do you know if a sheep is lost? Well, a sheep is lost the second he can't see the shepherd, and it's in reference to how dumb sheep can be. But it it's it's like that. It's it's all a matter of perspective. There may be something, like you're saying here, that you've been struggling with, it seems like forever, but your perspective, we're not seeing God as he is. And it's it's almost like if you imagine yourself just sort of stepping around an obstacle and then all of a sudden, there he is. Yeah. You know, and so what we see is this this obstacle, some struggle, whatever it is, and we just see that, but it's like if we can see past that to see how wonderful and compassionate and gracious God is, it really is all a matter of of perspective and understanding.

Speaker 7:29

The God that we serve is the God who is all loving and all-caring and all forgiving. That is the God. And when we really wrap our heads around that God, it it just changes everything.

Speaker 1 7:42

And these things, they seem simple. This is a foundational thing, and it may seem like, well, of course we trust God, but the lies of the enemy are so cunning. The deception is is so uh like clever and subtle in an in an age of increasing deception like we are, we cannot take for granted what it means to trust God.

Speaker 8:04

When I think about some of the the names of the of Satan, he's the great deceiver, he's the father of lies. I mean, he's really unfortunately, you know, I don't even want to give this word to him, but he's good at what he does. You know, he's great at lying and he knows just what to say to bring us into a misunderstanding of who our precious God is. When you really discover who God is on that level, it's easy to trust him. It's hard not to trust him, but our perception is so distorted in so many ways.

Speaker 1 8:36

John 8, verse 44, where Jesus is talking to, I think, the Pharisees, but he says, um, let me find a version I want to read here. Um it says, You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning. We can't play around with lies. That's right. We can't play around with a little deception or or we really need to be on guard and understand that Satan is not playing games.

Speaker 9:04

It's so essential to stay wrapped up in the word because it's studying the word and understanding the word and not just the Bible passages, but as we've talked about before, the principles of the Bible that will take root in our lives. And we just learn to walk in the in the power of the Holy Spirit. We we just know him. You cannot know who God is if you are not taking time to spend in his word. You just cannot do it.

Speaker 1 9:30

What a wonderful opportunity to approach it and just, you know, sit down with you and your Bible and your open heart and say, Lord, I want to know you more. I want to trust you more. And I I love that little phrase when Jesus said, Do you believe? And he said, I believe, but help my unbelief. That's encouraging for all of us.

Speaker 9:48

And that the the neat part about that is that, you know, the Bible is not just a book of knowledge, but we actually have the Holy Spirit in us who works in our lives to help us understand. When it talks about the Bible and it says it's living and sharper than any double-edged sword. I mean, the Bible is living, it's God's living word that when we're reading it, when we're studying it, the Holy Spirit is speaking it into our lives and changing who we are and changing our understanding and helping us really get to know God. I mean, that's so exciting. There's nothing more exciting than that. Absolutely. It's neat. And when you really get that perspective, instead of just thinking of reading the Bible as a checkoff, I get to know God more. I get to, and and you know, you you talked about this in our last episode. It's a treasure when when you're reading something and something comes out and and God speaks, maybe it's the same passage you've read a million times, but God speaks it in a different way into your life. That's a treasure, and that's just something that, oh my goodness, that's just so exciting. And that's the way God wants to reveal himself to us. And and that's what it is. When we study scripture, God is revealing himself to us. The power of the Holy Spirit is revealing who God is and who he is and who Jesus is and who we are to to be in him. And, you know, it's it's that's the way that we gain trust. That's the way is through understanding who God is.

Speaker 11:32

The fact of the matter is the more we get to know God, the more we're gonna want to get to know God. And the enemy knows that, and so what he does is he works to get us not to know God. He tries to bring us to a place where we misunderstand or we think he's not worth getting to know or he's impossible to get to know. The fact is, the more we get to know him, the more we love him because he's such an unbelievably lovable God, and and Satan knows that. So he works against that in our lives. Yeah. Amen. Okay, so the first of the three core understandings is who God is. The second is who God is to us, who God is to us.

Speaker 1 12:13

Jesus said a sparrow doesn't fall to the ground except that your father notices. How amazing is that? God, God is even aware of a sparrow falling to the ground. It's not just creation, it's his creation. That's pretty amazing.

Speaker 12:28

It's amazing to think that the creator God is a personal God. I mean, even that word just should sound like an oxymoron, you know, a personal God. In the morning, sometimes I just am weeping before the Lord. I'm like, who am I that you would spend this time? Who am I that I would experience your presence? I mean, I'm I'm nobody, and yet you you you just love me and everybody who is willing to spend that time with the Lord. And when we really understand what a personal God is, how how hard is it not, how hard is it to trust him when you know he's personal and he's caring for you on a level that we we can't even fathom? It it's it's amazing. So that's the second thing. And the third is it's built on our understanding of who we are to God, how precious we are to God, how how you know he died for our personal sins. I mean, he cares about every little intimate thing that we can ever experience. God cares for us. And I always say, no prayer is too big or no prayer is too small. If it matters to you, it matters to God. And no matter what's in your heart, it can be as big as moving the world, it can be as small as where should I go for breakfast? But you can always bring those to the Lord and just lift them up and say, Lord, help me to know what to do, you know, because He cares for us that much. He's this, he's intimate, He's that intimate with us on that level, and that's pretty exciting.

Speaker 1 13:53

It would be a great exercise to take a passage of scripture and then just focus on these three questions. I mean more than a verse. I'm talking about, you know, uh a chapter or something like that. But to read through and then just say, okay, who who is God? And then number two, who is God to me? And then go back through that scripture again and say, and who am I to God?

Speaker 14:20

Yeah, that's great. Repeat that and really emphasize that because that's a great idea, Heather.

Speaker 1 14:25

Taking some passage of scripture and as you read through it, read through it a few times and the first time go through it and just jot down some notes. What is this telling me about God? And then read through it again and answer the question, who is God to me? What is this scripture telling me about who God is to me? And then a third time going back through and saying, What is this telling me about who I am to God?

Speaker 14:51

That's awesome. I'm definitely going to do that. That's a great way to do some study. That's awesome. Yeah, I'm gonna do that. But when we're misguided or we misunderstand any or all of these three things, then our trust is gonna waver. It's just a fact. And I know when I talk to someone who's struggling in their trust with the Lord, um, they might not know it, but I recognize it. I know that either one or all or a couple of these uh basic concepts of God, they're they're just not getting. And it might be that they've never learned it, or it might be that they've learned it and they've just forgotten about it. But these these three are core to trusting the Lord. And when people don't trust the Lord, it's because of one of these three core or understandings of God.

Speaker 1 15:36

They're all three essential. So much of the sort of new agey infiltration into Christianity is making much of who I am. It it is important that we do know who I am to God. But you see, a lot of these contemporary worship songs, a lot of memes and graphics that you see on social media. I am this, I am that, I am strong, I am, you know, which we are all those things in Christ, but I need to equally be meditating on who God is to me and who God is. Because if if I am just always who who I am in Christ, who I am to God, who I am, who I am, without thinking of the I am in a very healthy, humbling, worshipful way, reverent way, it's kind of easy to get led astray. And as as you've been sharing about this, I mean, we've touched on some things that Satan does, but you know, just the thought that he is working diligently, Satan is working diligently to subvert our trust in who God is. We do have to be on guard about these things. These three core understandings, all essential and essential for them to be working together simultaneously.

Speaker 16:58

I c so agree with that, Heather. And and I think that um not even just worship songs. I I know a lot of the worship songs when you really evaluate them, and I know I've listened to different, you know, podcasters and stuff who have evaluated and 90% of the song is about me, me, me, me, me. You're so good to me, you're so loving to me, me, me, me, me, me, right? Um, but a lot of the preaching nowadays, too, a lot of the and I have no names mentioned, but a lot of the big pastors are preaching, it's all about you. It's all about God making you feel good and and God loving you and God this and that to you, but which is true. I mean, God does love us, but the focus is off from God and the focus is on to us. And I think that's a real danger we have to be careful of. Mm-hmm. For sure. This podcast came out of our heart burden, both of us, that we believe that God's time is coming. You know, he's getting ready to come back and take his church. And so we want to get help to get the church ready for his coming and to prepare for the days that are coming. And I think part of the the days that are coming is going to be people are gonna be trusting in people that they shouldn't be trusting in. I mean, that's very scriptural, right? I mean, that that that's what the enemy is going to work at. And I think it is true what you're talking about. The idea of trust is is getting really and and even you know, like the idea of um of um truth, right? Truth is relative. My truth, what what are you talking about? How how can something be be my truth? Truth is truth. And when you get away from the word, what is truth? I mean, scripture is truth, right? And so when people don't base truth on on the word of God and they just base it on their own understanding, you know, i there's a huge breakdown. And I think that that goes into the area of trust also.

Speaker 1 18:41

Yeah, and if truth is relative, then you have no foundation. And what is it like to live a life like that? I mean, you know, you you have you have nowhere to rest, you have you have nowhere to grow roots, you have nothing to bank on. Yeah, and that's that's a very distressing place to be.

Speaker 18:59

Everything is shaky. Every uh there's no foundation. It's the Bible talks about building your house on the sand or building your house on the rock. I mean, when you build it on the sand, things are gonna collapse under you, right? That that that's not a firm foundation. Um, and our only firm foundation is is the truth of God and who God is. Good point, Heather. Very good point.

Speaker 1 19:19

When you told me that we were going to be talking about trust, or no, I guess my mind immediately went to Psalm 23 because I've spent so much time resting in that and coming to understand who God is as my shepherd. We're all so familiar with it. Um, but the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. To trust is to rest. And we don't do that rest, we don't initiate that rest. He's the one who makes me to lie down. He's the one who is shepherding me and leading me to that place of rest. And we're all desperate for it. He knows when I need the rest. He he knows when it's time for me. And, you know, sometimes I'm running around so frantically, he has to make me lie down in a green pasture because I'm so busy, I'm thinking about the other things that I haven't done, that I'm not taking that time to get quiet with him and to just rest in my shepherd's care. But it's just such a comfort to know that even in all of that, that my shepherd makes me lie down in green pastures when I need that rest.

Speaker 20:34

That's really good. And I and I think too, it makes me think of, you know, what we were talking about before, um, understanding who God is. And you can't understand who God is if you don't have that time of rest and waiting and being with him and just experiencing who he is. Next time, I'm gonna share some other things on trusting in God and how trust will radically change our prayer life and our lives in general. Let's just close in in prayer together. Father, we we love you, Lord. We we love you, God. We worship you, Lord. We acknowledge who you are, we acknowledge who you are to us, and we thank you for who we are to you. And Father, I pray that you would help us to bring these three core understandings of you into our lives, God. Help us to walk them through. Help us to to deep, to dive deep into your word, Lord, and and to discover you, Lord, on the level that you want us to do. Father, you want us to know you so intimately, Lord, more intimately than we can ever ask or even imagine. And God, help us to take whatever steps to do that, Father. What a blessing it is, Lord, to be able to know the Creator of the universe on a personal and intimate way and to experience your presence, Father, and Lord, to understand you through your word, that your word is alive, then it's Speaks life into us, God, and and it and and it changes who we are, Lord. It just doesn't change what we think, Father, but it changes the very essence of our being. We just thank you for that, God. We thank you for the working of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for the sanctified life that He's working to make us more of who we are to be in Christ. And we thank you, Father, that we will continue to grow until the day we stand perfect before you, Father. We we surrender all this to you. I pray for every person listening. I pray that every person listening, Father, will be touched in such a way, Lord, that you would touch them in ways that you alone can. Father, that you would take the truth of your word, the truth of whatever's true in this teaching, Father, and speak into their lives and areas, God, that they need to be touched in, Lord. Bring healing, Father. Bring encouragement, Lord. Bring peace, Father. Bring trust, Father. Just bring a sense of your presence into each person's life. And God, we love you, Lord, and we thank you, Father, and we entrust all this to you in the precious name of Jesus. It's in your name that we pray. Amen. Amen.