In God We Trust

In God We Trust

“And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.”

‭‭Judges‬ ‭9:15‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Jotham told this parable using plants (trees, briars and vines) instead of people to display an analogy for trust in leadership. Trust is and was always a very valuable thing. 

I’m taking a break from writing my devotions on The Process. I’ll come back to it, here and there, but there are other things on my heart right now. 

Pretty crazy statement above - In God We Trust. It’s on our money. For now. We use the word trust to make people feel safe and comfortable. 

God is where we should place our trust. But as humans we place our trust in so many other things, doctors, money, family and other people. It’s not wrong to trust, but like fear, it’s the amount you place in someone or something. We usually develop trust over time and with research and experience. But so often we misplace and misuse trust. 

God should have our trust. We are supposed to show our faith in God, so isn’t this the same thing as trust? Trust and Faith?

I don’t think so. Trust and faith are very similar. However, trust is based on ones knowledge, experience or judgement and usually these things come from a relationship or interaction. 

Faith is almost blindly accepted. I said almost. Faith is a belief based on what something stands for. Trust is a belief based on what something stands because you know the facts.

What happens is we criss-cross apple sauce the two. We try and gather facts for faith and take someone’s word for trust. When we do this, it’s extremely hard and can sometimes backfire on us. You can have trust and faith in someone or something, it’s absolutely possible. And that’s the point here. But the two are really different. 

The word trust puts a blanket around us. It makes us feel comfortable. Unless of course you’ve been hurt by someone, then trust is laughed at, and well, broken. Trust is like a bond, a commitment. It takes faith to repair trust. 

My simple analogy is this. Walk up to a bridge and look at it. If you were a bridge builder with thirty years experience building bridges and you built that bridge, you’d cross the bridge without hesitation. You’d probably even try to ease other people’s fears who might be afraid to cross. 

Now if you weren’t a bridge builder, and walked up to a bridge and it was thirty years old and falling apart, you’d have to have faith to cross it. Your trust might be low, so your faith would have to be higher. Especially if your first step pushed through a loose board. 

Trust eases fear because of things you know. Faith eases fear because of things you put your trust in. 

As people, we rely on ourselves for trust and then graciously throw out the word faith when it’s easy and comfortable for us to do so. It is hard to rely on faith, and actually easier to rely on trust. That’s why there are sayings like “leap of faith” and not “leap of trust”. 

It’s easy to have fear in our lives. It’s acceptable. It’s almost mandatory to have a little fear. Trust on the other hand is much more valuable. You usually feel like you have to give up so much to trust someone or something. And boy is it super hard to get back once it’s been damaged.  Trust is everywhere, yet little have it. Once we lose trust we lose faith. It takes faith to overcome trust. Our relationship with God requires both and it should go both ways. Put your faith and trust in God, because he has faith and trust in you. 

If you’re feeling adventurous try this......

Close your eyes and run as fast as you can in your driveway. Do you trust yourself? Your knowledge of your driveway? Did you fall?  Do you have more trust if you walk? Or if your eyes are open.  Did you rely on trust or faith? Now do the same thing in your neighbors driveway. Faith or trust?

It’s amazing how little we trust ourselves. I hope you didn’t really do this (above) but I do hope you thought about it. 

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:5‬

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:7‬

“In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭56:4‬