Trust Is...

What does it mean to truly trust God? That’s a question I’ll be trying to answer for the rest of my life. Sure, I could give you a denotation, but what does trust actually look like? Also, how is the concept applicable to specific situations? Does it even differ based on situation? I’ve recently been comparing the areas where I am trusting God with the areas I’m not, and here’s an incomplete list of practical “trust traits” I’ve come up with to challenge my doubts:

• Trust is not praying for something, and then immediately going back to worrying about the thing you just prayed for, and then pausing to pray for it again, only to repeat the cycle.

• Trust is praying for something, and knowing He’ll answer. This sometimes means that you stop praying for something He hasn’t answered (or perhaps has), if the way you are praying causes you to doubt more; just ask God to work it out.

• Trust is not asking God to show you something, and then asking for a friend’s advice to balance things out.

• Trust is going to God for something and asking friends for advice that is matched up against God’s Word, or asking that they’ll pray for you to accept what He says, which leads into the next trust trait….

• Trust is accepting the answer God gives you, even if it’s not the one you want.

• Trust is being okay with waiting for an answer.

• Trust is understanding that if I’m in the will of God—meaning sins aren’t overtaking my life (in what I like to call a “Psalm 66:18” way)—I have absolutely nothing to fear.

• Trust is grasping the POWER of prayer, asking not in a James 4:1-3 way, but in a John 14:13; Mark 11:22-24; I John 5:14-15 way.

• Trust is knowing that although I’m a mess, and my fears get in the way, the more I do this trust thing, the more God works on me, and the better I get at it.