Learning to Trust

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ho do you trust most? Think about it for a minute before you continue, and be honest with yourself. Many people think about their parents, their husband or wife, or even their best friend. Some sadly struggle to even answer that question as nobody comes to mind. Yet as a Christian, that is a problem isn’t it? Shouldn’t we trust Jesus and His promises most of all?  If you answered Jesus to that question, that’s great! If you realize now your answer should be Jesus, that’s great too! However, I bet if you’re like me, and you look at the time you spend, the money you spend, or who you talk to most, it might not seem like Jesus is your #1.

That’s OK though, I struggle too, but Jesus doesn’t want us to stay that way. All we need to do is work on trusting Him a little more each day.

Let’s try an exercise! Picture your best friend right now in your head. If you don’t think you really have one, that’s ok, just picture a friend of yours that comes to mind. Let’s pretend his name is John, and just imagine being surrounded by people saying these things about your friend:

• I wouldn’t trust John if I were you
• I think John is lying to you, he doesn’t even like you
• John is mean, you should get him back
• It’s OK to be mean to John
• It would be so cool for you to play a trick on him
• I would stop being John’s friend

Imagine day after day being told this stuff. Do you think it would start playing tricks on your mind? Do you think eventually you may start to even believe the lies? Well, if you ask me, that is what is exactly happening in this world with Jesus. We hear things from unbelievers like:

• It's a fairy tale
• The Bible is just made up stories
• There is no evidence of God

For some people, it doesn’t matter how much information you give them to show them the Truth, they just don’t want to listen if it is about God. That’s OK though, we still love them! But it brings up a very good point about our friends and who we spend time with. Should we have friends that don’t believe? Absolutely! We need to show them through our actions, love, (and sometimes words), that Jesus loves them. However I think it’s very important that many of our friends that we surround ourselves with are believers too. It helps to encourage us, gives us someone to talk to when things are getting tough, and will also be there to help us make the right decisions.

So don’t feel alone if you want to trust Jesus the most, but seem to struggle with actually doing that. Let’s just be honest, admit when we struggle, learn to trust Him more, and surround ourselves with great friends that can help us in this journey.

The Tackle Box

• Is there something that you can do to show God you trust Him just a little more today, or this week?
• Is there a friend at church, school, or in the neighborhood that loves Jesus that you would like to become friends with?

Don’t’ forget to pray! Talking to God is a two-way conversation, so sit quietly sometimes and just listen for something He may put on your heart. It’s impossible please God without faith, and it sure is hard to have faith without talking to the One you are putting your faith in, so pray! No rules, no special words, just sit and chat with God, He’s always available!

A few tips from Dad

• Peter walked on water … and then sank! (Matthew 14:28-31)
• Thomas doubted that Jesus rose from the dead. (John 20:24-29)
• A dad asks Jesus to help him with his sick son, and also his doubt. (Mark 9:23-24)
• Even the Apostles ask for more faith. (Luke 17:5)

My Fishing Story ...

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