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Trust is defined in the Webster dictionary as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something”. Who do you trust these days? Coming out of World War II, the American people trusted in the Government to protect and serve them. As a child, we trust our families and friends to teach us how to survive in this ever-changing world, but even our families and friends can let us down. To earn someone’s trust is a great responsibility and should not be taken lightly. As well as, to trust others is not an easy task and can be the source of many hardships.

In reading Psalms 31:11-16, we see David asking GOD to help him with those causing trouble: “In You, O Lord, I put my trust; Let me never be ashamed; Deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily; Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me.  Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength.  Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.  I have hated those who regard useless idols; But I trust in the Lord”.

Trusting in GOD would certainly check all the boxes in the definition of trust. For no one or nothing can be more reliable in character, ability, strength, or truth than the LORD. Reading through the Bible, we are reminded of how each Biblical character put their trust in GOD before embarking on their destiny. We read of Abraham, Racheal, Moses, Noah, Job, and so many others. However, as humans, each one of these people had their doubts and those doubts caused a strain on their relationship with GOD. In Exodus 16, the Children of Israel are just two months into the escape from Egypt when they start openly complaining and questioning GOD’S chosen leaders. This line of questioning is a lack of trust in what GOD is doing and leads to a lot of unnecessary stress. Our trust should not be so easily swayed, if we have our trust in the right source.

In Psalms 125, we can see that “those who Trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion and cannot be moved, but abides forever”. Is your trust like a mountain? Can you be swayed? Further reading in Psalms 9, states “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You”. If we really know HIM, then we should put our total trust in HIM. For in HIS WORD, we are instructed in Deuteronomy and reminded in Hebrews, that the “LORD will never leave us, nor forsake us”.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”; Hebrews 11:1 NKJV. Trust is a vital part of faith and cannot be achieved without help. In Mark 9:23-24, we see the father of a child possessed by a demon pleading for Jesus’ help to heal his son; “ Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” If you want to trust the Lord, then you must ask Him for Help your “unbelief”. That “unbelief” will most likely be in the form of worry and anxiety.

Yet Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:34; “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble”. It continues to baffle me why we worry so much about things we obviously have no control over. Since we didn’t change anything today, why do we worry about tomorrow’s results? Does our lack of trust equal our amount of anxiety? Like the parable spoken by Jesus in Matthew 25, I wonder if our trust is like the goods given to the man’s servants. Most servants invested their Master’s goods to profit more goods, but one servant chose to bury it and profited none.

The “Parable of the Loaned Money” represents what Christians have been entrusted with through the “Great Commission”. As a believer in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, we are commanded to go out and tell others. We are trusted to not bury our loaned coins from Our Savior, but to invest in others so they may know the free pardon of sin. Trust is a two-way street and through our salvation, we are trusted to do our jobs for the glory of the Lord.

I started this study with Psalms 31 and wanted to key in on verse 5, “Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth”. When David states, “Into Your hand I commit my spirit”, I see the true definition of trust. To be totally committed, both flesh and spirit, to the One who “will never leave you, nor forsake you”.

If you look in Luke 23:46, you will read Jesus speaking His last Words on this earth until His return; “And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last”. Those words, “into your hands”, are not to be taken lightly, but must be from our very core beliefs. We need not trust in our government, our friends and families, or even ourselves. We need to trust GOD and know that HE is making a better path for us, if we would just commit our spirit (total self) into HIS Hand(s).