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Trust is defined as a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Who or what do we trust in? Is our trust in the government, our finances, our career, our friends, our family or our spouse? Though these are all blessings, our trust should solely be in God. Learning to trust comes with experience. The same is with God, our trust in Him grows as we walk through areas in our lives that may seem a bit scary.
When we go through battles in our lives we need to trust that we are not alone! 1 John 5:4 says, “God is with you-wherever you may go and no matter what life brings.” God reminds us throughout the Bible that He is with us, He also lets us know why we must go through trials in our lives. Why won’t God just take away all of our battles? Is there a purpose for our sufferings? James 1:12 reads, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” or in Romans 5:3 it says, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.”
What is God telling us? Jesus never said we will not go through battles, trials and tribulations. In fact, He told us we will go through hardships. But, we are to take heart and know that He has overcome the world (John 16:33)! When we go through hard times it produces endurance and we learn to trust in God. If we don’t go through struggles, how else would we know how good God is and trust in Him? God will never allow us to go through situations without purpose. Let’s look at the story of Job in the Bible. Job was a man who loved God with all his heart. He was blessed with many children, livestock, and servants. Satan asked the Lord if he can take all these things from Job to “prove” Job’s loyalty to God. Satan based Job’s loyalty to God on all He had blessed Job with. God allowed this, with the exception of Satan being able to touch his soul. The enemy came and took away Job’s children, livestock, servants and even cursed Job with boils throughout his body. Can you imagine how that must have felt for Job? I’m sure he felt abandoned from God. Through this trial, Job’s friends and his own wife told Job to curse God and die. But, Job held on to God even if it was the last thing he did. After going through this horrific tribulation, the Lord restored all that Job had lost. God healed Job, replenished all of his livestock even more than before, blessed him with servants, with more children and allowed him to live a long life! Job’s latter days were more prosperous than the former.
We may not understand why God allows us to go through certain things in our lives, but we are not called to understand Him; instead we are called to trust Him. God never makes mistakes and He never sends us into battle without the weapons to help us fight. As we go through trials, our faith and trust in God will strengthen. Our endurance will continue to grow and help us in this walk with Christ.
Written by: Bonnie Vargas
