Word for the Year: Trust - Its Connection to Belief

I decided to take my word for this year and approach it in a little different way than I did the word wait, last year. I would like to look at the word trust in the context of how it relates to other words and ideas. For instance, in order for a child to trust their parent they must feel safe. Safety is a key component in understanding how and why we trust or don’t trust.

I would like to start with the connection trust has to the idea of belief. In 2022 my word for the year was believe. You can see that post here. In order to trust we must also believe. One might even say that belief has to come before trust can be invested.

Image by HAMED ASAD from Pixabay

Take, for example, the idea of gravity. Gravity has been here since God created the world, but it was Sir Isaac Newton that came to understand how gravity worked and who developed the Law of Universal Gravitation. Gravity is a reality, whether I believe it or not. However, because I trust the Law of Universal Gravitation I am completely confident to walk outside and not fear falling off the earth into the vastness of space. Belief allows me to act.

“5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.”

— Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB 1995)

In order to trust the Lord with all our hearts we must believe in Him. How can we possibly trust an entity we know nothing about? How can we trust a being we haven’t met? In order to truly know God I must believe in Him. Not in a superficial way, but in a life changing commitment. I must move from merely knowing about Him to knowing Him in an intimate way.

Image by Scottish Guy from Pixabay

The way we grow in our relationship with God is by digging deep into His word, the Bible. The Bible is His story. It is also a collection of historical accounts starting with the creation of our world, the entrance of sin into that world, the growth and history of the nation of Israel, the succession of the kings of that nation, and the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

As we learn and grow the trifecta of the divine Creator works together to reveal and open our minds to a deep and intimate understanding of His word. Not only do we realize the reality of the historical accounts, we also dive deep into the processes God uses to turn us towards Him and away from our sinful habits and ideals. We come face to face with the reality that He alone is worthy of our trust, and we are but dust blown whichever way the wind might go.

Image by Enrique from Pixabay

“And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

— Psalm 90:10 (NASB 1995)

The above verse begins with, “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You…” We have to know His name, His character and His work in order to put our trust in Him. The psalmist goes on to give us a reason, He has not forsaken those who seek Him.

Let’s think about this for a few moments. I am pretty sure all of us have felt forsaken at some point in our lives, whether it be by our family or our friends. We may have also felt forsaken by God. However, He is always with us. He alone is true to His word.

Image by falco from Pixabay

“For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.”

— Psalm 21:17 (NASB 1995)

“In You our fathers trusted; They trusted and You delivered them.”

— Psalm 22:4 (NASB 1995)

“To You they cried out and were delivered; In You they trusted and were not disappointed.”

— Psalm 22:5 (NASB 1995)

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.”

— Psalm 28:7 (NASB 1995)

“Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.”

— Psalm 32:10 (NASB 1995)

“For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name.”

— Psalm 33:21 (NASB 1995)

Image by PixelAnarchy from Pixabay

There are many more verses that talk about our trust in God. I love the last one…our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Perhaps we don’t experience joy, because we do not trust, and we do not trust because we do not believe, and we do not believe because we do not know. In order to truly know Him we must be in His word listening for His voice.

I hope, if you are reading this, you made a choice to commit your life to God, to believe in Him, in doing so you have taken the first step to being able to trust Him.

Lessons Learned from The Santa Clause

In my opinion, next to Galaxy Quest, The Santa Clause is one of Tim Allen's best movies. It is a family friendly film, that both young and old can enjoy. The basic premise of the movie finds toy maker Scott Calvin (Allen), suddenly taking on the job of being Santa Claus. The fact that their initials are the same is only one of the fun little details in this movie. 

Pixabay

Calvin is divorced and like so many dads in that situation has his son certain days and times. This particular Christmas, Scott has his son, Charlie, Christmas Eve over night. Being a good dad, although a bit jaded from the divorce, Scott reads Twas the Night Before Christmas, before Charlie goes to sleep. After, Scott turns off the light, strange things begin to happen that lead to a life altering event for this father and his son.

There are lessons we can glean from this comedy. These are a few of the things that I learned.

1. We Can Always Approach our Heavenly Father. Charlie knew when he started to hear strange noises on the roof that he could go wake up his dad and his dad would know what to do. This is a perfect example of child like faith. Children trust their parents to take care of them and provide for them. This is one of the reasons it is so devastating for a child when there is abuse or neglect involved. The very nature that God instilled in a child to trust their parents is the same nature that He instilled in each one of us to come to Him when we are troubled or afraid. 

“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
”

— Matthew 6:26 (NASB)

A father or mother who love their children will always be looking out for them. Even when our children become adults we still want what is best for them and quite often it is hard to watch them make choices we know are not good. Letting them flounder is part of letting God care for them and bring them into a right relationship with Him. He always cares for them and always knows what is best. 

Life becomes much more complicated for Scott Calvin. When he put on the Santa suit to appease Charlie, he didn't realize he was about to have a dramatic career change. 

2. Think Through Your Actions. Scott didn't give a second thought to putting on the suit, other than shuddering that he didn't know where the suit had been. It was warm and comfy, sort of like a heavy pair of pj's. After the sleigh, lead by the famous eight is done delivering toys for the night, it heads back to the North Pole. Scott and Charlie suddenly find themselves in the middle of Santa's workshop.

While our decisions won't necessarily lead us to the North Pole, they can have long term, life changing consequences. Not only do our actions have ramifications, but our words and our thoughts. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones.”

— Proverbs 3:5-8 (NASB)

God knows that we will often be tempted to make poor decisions, whether it is that second piece of pie at a Christmas gathering, or going out with a guy that is into drugs, He encouraged us to lean on Him, not on our own understanding. 

Scott Calvin, clearly believes he is wise in this movie. He thinks he has life all figured out, including how to deal with his ex-wife, her new husband and Charlie. As time goes along, and his job changes from that of toy maker to the being known as Santa, he realizes he really doesn't have it all figured out and he is willing to accept help to really see and understand.

3. Seeing Isn't Believing. Believing is Seeing. This is probably the most important message this movie makes. In a walk of faith, that is precisely what it is, faith. We don't see God, yet our belief in Him, enables us to see. Just like Judy the elf says, children don't have to see the North Pole to know that it is there, they just know. So too, in our lives as Christ followers, when we take that step to believe in Jesus, all of a sudden so many things that were hidden become perfectly clear.  We can't see God, but we just know that He is. His choice to reinforce our belief with the written Word, is a gift to us, that makes our faith even more solid. 

“for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

— Romans 10:10 (NASB)

As Scott begins the journey from unbelief to belief he changes. He suddenly becomes aware of things that were unknown to him before, like the ideas of selflessness, love and sharing. He realizes that his life is changed and once he embraces that he is able to see that there is so much more to life than being the man on top. There is forgiveness, and the ability to adapt.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about the lessons I have learned from The Santa Clause. If you haven't see the movie, I hope you will give it a try. It is a fun view for the whole family. (Note: there is some language and mild suggestive elements so you may want to read a full review on IBMD.)