Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 NLT

“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. Jeremiah 17:7 NLT

Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:4 ESV

Throughout the Scriptures, we are told to trust in the Lord. We are warned not to lean on our own understanding but to trust in the Lord with all our heart. Why is this so difficult? There may be many reasons, but they all seem to be based on Interpersonal Relationships. These reasons may go all the way back to childhood, or they may be based on more recent relationships. However, they are usually caused by someone letting us down.

When we experience abuse, severe neglect, or betrayal from a loved one, it can destroy the ability to trust. We develop fear that the same thing may happen again. Early childhood experiences with parents or other caregivers who are unreliable or abusive can make the world seem unsafe.

Trust requires vulnerability, and if we have been let down or taken advantage of, we develop a fear. It seems safer to keep to ourselves and only trust in our own judgments. We decide that relying on others only leads to disappointment.

All of these things can make it hard for us to trust God as well. The big problem with that is that God is not like the people around us.

There is also the problem of selfishness or self-centeredness. We tend to think that we know what is best and what we want most. What if God thinks that something else is best for us? What if He wants us to do something we don’t want to do? After all, who knows our hearts and minds better than we do? Giving up control of our lives is what Jesus calls us to do, but that isn’t easy. It goes against everything the world teaches us.

Trusting God means giving up control and believing that the same God who created everything can also take care of anything that we come up against. Will it always be how we think it should go? No! But God promises that it will work for our good and His glory.

For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.

2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT