Can You Trust God?

There may be the heartache of an unhappy marriage or the disappointment of a miscarried pregnancy or grief over a spiritually indifferent or rebellious child.

There is the anxiety of the family breadwinner who has just lost his job and the despair of the young mother who has learned she has a terminal illness.

the stabbing pain of unexpected grief. There is the humiliation of rejection by others, of demotion at work, and, worst of all, of failure that is one’s own fault. Finally there is the despair of realizing that some difficult circumstances—a physical infirmity of your own or perhaps a severely handicapped child—will never change. All of these circumstances and scores more contribute to the anxiety and emotional pain we all experience at various times and in varying degrees. Some pain is sudden, traumatic, and devastating. Other adversities are chronic, persistent, and seemingly designed to wear down our spirits over time. In addition to our own emotional pains, we often are called upon to help bear the pain of others, either friends or relatives. None of the illustrations I’ve used in the preceding paragraphs are just imaginary. I could put names alongside each one. Most of them are on my personal prayer list. When friends and loved ones hurt, we hurt.

Others experience the frustration of dashed hopes and unfulfilled dreams: a business that turned sour or a career that never developed.

Still others experience the sting of injustice, the dull ache of loneliness, and the stabbing pain of unexpected grief. There is the humiliation of rejection by others, of demotion at work, and, worst of all, of failure that is one’s own fault. Finally there is the despair of realizing that some difficult circumstances—a physical infirmity of your own or perhaps a severely handicapped child—will never change.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 1). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

All of these circumstances and scores more contribute to the anxiety and emotional pain we all experience at various times and in varying degrees.

Some pain is sudden, traumatic, and devastating. Other adversities are chronic, persistent, and seemingly designed to wear down our spirits over time. In addition to our own emotional pains, we often are called upon to help bear the pain of others, either friends or relatives.

None of the illustrations I’ve used in the preceding paragraphs are just imaginary. I could put names alongside each one. Most of them are on my personal prayer list. When friends and loved ones hurt, we hurt.

War, terrorism, earthquakes, famine, racial injustice, murder, and exploitation occur daily in various parts of the world.

On a much smaller scale, those whose lives are free from major pain still experience the frequently frustrating or anxiety-producing events of daily life, which momentarily grab our attention and rob us of our peace of mind.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (pp. 1-2). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 2). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 3). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

One author has aptly captured the flavor of how such little frustrations can cause us to doubt God in a devotional book for high schoolers entitled,

If God Loves Me, Why Can’t I Get My Locker Open?

And it is in the crucible of even this minor level of adversity that we are tempted to wonder, “Can I trust God?”

As Solomon said, “[We] do not know what a day may bring forth” (). Someone has described life as like having a thick curtain hung across one’s path, a curtain that recedes before us as we advance, but only step by step.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 3). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Such events, unfolding in ways contrary to our desires and expectations, frequently fill our hearts with anxiety, frustrations, heartache, and grief.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 3). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 4). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 1). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

God’s people are not immune from such pain. In fact, it often seems as if theirs is more severe, more frequent, more unexplainable, and more deeply felt than that of the unbeliever. The problem of pain is as old as the history of man and just as universal. Even creation itself, Paul tells us, has been subjected to frustration and groans as in the pain of childbirth (see ).

Romans 8:20–22 ESV

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 4). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

So the question naturally arises, “Where is God in all of this?”

Can you trust God? The question itself has two possible meanings before we attempt to answer it.

Can you trust God?

In other words, is He dependable in times of adversity?

But the second meaning is also critical:

Can you trust God?

Do you have such a relationship with God and such a confidence in Him that you believe He is with you in your adversity even though you do not see any evidence of His presence and His power?

It is not easy to trust God in times of adversity.

No one enjoys pain, and when it comes, we want it relieved as quickly as possible. Even the apostle Paul pleaded with God three times to take away the thorn in his flesh before he finally found God’s grace to be sufficient. Joseph pleaded with Pharaoh’s cupbearer to “get me out of this prison” (). And the writer of Hebrews very honestly states, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful” (). During the time I was working on this chapter I experienced one of those periods of adversity when I found it difficult to trust God. Mine happened to be a physical ailment that exacerbated a lifelong infirmity. It came at a very inconvenient time and for several weeks would not respond to any medical treatment. During those weeks, as I continually prayed to God for relief, I was reminded of Solomon’s words,

Ecclesiastes 7:13 ESV

Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 4). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

God three times to take away the thorn in his flesh before he finally found God’s grace to be sufficient. Joseph pleaded with Pharaoh’s cupbearer to “get me out of this prison” (). And the writer of Hebrews very honestly states, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful” (). During the time I was working on this chapter I experienced one of those periods of adversity when I found it difficult to trust God. Mine happened to be a physical ailment that exacerbated a lifelong infirmity. It came at a very inconvenient time and for several weeks would not respond to any medical treatment. During those weeks, as I continually prayed to God for relief, I was reminded of Solomon’s words, Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?

God had brought a “crooked” event into my life, and I became acutely aware that only He could straighten it.

Could I trust God whether or not He straightened my “crook” and relieved my distress?

Did I really believe that a God who loved me and knew what was best for me was in control of my situation?

Could I trust Him even if I didn’t understand?

Further, could I encourage others to trust Him when they are in the throes of emotional pain?

Is the whole idea of trusting God in adversity merely a Christian cliche that doesn’t stand up in the face of the difficult events of life?

Can you really trust God?

I sympathize with those who find it difficult to trust God in adversity. I have been there often enough myself to know something of the distress, the despair, and the darkness that fills our souls when we wonder if God truly cares about our plight. I have spent a good portion of my adult life encouraging people to pursue holiness, to obey God. Yet, I acknowledge it often seems more difficult to trust God than to obey Him.

The moral will of God given to us in the Bible is rational and reasonable.

The circumstances in which we must trust God often appear irrational and inexplicable.

The law of God is readily recognized to be good for us, even when we don’t want to obey it. The circumstances of our lives frequently appear to be dreadful and grim or perhaps even calamitous and tragic. Obeying God is worked out within well-defined boundaries of God’s revealed will. Trusting God is worked out in an arena that has no boundaries. We do not know the extent, the duration, or the frequency of the painful, adverse circumstances in which we must frequently trust God. We are always coping with the unknown. Yet it is just as important to trust God as it is to obey Him. When we disobey God, we defy His authority and despise His holiness. But when we fail to trust God, we doubt His sovereignty and question His goodness. In both cases we cast aspersions upon His majesty and His character. God views our distrust of Him as seriously as He views our disobedience. When the people of Israel were hungry, “they spoke against God, saying, ‘Can God spread a table in the desert? . . . Can he supply meat for his people?’” The next two verses tell us, “When the LORD heard them, he was very angry . . . for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance” (). In order to trust God, we must always view our adverse circumstances through the eyes of faith, not of sense. And just as the faith of salvation comes through hearing the message of the gospel (see ), so the faith to trust God in adversity comes through the Word of God alone. It is only in the Scriptures that we find an adequate view of God’s relationship to and involvement in our painful circumstances. It is only from the Scriptures, applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that we receive the grace to trust God in adversity. In the arena of adversity, the Scriptures teach us three essential truths about God—truths we must believe if we are to trust Him in adversity. They are:

God is completely sovereign.

God is infinite in wisdom.

God is perfect in love.

In order to trust God, we must always view our adverse circumstances through the eyes of faith, not of sense.

Now it is true that some actions of God show certain of his attributes more prominently. Creation demonstrates his power and wisdom, the atonement demonstrates his love and justice, and the radiance of heaven demonstrates his glory and beauty. But all of these in some way or other also demonstrate his knowledge and holiness and mercy and truthfulness and patience and sovereignty, and so forth. It would be difficult indeed to find some attribute of God that is not reflected at least to some degree in any one of his acts of redemption. This is due to the fact mentioned above: God is a unity and everything he does is an act of the whole person of God. Moreover, the doctrine of the unity of God should caution us against attempting to single out any one attribute of God as more important than all the others. At various times people have attempted to see God’s holiness, or his love, or his self-existence, or his righteousness, or some other attribute as the most important attribute of his being. But all such attempts seem to misconceive of God as a combination of various parts, with some parts being somehow larger or more influential than others. Furthermore, it is hard to understand exactly what “most important” might mean. Does it mean that there are some actions of God that are not fully consistent with some of his other attributes? That there are some attributes that God somehow sets aside at times in order to act in ways slightly contrary to those attributes?

It is God himself in his whole being who is supremely important, and it is God himself in his whole being whom we are to seek to know and to love.

Grudem, Wayne A.. Systematic Theology (p. 181). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 6). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Grudem, Wayne A.. Systematic Theology (p. 180). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Grudem, Wayne A.. Systematic Theology (pp. 180-181). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Grudem, Wayne A.. Systematic Theology (p. 181). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Someone has expressed these three truths as they relate to us in this way:

“God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.”

The sovereignty of God is asserted, either expressly or implicitly, on almost every page of the Bible.

Lamentations 3:37–38 ESV

Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 5). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (pp. 5-6). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (pp. 6-7). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Lamentation

This passage of Scripture offends many people. They find it difficult to accept that both calamities and good things come from God.

People often ask the question, “If God is a God of love, how could He allow such a calamity?”

But Jesus Himself affirmed God’s sovereignty in calamity when Pilate said to Him, “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus replied, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (). Jesus acknowledged God’s sovereign control over His life.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 7). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Because God’s sacrifice of His Son for our sins is such an amazing act of love toward us, we tend to overlook that it was for Jesus an excruciating experience beyond all we can imagine. It was for Jesus in His humanity a calamity sufficient to cause Him to pray, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me” (), but He did not waver in His assertion of God’s sovereign control. Rather than being offended over the Bible’s assertion of God’s sovereignty in both good and calamity, believers should be comforted by it. Whatever our particular calamity or adversity may be, we may be sure that our Father has a loving purpose in it. As King Hezekiah said, “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish” ().

God does not exercise His sovereignty capriciously but only in such a way as His infinite love deems best for us. Jeremiah wrote,

Lamentations 3:32–33 ESV

but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (pp. 7-8). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 8). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

God’s sovereignty is also exercised in infinite wisdom, far beyond our ability to comprehend. After surveying God’s sovereign but inscrutable dealings with His own people, the Jews, the apostle Paul bows before the mystery of God’s actions with these words:

Romans 11:33 ESV

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 8). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

God’s plan and His ways of working out His plan are frequently beyond our ability to fathom and understand.

The primary purpose is for us to become so convinced of these truths that we appropriate them in our daily circumstances, that we learn to trust God in the midst of our pain, whatever form it may take.

Psalm 9:10 ESV

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 10). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

It is only as we know God in this personal way that we come to trust

Learning to trust God has been a slow and difficult process for me. It is a process that is still under way.

1. Do you have a harder time trusting God in the major trials of your life or in relatively minor things?

Explain why you think this is the case.

2. Do you think Christians struggle more with questions and uncertainties in the midst of adversity than nonbelievers?

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 10). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Why or why not?

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 230). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

3. a. According to , what should be our perspective on the future?

Proverbs 27:1 ESV

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

b. How does this affect our need to trust God?

4. God desires that we learn to trust Him. What do you learn about trust from these verses?

Psalm 32:10 ESV

Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.

Proverbs 3:5 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

John 14:1 ESV

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

5. a. What is the difference between trusting God and obeying Him?

b. How are trusting God and obedience related?

c. Is it easier for you to trust God or to be obedient?

d. Describe a situation in your life where obedience and trusting were both important.

e. Describe a time when trusting God made it easier to be obedient.

6. Read .

Psalm 78:

Psalm 78:9–22 ESV

The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them. In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers. Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?” Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.

a. What attitude did the Israelites reveal in the desert?

a. What attitude did the Israelites reveal in the desert? b. What was God’s reaction to their attitude? c. Describe a time when your attitude was similar to that of the Israelites. d. How do you think God felt about your attitude? (See and .) e. What in your life indicated how God felt?

b. What was God’s reaction to their attitude?

c. Describe a time when your attitude was similar to that of the Israelites.

d. How do you think God felt about your attitude? (See and .)

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Philippians 2:14 ESV

Do all things without grumbling or disputing,

e. What in your life indicated how God felt?

7. According to and , why is it important for us to trust God even when we don’t understand what He is doing?

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 233). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Isaiah 55:9 ESV

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Romans 11:33 ESV

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

8. What do these verses say about our privilege of knowing God?

Psalm 9:10 ESV

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Jeremiah 9:

Jeremiah 9:23–24 ESV

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Philippians 3:8–11 ESV

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians

b. Knowing God is more than simply knowing facts about Him. What does it mean to know God? c. What are you doing to get to know God better? d. Do you need to make or renew your commitments to these actions? e. Write a prayer in which you express your desire to know God more intimately. Trust in Action Choose one or more of these ideas to work on. Groups may want to allow time each week to share experiences from this section.

Keep a journal while studying this book. Record all the circumstances in which you see God’s control and guidance in your life. Beginning this log now will help you see concrete evidence for truths discussed in later chapters.

from this section. Keep a journal while studying this book. Record all the circumstances in which you see God’s control and guidance in your life. Beginning this log now will help you see concrete evidence for truths discussed in later chapters. Memorize . Make a commitment to memorize . This may seem like an overwhelming task, but if the passage is broken down into small sections, it can be memorized fairly easily. The rewards of having this amazing passage memorized will be more than worth the effort. Think of a relationship in which you have trusted another person. Write a letter to this person and share your thoughts from this lesson. Tell this person how much you value his or her trustworthiness.

Record all the circumstances in which you see God’s control and guidance in your life. Beginning this log now will help you see concrete evidence for truths discussed in later chapters.

Beginning this log now will help you see concrete evidence for truths discussed in later chapters. Memorize . Make a commitment to memorize . This may seem like an overwhelming task, but if the passage is broken down into small sections, it can be memorized fairly easily. The rewards of having this amazing passage memorized will be more than worth the effort. Think of a relationship in which you have trusted another person. Write a letter to this person and share your thoughts from this lesson. Tell this person how much you value his or her trustworthiness.

Memorize .

Psalm 32:10 ESV

Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.

Make a commitment to memorize .

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 234). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (pp. 234-236). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Romans 8:18–39 ESV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ask God for the opportunity to share something about His trustworthiness with an unbeliever.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Think of a relationship in which you have trusted another person. Write a letter to this person and share your thoughts from this lesson. Tell this person how much you value his or her trustworthiness.

Joshua 1:9 ESV

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

You cannot have the Promises of God, without the Sovereignty of God!

If He is not strong enough to orchestrate your life, He is not strong enough to guarantee anything in your life.

The sovereignty of God is often questioned because man does not understand what God is doing. Because He does not act as we think He should, we conclude He cannot act as we think He would.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 17). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 230). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Joshua 1:9 ESV

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 227). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 10). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 4). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

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