Weekly Articles

                                                                                                                       From Faith To Trust

                                                    “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is”    Jeremiah 17:7   

When we speak about this subject of faith we must remember that this is the most important principle of the Christian life. Hebrews 11:6 clearly states that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Faith is the vehicle by which we get every provision God has made available to us in the heavenly places moved into the earth realm. Faith is the pipeline God uses to funnel everything to us that grace has already provided. Ephesians 1:3 says that we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, but we must live by, (Habakkuk 2:4/Romans 1:17/Galatians 3:11/Hebrews 10:38) and operate in this law of faith (Romans 3:27) in order to move those blessings from the realm of the spirit, into this earth realm in which we temporarily reside.

Faith simply is believing the Word of God. It is the believing of the Word of God with an expression of what you believe exhibited by your actions. God gives to every man THE measure of faith (Romans 12:3) at salvation, but this faith is nurtured and developed throughout the process of sanctification by hearing the Word of God continuously, and applying it to our life experiences so that we learn to live our life in and by this faith.

Bible faith, that which the just shall live by, then, is defined as a practical expression of your confidence in God and His Word. It is expressing confidence in what you believe about what God has revealed to you through His Word, therefore, you display by your actions that which you believe. It is based on trust and confidence in that which we cannot see in the natural, but on that which we see in the spirit realm. Therefore, we express this trust through statements of confession and actions because we have the faith to believe what the Word says about it. We see our results before they are manifested; not by what we can perceive through our natural senses, but we see them by faith, and with patience wait for the manifestation of them.

 Let's take a look at a passage of scripture over in Daniel 3:17,18 where we can see within that text a clear illustration of having a faith which has grown and developed into a trust that is set to stand in the face of any adversity one may encounter. It's when one has decided and settled in their heart that whatever our Sovereign ruler has determined to do is accepted as His will. First it says in Daniel 3:17 that the three Hebrew boys made their confession of faith by saying "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king." In this confession of faith they stated that regardless of what the situation, we believe in our hearts that our God is able, and strong, and mighty enough to deliver us from this fiery furnace, and out of your hand. You see they would not disobey God by bowing down to the image, but had the faith to believe that God could deliver them from this dilemma that they faced. They made an open confession of their faith before the king and his entire court. What an awesome opportunity to minister to these heathens about the Lord of host who they knew to be strong, mighty, and forever available to show Himself strong on behalf of His own. They had confidence in God and trusted in His omnipotent and omniscient presence in this situation which they faced. Faith believes that God will never leave nor forsake them in a time of trouble. It is standing in the midst of a trial and holding to your belief that our God will deliver you from every evil work and that no weapon formed against you shall prosper in any way. In the next verse, Daniel 3:18, we see the trust which has grown out of their faith. After they made their confession of what they believed their God was able to do, they give a "but". Whenever we see the word "but" in scripture it means that everything preceding it gives way to what comes after it. Here is trust; "But if not..." What we have to understand about trust is that it is not based on what God does nor does not do. Trust says that whatever You, the Lord God Almighty, deem necessary to fulfill your will in the earth, is fine with me. Trust is not based on results, rather, it is based in and on an acceptance that God is the sovereign ruler of this, His earth, and whatever He decides to do I say yes to His will and His way. Trust comes through the experience we gain after we accept and believe, and stand on God's Word. The experience is gained through the many toils and snares that He brings us through as we hold on to the confidence that we have in what He said He would do. A lot of people believe God, but only a few trust Him. Some won't invest the time and energy to develop their faith to the point of trust. These are the ones who waver in their faith during uncomfortable and painful situations. But the person who has developed a trust because he has exercised his faith through trying situations and now has learned that God can and will, he has committed himself to lean on God at all times and in any and every situation. He now has entered into the rest of God, and the peace that he displays indicates that he trust God and His abilities to handle any problem he is faced with. So, in this text we see that these three Hebrew boys had developed in their faith to a point of trust where they said we know that our God whom we serve is able to deliver us out of the hand of the king, but if He has chosen this to be the end of this life here on earth for us, then we still stand and say no to your idol, and yes to God.

Trust just doesn't happen, but it must be developed. It's when you have made the commitment to lean on Him after you have experienced His goodness in your life to deliver you time and time again. A tried faith is a proven faith that has developed into a trust in God and His abilities alone.