Most like to talk about their trust, less like to live it out

I hear it all the time, and more so lately I wonder “do you really trust Him?” So many christians speak the language of trust. Many have written books and posts on it, but very few are living it out in their day to day lives and it begs the question, “why?” Why is it that we have become a culture of christianity instead of christians with a culture, the culture of heaven? Why do we need a different culture in the first place? Why must we trust God with everything? There must be something we have to do in order to lead our lives well.

The cost of placing our trust in God

The reality is, trusting God, comes with a cost. A cost so great that many would much rather stay where they are and invite God in sometimes. Its less intrusive that way. We get to keep our little patch of life and steward it the way we want to. We get to live comfortably, on our time and our terms. Who doesn’t want that? Lets be honest here. Even those of us who trust God with everything are fighting our way through a lot of those spaces of trust. We are fighting to keep what is comfortable while also fighting to give it away and let it all go because we know that at the end of the day, He matters more. That our comfortability does not come within what we can control but in what we can let go of in order to have more of Him. Trusting God isn’t easy for anyone and if they tell you that, they are lying.

Growing our trust with God

I said if people say its easy to trust God they are lying. What I mean by that is if people say they’ve never struggled with the process of stepping into more trust, they are lying. I can trust God easily in many areas of my life, but that trust didn’t come without cost. That trust gained, cost me something every single time. I remember the very first moment I decided to trust God. It was with a bill that needed to get paid and I had just surrendered my life over to God, I mean I was brand new to a life of following Jesus. I was crying out to God about this bill because the job I had that paid said bills I quit, because I moved, in order to follow Jesus. As I was praying and crying about what I should do about this bill, I heard Him say “trust me”. Immediately, I was offended. Those words brought up so much pain inside of me and I proceeded to tell God that I couldn’t even trust the parents or family that was supposed to be there for me, how was I supposed to trust someone I couldn’t even see? As I wrestled with God I realized that I truly had nothing left to lose. I already had nothing of eternal value. Nothing that really mattered and everyone had deserted me when I was younger so I had nothing to lose. If God were to fail me, well, He would simply be joining and club that I was used to. But if He came through and helped me with this, it could change everything. So, I leaped in trust and in faith. I laid the bill down, prayed and ‘gave it to God’. I told Him I wouldn’t worry, that I trusted Him to come through and guess what? He did. Someone offered to pay that bill. That leap was 10 years ago, and I have honestly never looked back. From that point on I took leap, after leap, after leap, and God has shown Himself faithful all throughout my life over the years. I no longer question if He will come through for me. (But I still kick and scream a bit as to how that will look 😉 ). But as per usual, I pray, I reset, I repent where I’ve complained and grumbled at how He has decided to do things and lastly, I surrender. Would you like to know why? Because I love Him and I would never want to live my life outside the will of God. I’ve been there before. I know what its like. Nothing compares to a life yielded to Jesus.

Where do you go from here?

So what does that mean for you? If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this journey with Jesus, its this. The choice is yours. Your free will is just that, yours. You get to decide what matters more to you. Life with God or Life for self. He never said it would be easy, but I can promise you that He is worth it. Remember, the trust journey is a step. It is a step, after another, after another, after another that builds and grows and deepens and widens over time and before long, its all you’ll know. And regardless of how stretching, its the only place you’ll ever want to be.

I hope this encourages you,

Jessica Tobler