Trust is “a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something”. There is a notable commonality between the definitions of fear and trust: belief. Trust is dependent on believing that someone or something is either reliable, truthful, capable or strong. At some point, the students who bungy jumped put their trust in the Bungy Jump system when they took their plunge off the bridge. Some may have thought that they put their trust in the system from the beginning; right from the second they heard about the activity, they trusted it, and they were on board. Maybe some felt they put their trust in the system when they stepped onto the bridge and felt its sturdiness beneath their feet, and then they were sure that they were good. Maybe it wasn’t until they watched being hooked up and securely attached to the rigging that they thought, “Ok, it’s alright now. I trust this.” But in reality, the only point in time at which each of them put their trust into the system was the moment they actually jumped. The moment they let go of everything else holding them secure and, with full abandon, leapt from a place of safety and depended fully and solely on the cord to catch them. Up until then, they may have believed that they trusted the system, but they couldn’t know for sure until it was put into practice. “Oh yeah, I trust the system but, I’m not going near it.” “Oh yeah, that thing can totally hold me, and I’m 100% sure it’s safe, but I’m actually going to stay on land. I’ll just trust it from here.” “This thing has my complete confidence; I watched it catch so and so! I know it’s got me. I just can’t let go of this rail.” True trust means being willing to put it into practice. It wasn’t until the students were willing to let go of those other things that they could experience the freedom that came from fully trusting.
Psalm 91 says:
1“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made the Lord, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
14 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
16 “With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation.”
This psalm is titled [the] “Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord”. We can know such security in being those who trust in the Lord. Such safety. It doesn’t mean that bad things will never happen to us. Right there, in verse 15, it says, “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honour him.” There’s still going to be trouble! We are still going to need rescue! But the security is in knowing that He’s got us, no matter what. But we can’t experience that security or develop that trust just by hearing about Him from others. We can’t know it by only trusting Him with the little bit of our lives that feels safe to give up or sitting on that metaphorical bridge, reading and studying the Word and telling ourselves, “I know my God has got me” but then being unwilling to take the plunge. We can only experience the true and full freedom of that trust if we are willing to let go of the other things we are clinging to for security. “I trust you, Lord. But I need to make sure that I get a high-paying job cause I need to be financially secure. That’s just good planning.” “I trust you, Lord. But I’m going to take this relationship into my own hands because I really like this guy and I really want this to work out.” “I trust you, Lord, just not enough to go into the mission field with no training. Just let me do some schooling first.” Don’t get me wrong, none of these things are inherently wrong. Money, relationships, schooling; none of these things are bad in and of themselves, but by not surrendering the things in our lives that we cling to in order to feel more secure and safe, we rob ourselves of the freedom of full trust and dependence on the Lord. Do those things actually make us more safe? It’s lies. We can’t trust them to catch us. We can’t depend on them to save us. But our God? The psalmist tells us: He is our shelter, refuge, fortress! He delivers us from the snare and deadly pestilence and covers us with His wings! You need not fear destruction or evil! His angels will bear you up! The Lord says, “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him securely on high because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honour him. With long life I will satisfy him, and let him behold My salvation.” Our God is truly trustworthy, our only security and salvation.
Take time to reflect and think about what things or people in your life you might be clinging to for a false sense of security. They might just be keeping you from experiencing the full freedom of complete trust in our God. He is trustworthy.
By: Lauren Wagner
