If you’re a parent, you know the importance of your kiddos taking you at your word. When I give instruction to my children, I am doing it for their own good. I have one child that takes all instruction as a directive and follows it down to the details. I have another child that considers all instruction a suggestion. That child often blazes his own trail and has learned many life lessons as a result. In either case, all of my instruction is given out of love and concern for my children.

God gives us instruction through His Word out of love and concern for us, His children. He desires the best for each of us. Taking him at His Word leads to a more purposeful and fulfilling life this side of heaven. Doing things His way leads to a richer experience of His spiritual blessings.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. “~Hebrews 11:1

Why we don’t trust God more

1.Viewing Trust as a Feeling Rather than a Choice

So many of us wrongly believe that trusting God is a feeling. Trust is a choice, not a feeling or an emotion. God is trustworthy whether we believe He is trustworthy or not. Any unbelief on my end won’t change His trustworthiness. It will only change my experience of peace and joy in Him.

2.Trusting in Myself Rather than Trusting God

When I’m not trusting in God, it means I’m putting my trust in someone else. That someone else is usually myself. I begin to depend on my own knowledge and experience. Clinging to my five senses rather than the power God.

3.Believing My Fears Rather than God’s Promises

Trust leads to more trust. That’s right, I have to practice trusting God. Unfortunately, we become gripped with fear at the thought of doing things God’s way. It just doesn’t make sense to our human minds. God’s way is so opposite of the world’s economy and way of doing things that we shy away from it.

4.Allowing Unbelief to Guide Me

Unbelief is a big problem. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge I have of God’s Word, if I don’t believe His Word then I won’t be able to live out His best for me through trusting Him more. Believing is what bridges the gap between knowing and living a life that trusts in Him. Unbelief diminishes our ability to more fully experience God and His best for us.

How to Trust God: 3 Tips

1.Stop Trusting Your Own Understanding

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” ~Proverbs 3:5

I have a tendency to lean on my own understanding. I use the knowledge I have and stick to my five senses because that makes logical sense by the world’s standards. The problem with this is, God is bigger than my knowledge and my five senses. He knows everything. What I see is a very small narrow view compared to the God’s view. When I think about trusting Him in those terms, it makes a lot more sense to trust God rather than myself.

2.Stop Aiming for Immediate Gratification

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” ~2 Peter 3:8

God’s timing is not my timing. I love instant results. I hate waiting. I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume I’m not alone in wanting immediate gratification. If I’m going to trust God, then I need to trust His timing as well. When I don’t see the results I want, when I want, I must wait. Patiently. After all, instant results don’t really require faith, right?

3.Stop Thinking Higher of Yourself than You Ought

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” ~Romans 12:3

Trusting myself and my own understanding is really a pride problem. Quiet time with God sets the tone for each day. That time in His Word and in prayer helps me get perspective on who He is in relation to who I am. I am less, He is more. Truthfully, a deep sigh of relief comes from my soul when I get that straightened out. It doesn’t all depend on me (insert joy, peace and freedom)!

Trust God’s…

• Timing to accomplish His purpose (Psalm 27:14). His timing is not always as fast as I’d like.
• Means to accomplish His purpose (Isaiah 61:3). He uses the worst situations(ashes) and turns them into beauty.
• Final outcome to accomplish His purpose (Romans 8:28-29). The outcome may not be what I thought it would be, but He knows best.

Encouragement on how to trust God

It only takes a mustard seed of faith to accomplish big things (Luke 17:5-6). We all gotta start somewhere, God delights over your attempts to trust Him more (Zechariah 4:10). Pray for more faith and ask for God’s help in overcoming unbelief (Mark 9:24). Furthermore, ask Him to open your eyes to the opportunities to trust Him. Finally, be in the Word. Faith comes by hearing the Word (Romans 10:17).