The God I Trust

 

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.  God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 

1 John 4: 16 NKJV 

There are many stories on faith which we can take from the scriptures.  You might know of a few yourself.  Yet one of my personal favorite stories on trust came from a airline passenger who had just debarked a plane which had flown too close to a storm, an offshoot of hurricane Ida.  It seems that as this flight was approaching its South Florida destination that it suddenly ran into some rough turbulence.  Immediately the pilot got on the intercom to assure the passengers and crew that there was nothing to worry about and that they would be landing shortly.  Well, the minutes dragged into over an hour as South Florida air traffic control kept the plane in a flight pattern as they jockeyed planes around.  Eventually the flight was given permission to land and the crew brought the flight to a relaxing end.  As an afterthought, the pilot commented to the passengers as they got off the plane, "Ladies and gentleman, I hope that you enjoyed our circular tour of the Miami area this evening."  Now, I absolutely HATE to fly.  Yet if I happened to be on a flight with the pilot of that storm bound plane I would feel somewhat at ease.  Why, because of the quiet confidence in which he went about his job.  He simply made people trust in his abilities.  A friend of mine was discussing current events with me this past week when he suddenly asked me, "what makes you trust in God?"  Good question.  In a world full of strife and daily turmoil, what is it that makes us trust in the Lord?  Is it the slew of scripture verses on trusting in God?  Is it the reassurance of the pastor that we can trust in Him?  I would say that it is a little bit of both.  In my opinion, we need to KNOW that God exists before we can even begin to trust in Him.  For how do you trust in someone or something which you have never known?  Now, I didn't say someone or something which you have never seen, that's a different apple all together.  If you had never known God, would you trust Him?  Knowing God means knowing in our hearts that He is who He says He is and that He will do all He tells us He will.  Sounds simple enough right? 

If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 

1 John 4: 20 NKJV 

I remember watching a funny you tube video of some self proclaimed redneck who claimed he could shoot a bullet into space.  Well, he proceeded to fire off two rounds from his .45 straight up into the air.  As he watched and waited to see what would happen, his counterpart was suddenly and rudely introduced to the effects of gravity.  Somehow this astronaut didn't understand where he went wrong.  Anyone who has been standing under a tree when a apple falls can understand the concept of gravity.  We TRUST that the apple will fall to the ground.  We have never seen gravity, yet we know and understand it.  As a good friend of mine once mentioned, we see a bench in the park and we TRUST that it will support us.  What makes us trust in the Lord?  We know who He is.  We know that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him {Hebrews 11:6}.  Think of those in your own life whom you have trusted.  Parents, friends and co workers.  What made you choose to trust them?  Sometimes people simply prove to us that they can be trusted.  Of course, I've known those who go through life trusting nobody.  Is trusting in God all that difficult?  No.  Once I got over the concept of never once seeing God, I came to know His Son in me.  This was a game changer.  I might not be able to see God, but I know that He lives in me {Galatians 2:20}.  I know that Paul claims it was Christ who lives in him, but we also trust that when we have seen Jesus we have seen the Father as well John 14:9}.  We trust in Him because we have known Him.  

Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to Him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'show us the Father'?

John 14: 8 - 9 NKJV 

~Scott~