TRUST
Trust is a firm belief in someone or something. The opposite of trust is doubt and suspicion. The king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh to Israel with a message intended to create distrust of king Hezekiah. “Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? “I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? “Look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?”‘ (Isaiah 36:4-7 NKJV)
The message was intended to undermine Israel’s confidence in their king by casting doubt on their alliance with Egypt and on their God. Rabshakeh was half right. Military strength has limits. “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.” (Luke 11:21-22 NKJV) God was never pleased with Israel’s alliances because it meant they did not fully trust in Him.
One cannot have divided loyalty. Distrusting God usually means trusting in self. Jesus addressed this in a parable. “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men–extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” (Luke 18:9-14 NKJV)
We must learn to trust in God. The gospel instills faith. Faith instills trust. Trust instills hope. “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” (Ephesians 1:11-13 NKJV) Trust Him.