Do You Trust Jesus?

Do you have faith in Jesus Christ? If you are reading this article then it is very likely you have faith in our Lord and Savior. This devotional is written on the basis that you, the reader, has faith in Christ Jesus.

Now I want to ask you another soul-searching question. Do you trust Jesus?

As Christians we can say without hesitation that we have faith in Jesus and love him, but, again, do we trust Jesus?

Some may say that trust and faith are the same thing or very close to the same thing. Let’s look at the two words “faith” and “trust.”

Faith

Hebrews 11:1 reads “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith, therefore, is believing in something that has no physical evidence of existing.

Trust

Trust is believing that someone will do what they say they will do. When we trust people in our daily life, we generally trust those in authority over us (with exceptions) and we trust people that we have a long-standing relationship with, where they have a proven history of keeping their word.

While the words “faith” and “trust” are very close in meaning and in concept, they should be used in sequence.

We believe that Jesus exists. We believe that the Jesus we read about in the New Testament is a resurrected being. We believe that he suffered, bleed and died for us and that he broke the bonds of death and lives again.

For some the gift to believe, comes as a gift by grace. For others, faith is something we acquire over time as we read the teachings of the Savior and pray and do what he teaches. For all, our faith grows as we see things happen as a result of our faith in our Savior. Our faith grows from grace to grace.

After you have experienced faith and after you have seen your faith grow you come to a point in time when you need to ask yourself, “do I trust Jesus?” It would seem like sound reasoning to say “if I have faith in Jesus then of course, I trust him.”

I agree, it does seem like good logic but I don’t think the transition from faith to trust is as clear cut in the real world. I’ve seen many Christians grow as their faith increases but for whatever reason they seem to hit a plateau. Instead of continuing to grow and climb upward, they seem to fizzle in their ascent. They lie stagnate on their plateau.

I would not presume to know all the reasons why this happens to those that are standing on the plateau. There are likely many reasons. But one reason, I think, that puts them on that plateau is that they fail to make the transition from faith to trust in their relationship with their Savior.

My best friend Scot is a good example of someone I trust. I have known him all my life. He will tell me what he will do and then I can go about my endeavors with no doubt that what he said would be done, will be done.

We need to feel like that in our relationship with Jesus. An example would be on the principle of repentance. If we repent of our sins he will forgive us and remember our sins no more.

Can we do our part in the repentance process and then go forward knowing those sins are gone? Do we trust Jesus when he says he will forgive those that repent? Do we repent then go about our life with nagging doubts wondering if we are really forgiven of our sins? If we do then we need to ask ourselves if we trust Jesus. There is a good point to make right here. We are not talking about faith. We’re beyond that. We have demonstrated our faith by repenting of our sins. Now it’s up to us to trust Jesus to forgive us of our sins.

I’ve used my best friend Scot as an example of people I trust. In the case with Scot we have grown up together we lived next door to each other until after high school graduation.

We know each others secrets and weaknesses. We’ve been through life together. I’ve known him much longer than my wife Colette of twenty-nine years.

I am blessed to have a forty-eight-year relationship with one person. We’ve had our ups and downs. I’ve long since come to know that Scot is an honorable man and one true to his word. We have a great history together so I can really use the word trust and mean it.

But Scot is just a man like me. He is not perfect. But I trust him. I hope we all can say that we have people in our lives that we can trust. I can trust my wife and I have other people in my life I can trust like my three daughters among others. But none of them are perfect.

People in our lives are not perfect. Jesus Christ is perfect. If we can trust imperfect people in our lives, shouldn’t we be able to trust Jesus Christ who is perfect in every way? We already have faith in him but do we trust what he says he will do? Do we trust his time frame? Do we trust that he will never fail us?

I do. I hope you do to.

Troy Wagstaff © Copyright. All Rights Reserved.

Filed under: Christian Articles, Christian Devotionals | Tagged: Do You Trust Jesus?, faith, grace, hebrews 11:1, Jesus Christ, repentance, Savior, trusting Jesus |