Can I Trust Him?

My journey back home from Yei has began. As usual, I’m
reflecting on lessons learned and they are several. But it seems one looms
above the rest.

My time at The Furnace (our discipleship and mentoring group)
and other informal meetings with several young disciples highlighted the one issue most of them were
wrestling with– Trust.

There’s an emerging generation of young disciples whose
questions about God and life seem to reveal the appalling state of family structures
and parenting in general.

They are disillusioned by a system they’ve been told to
trust by the elders, their leaders, teachers
and their parents. The wounds from this
failed or failing system are deep because people they trusted were the main
culprits.

So what we have is a growing vicious cycle. They’ll give
what they got from those on top; failed promises, shallow love, poor
commitment; resulting in dashed hopes and expectations. The answer to this
heart question, “Can I trust him/her?” is often NO!

I asked them in one session we had, “If I post a notice
on my door saying, “Please Come In, Don’t Knock” how will you respond
when you visit me and see it?”

I was surprised when a sizable number said they’ll still
knock when they visit. “Why?”

One said, “I’ll think it’s a trap” Another said,
“I’ll think it’s not proper.” One asked, “So what if you are
changing clothes when I enter?” Another asked, “What if you don’t
want to be disturbed at the time?

These questions and views seem legitimate but they failed to
see how their trust in me was challenged with it.

Don’t we treat God the same way?

God lavishes love on us and we wonder, “Is this a
trap?”

He makes great promises to us and we ask, “Can I trust
Him to do it?”

He says, “I paid for your sickness on the cross; you are healed.”
But you think this sickness is from
God. “He’s punishing me for my sins.”

He says your sins are forgiven, but we are looking for a sign
or a feeling to confirm that.

He says “My strength is perfected in your
weakness.” But we think being weak in public is too risky, so we prefer a
show of strength or wealth or wisdom.

Despite several notable spiritual encounters with God, like
Jacob, who trusted no one, not even God but himself; we still struggle to hold
God at His word because we feel His response time is always too slow or He’s difficult
to please or we feel so unworthy of His blessings or we think we must lie and
cheat to get this or that.

But building our character is God’s main goal, not our
comfort.

“Pure gold
put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this
suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your
faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.”
(1Peter 1:7)

People we love and admire may disappoint us, but not God.

How stable is your trust in God this season? Can you see His hand working to make you a worthy Bride for His Son?