MEANING TO MEDITATE TO CONFORM: “TRUST” 

This series of blogs on “MEANING TO MEDITATE TO CONFORM” is our invitation to you to come along and slowly think through these words so that we conform to the nature and character of God.  We will present a word each week to meditate on and conform our hearts.  

WORLD DEFINITION 

‘Trust’ you would think is a straightforward word.  To ‘trust’ means to believe in the reliability or the ability of someone or something… and there you have it… right?  That is as far as it goes.  People trust what they are familiar with and with relationships even if the person or group is not trustworthy.  We define the word as an intellectual state of belief in the mind. 

CHURCH/FOLK DEFINITION 

To understand ‘trust,’ we combine some other English words in order to try and capture in our minds the meaning.  Similar words: Confidence, belief, faith, loyalty.   

The old hymn “Trust and Obey” (1887, Public Domain) is a good example.  We must add ‘obey’ so we understand what the word means.  It is an action word.  There is depth to the word that the English word does not have on the surface.  With obedience, the trust is not reality but dips into experientially learning in a relationship (this is important below).  For us, the word is fused with loyal, responsibility, and ability.  These words most always intermingle because words are just pointers to meaning.    

BIBLE/THEOLOGICAL INFLUENCE 

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”  Trust in this passage means (1) leaning towards God (2) leaning away from ourselves (3) and believing/acknowledging Him in all our ways.  The end result is a straight path designed by God.  This is a trusting and faith-filled relationship that creates a framework to understand trust. 

There are many other words associated with trust (117x in the Old Testament).  Believing faithfulness.  Covenant faith.  It is all about relationships.  Scripture narratives show us the trustworthiness of God and our need to participate with Him in a relationship to discover trust. 

A few Scripture stories of trust (think big picture and think relationship!): 

Abraham’s calling (Genesis 12) and Covenant Relationship (Genesis 15) 

Joshua and the Battle of Gibeon (Joshua 10) 

Young David facing off against Goliath (1 Samuel 17) 

MEANING 

Trust is tied to covenant and marriage and in how God relates to humanity.  God can be trusted.  Only God can be trusted.  Only He has shown Himself to be trustworthy.  Trust is revealed to us in a narrative way in the Bible rather than a simple definition.  Bible passages show how trust is proven by God and in relationships with Him.  A right relationship produces trust. 

Your degree of understanding of trust in God is probably based on your level of relationship with God.  This is true in human relationships but is very true in our relationship with Christ.  This word ‘trust’ moves us towards our relationship with God in how we are adapting to Him.  We must lean into Him and away from ourselves. 

Do you participate in trust? 

To what extent do you participate in trust? 

Who don’t you trust?  Why? 

This series of blogs on “MEANING TO MEDITATE TO CONFORM” is our invitation to you to come along and slowly think through these words so that we conform to the nature and character of God.  We will present a word each week to meditate on and conform our hearts.