Trust in God

By Raymart Lugue

One of the most essential things required in any relationship is trust. I believe that any relationship can never survive without the ability to hold that the one with whom we have a relationship is reliable.

Likewise, our relationship with God cannot stand without trusting in Him. We serve a God who does not depend on our expectations. There will be times when we cannot understand His ways. There will be painful situations in our lives that He will not choose to explain to us. His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8).

In Job 1, after hearing all that had happened to his children and his properties, Job said in verse 21 : Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Perhaps what happened to Job was the most tragic event that can occur in one’s life. He lost his family and all his properties, his wife asked him to curse God and die, his friends criticized him, and his body suffered from boils. Job, however, still retained his integrity and sought to bless the name of the Lord. Again, this does not mean that he did not feel the pain and bitterness of losing people and things that are dear to him. It only means that his worship was not dependent on what he had or did not have.

John the Baptist, who surrendered his whole life to God as a Nazarite, experienced a familiar situation. After his powerful ministry and his declaration of Christ as the Son of God, he was imprisoned and was about to be killed. In his frailty, he doubted God. He sent two disciples to confirm if Jesus is the Messiah, or shall he look for another (Matthew 11:6). He forgot how God gave him the sign – dove – to confirm his declaration. I imagine John, an upright follower of God, on the death row, and just few minutes away from his scheduled death. His mind must have been filled with questions that God didn’t choose to answer until the very time of his death.

Jesus said to the disciples whom John had sent, “Blessed is he, whosever shall not be offended in me” (Matthew 11:6). Sadly, a lot of people get offended because God didn’t meet their expectations – the way they wanted it to be and at the time they wanted it to happen. But again, blessed is he who will not be offended in His ways. A day like the day when John the Baptist questioned God awaits us all. Gene Edwards said, “It is unavoidable because every believer imagines his God to be a certain way, and is quite sure his Lord will do certain things under certain conditions. But your Lord is never quite what you imagined Him to be.”

Faith says, “Now!” Hope says, “In the future…” But Trust says, “Though it never happened, and though I cannot understand, yet will I trust in Him!” (See Job 13:15). How we deal with the tough situations in our lives is important to God. Are we going to persevere? Are we going to be resilient and rise up when we fall? Will we put our trust in a God whose ways we cannot always understand?

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Reverend Raymart Lugue | Campbellton, NB

He is the Associate Pastor at Life Church in Campbellton, NB, and serves as the Director of Multicultural Ministries for the Atlantic District. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, a Diploma in Theology from Northeast Christian College, and a Master of Theological Studies from Urshan University School of Theology. Additionally, he is the author of three books, and serves as the administrator of “The Pentecostal Pen”.