To Trust or Not to Trust

I remember it well. The day I mistakenly aided a criminal. I was overseeing our church’s women’s retreat being held up near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It just happened to be one of coldest days of the year. The chill factor had to be something crazy like 35 below zero. The retreat had gone well and it was Sunday morning, the finale. I got up early and took a walk up to the front of the hotel. As I stepped out of my room, I heard this loud banging and someone yelling “Let me in!” There, at a side-door exit, was a bundled up man, shaking from the cold. I took pity on him and let him in.

That man pounding on the door proceeded to go up to the bar and steal liquor and cash out of the register. I was the kind and gracious one that had let him in. Great. Soon, I was being called up for an interview with the police. Thankfully, the man was caught and the retreat went on.

I seem to have forgotten that childhood lesson on stranger danger from my parents. I was just way too trusting. I didn’t think twice about letting the dude in from the cold. Of course, I’d let him in. It was dangerously cold. But, we just can’t trust everyone, can we?

Today, we are in a battle over who and what to trust. Whether it’s a politician or salesperson or even facebook post, how do we sort through all the opinions of our day?  During this era of opinions, I’m so glad I can run to God’s Word for advice and peace. Job 42:2 states “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”  Isaiah 46:9-10 states “Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I place will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.”  When I allow these verses to seep into my mind, I find such comfort in a God that IS trustworthy.

In the midst of all the craziness and unrest in our country, we can place our trust in a Sovereign God. We can go back throughout time and see the intricate and distinct ways God cared for his people.  And today, He can use the unrest and outcome of this election. He can use our challenges and struggles. He can use all things for good, if we would but only trust Him.

When you feel like things are out of control? They’re not.  When you feel like God isn’t in control? He is. I invite you to consider trusting Him today. 

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a know God.” Corrie Ten Boom

“And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you,”Psalm 9:10

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.