Austin's Blog

How do you trust God with the most difficult thing? People so often talk about faith and trusting God as if it makes life easier. There is a sense that obedience and trust make life easier because sin brings hardship and consequences. It is easier to live inside God’s design rather than buck His authority. Yet, I’m not sure that is always true. It certainly makes life better, but not always easier. It isn’t easier because trusting is hard work—especially when it is dark outside. Faith is an active clinging to the person and promises of God even when you don’t see or feel them.

Jerry Bridges writes, “Trust is not a passive state of mind. It is a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold on the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity that at times seeks to overwhelms us.” Faith isn’t easy and it does not always make life easier. Furthermore, what also makes faith difficult is so often it is an exercise in delayed gratification. Faith’s rewards often come later.

I’m reminded of the “great hall of fame of faith” in Hebrews 11. After describing both the difficulties and triumphs of faith, the author notes in verses 39-40 that, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” The “hall of famers” died in faith, not having received the things promised (vs. 13). They got glimpses of many of the promises, but they did not see the fulfillment of them. They simply trusted that God would make good on His promises years later through Christ. Their lives were tattered and torn and yet full of trust. God commends them for it. They triumphed still though they limped along. That’s the reality for many of us. That’s the type of faith that gets applauded.

Nancy Guthrie writes, “Trusting God when the miracle does not come, when the urgent prayer gets no answer, when there is only darkness – this is the kind of faith God values perhaps most of all. This is the kind of faith that can be developed and displayed only in the midst of difficult circumstances. This is the kind of faith that cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken.”

We are on the other side of the cross now. Those Old Testament saints were looking ahead but we now look backward to what God has done in Christ. There are still unknowns but our knowledge of God is greater and fuller. Our trust is contoured and informed now by the person of Jesus—His love, grace, kindness, and goodness. Faith is not a matter of graveling or groping in the dark but treasuring and trusting the character and promises of God in Christ.

OS Guinness notes, “Christians do not say ‘I do not understand you at all, but I trust you anyway.’ Rather we say, ’I do not understand you in this situation but I understand why I trust you anyway. Therefore, I can trust that you understand even though I don’t.’ If we do not know why we trust God in the beginning, then we will always need to know exactly what God is doing in order to trust him….If, on the other hand, we do know why we trust God, we will be able to trust him in situations where we do not understand what he is doing.…Faith doesn’t know why in terms of the immediate, but it knows why it trusts God who knows why in terms of the ultimate.” Because of what we know in Christ and have experienced in Him, we can trust Him with the unknowns. This may not always be easier but it is better. D.A. Carson quips, “To walk into the unknown with a God of unqualified power and unfailing goodness is safer than a known way.”