Unshakeable Trust

Have you ever seen the trust exercise?  One person is standing and is supposed to fall backward, trusting the person behind them to catch them.  I decided to try this at our recent women’s revival, but with a twist. I arranged for someone to be up there with me.  Just before the person was to fall back, she was to scream. (Don’t worry. I did warn the catcher to make sure she wouldn’t jump and fail to catch the other person.)   The purpose was to see if the person falling had unshakeable trust.  Would the scream shake her trust?

It is so easy for us to say we trust God.  But it is harder to live it out.  Do we trust Him when we face the unknown, when storms come, when we get unexpected bad news, or when He doesn’t answer our prayer the way we thought He would? Like the scream in our fall exercise, we are often hit with the unexpected. We have to build a firm foundation.  We must develop a deep and intimate relationship with God if we are going to have unshakeable trust.

Unshakeable trust remains intact regardless of circumstances!

Let’s look at some circumstances in the Bible and the people who demonstrated Unshakeable Trust.

Unshakeable Trust When Dealing with the Unknown

• • God told Noah to build the ark because it was going to flood. Noah hadn’t experienced a flood, he had never built an ark. He had to take God at His Word. Genesis 6-9
  • Joshua in the battle of Jericho had to trust God. He had a Word from God but was in unfamiliar circumstances. He was told to march around the city for seven days. On the seventh day, they were to march around 7 times.  On the last time, they were to shout! That sounds like a crazy battle plan.  But Joshua trusted the Lord in the unknown, doing as He instructed.  God gave them the victory. Joshua 6

We face the unknown continually!  We get to choose.  Will we worry about tomorrow or will we fully trust God with our future?

Unshakeable Trust When Betrayed

• • Let’s think about Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. (Genesis 37).  Then Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him, sending him to prison. (Genesis 39)  He gains favor in prison. While there, he interprets the dream of the baker and the cupbearer.

    We face the unknown continually!  We get to choose.  Will we worry about tomorrow or will we fully trust God with our future?

    The cupbearer assures him he will remember him when he gets out of prison.  Yet, he failed to remember him in a timely manner. (Genesis 40)   Despite this betrayal, Joseph continued to keep His trust in God.  It was not shakable.
  • Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas. Jesus continued to keep His eyes on His purpose and His trust in His Father.  He also continued to have a servant’s heart.  He didn’t get bitter.

Unshakeable Trust When Dealing with Illness

• • • We have the woman with the issue of blood. She was not shaken by her circumstances. She trusted that Jesus was able to do a miracle.  She trusted that if she could just touch His garment she would be made well. (Trust and faith work side by side.)  She didn’t let the crowds discourage her.  She had unshakeable trust. (Luke 8:43-48)
    • A Centurion comes to Jesus seeking healing for his servant. Jesus is willing to go with him, but the Centurion responds with – just say the Word and my servant will be healed.  His trust was unshakeable.  He knew all Jesus had to do was speak it. (Matthew 8)

Unshakeable Trust When Feeling Pressure to Conform

• • Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. They trusted their God when they faced pressure to conform and bow down to idols.  Their trust was unshakeable.  They did not bow.  They ended up being thrown in the fiery furnace.  They still trusted! God delivered them. (Daniel 3)
  • Daniel was pressured to quit praying to God. He trusted God and continued to pray.  He was thrown into the lion’s den.  That did not shake his trust.  God delivered him. (Daniel 6)

Unshakeable Trust When We are Hurting

• • Mary and Martha were hurting when their brother, Lazarus died. Yet, when Jesus came to see them, Martha trusted that He could bring Lazarus back. Her trust remained steady even through the tears. (John 11:22)

    Jesus hurt as He was separated from the Father. On the cross He cried, Father – why have you forsaken me? He hurt, but He still trusted His Father.

  • Jesus hurt as He was separated from the Father. On the cross He cried, Father – why have you forsaken me? He hurt, but He still trusted His Father. (Matthew 15:34)   We see just before His death, when sweating drops of blood, Jesus demonstrates complete trust and surrender to the Father God when He says, nevertheless Your will be done.

Unshakeable Trust When Your Life is on the Line

• • Saul wanted to kill David. David continued to trust God and even honor Saul. (1 Samuel 18:6-16)
  • Esther was asked to go before the King on behalf of her people. If the King did not extend the golden scepter, she would be killed.  She wavered but chose to trust God.  They would all fast and pray, then she would go before the King. (Esther 5)
  • Jesus: He knew His life was on the line… He sweat drops of blood.  He still trusted His Father’s plan.
  • After the death of Jesus, the disciples continued to trust Him. History tells us the majority of the disciples were killed years after Jesus was crucified.  They continued to preach the Gospel long after His death, even though it meant a cruel death for almost all of them.  Their lives demonstrated an unshakeable trust. They TRUSTED Jesus was who He said He was.

The disciples could trust Him because they knew Him!

We can have unshakeable trust!

Stay tuned for part 2 as we discover how we can grow unshakeable trust.

Collette Sawyer