Trust – the Ultimate Form of Warfare

Psalm 112:7 (ESV)
He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

Know anyone who has trust issues? Maybe not off-hand, but if we were being totally honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that at least on occasion we have all had trust issues with God. Usually, it is not when things are going well; it is when we get bad news and the first thing we think is, “Will God come through for me this time?” It is just a natural response to a challenge in our lives, even for the believer. But according to Psalm 112 it doesn’t have to be that way. Even in the midst of the most frightening situation, our hearts can be firm. It comes about by “trusting in the Lord.”

Having a better understanding of what trust involves will help us to be able to deal with distressing situations. According to Daniel Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, one definition of trust is, “a reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person.”

There are two components that stand out in this definition – 1) our minds and 2) the character/nature of God. The Word is clear about the importance of our mind.  “As a man thinketh, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7) What we believe about God’s nature will determine the level of trust we afford Him. So, it is critical that we have a correct mindset about God’s nature. If our mindset is not that God is a good, good God, whose actions toward us are always enveloped by GRACE (His undeserved favor – thanks to what Jesus did on the Cross), we will be prone to think that He changes when events change in our lives. The “mind-nature of God” connection is the starting place for developing an unshakeable trust in the Lord.

We get our minds into right-thinking by getting a revelation of God’s goodness. While there are countless scriptures that talk of the goodness of God, there are two scriptures that point us to God’s end game for our lives in this earth. Genesis 50:20a (NIV) states, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…” While this is a statement made by Joseph (a picture of Jesus) to his brothers who had tried to kill him, it is generally recognized as a promise of God for believers. Likewise, Romans 8:28 (NLT) gives us a similar promise: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

These two scriptures point to one thing – that God’s intention toward us is to take the worst situations in our lives and always bring something good out of them. This is why we can rejoice in the midst of turmoil because He has promised to turn it for our good. When we yield to rejoicing we are engaging in the ultimate form of warfare against the devil. We are declaring before heaven, earth and the pit of hell that there is victory in our circumstances no matter what things look like. Practically speaking, there is need to hang on until things improve. We do that by making a quality decision to wrap ourselves in the revelation of God’s goodness and the promises of His Word. Babe Ruth is said to have stated, “You can’t beat a person who won’t give up.” Likewise, it can be said that “You can’t defeat a person whose trust in the Lord is unwavering.” Trust is the first line of defense in the battles we face in life.

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