In the midst of so much uncertainty and fear — when winds of change blow strongly in our faces– it is good for us to pause for a moment and reflect on the importance of trust. Our struggles do not have to do so much with a lack of trust as a failure to make God our trust. We all trust in something, but “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man” (Ps. 118:8). We must make the Lord our primary trust (Ps. 40:4). It doesn’t take a 9/11 experience to remind us of just how quickly things can change around us. We cannot know the future, but we can know and trust the God who holds the future in His hands.
In the dark and tumultuous days leading up to Babylonian Captivity, Jeremiah begged the people of Judah to place their trust in the Lord rather than foreign alliances. His comparison between trust in God and trust in man is quite remarkable. The prophet writes, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LordAnd whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit’” (Jer. 17:5–8).
Trust makes all the difference! The person who places his trust in man is like a scraggly bush in a barren desert. But the one who trusts in God is compared to a beautiful tree growing beside a lovely stream. Truly, the path to God’s blessing lies in our ability to make Him our trust.
— Glen Elliott —