The Heart of Faith
by Kendra Perry
"God is love" (1 John 4:16), and that's why I trust him.
The heart of faith is relationship. The heart of relationship is trust. When trust is broken, our relationships don't work.
From the time we enter the world, we learn about trust. Babies who are fed, changed, held, and soothed when they cry learn that they can depend on those around them to meet their needs. Babies whose needs are not met learn that the world is a scary, random place where anything could happen. If they experience severe abuse or neglect, they may grow up to become mistrustful, hypervigilant children who try to control everything they can about their lives — including rejecting relationships with others before they can be rejected.
This is the core of sin. Lucifer became Satan when he failed to trust that God knew best how to be in charge. He wanted to take control. Eve fell when Satan tempted her to mis-trust God's instructions. "Did he really tell you not to eat from this tree? Maybe he's trying to hide something from you."
When real trust (that has been earned and is followed through on) is present, our relationships work the way God meant them to, even if we're not perfect all the time.
When we mistrust others (either because they are not trustworthy or because of damaged trust in our past), we focus on faults. When we mistrust God, we look for flaws in the Bible, in other Christians' lives, and use those to explain why we can't trust God and walk forward in relationship with him.
When we trust others, we are generous with their faults. While we do hold them accountable, we also realize that not everyone is perfect. When people mess up, we say, "That's okay, it happens." or "I forgive you. Please don't do it again." When we trust God, we accept that we may not understand everything about the Bible or God's instructions to us, but we believe he intends it for good. When we see flaws in other Christian's lives, we remember the flaws in our own lives and believe that God is working in their lives just as he is in ours.
This is the core of faith.
Do you question if God exists? Are you living in an attachment-disordered relationship with him? Are you hypervigilant about his faults, trying to maintain control over your own life at all costs?
It's pretty hard to trust someone who isn't there. First, try asking him to show you his presence. Find out if he is trustworthy enough to enter a relationship. Like a baby, cry out to God about everything you need. Relax in his arms and let him show you, step by step, the wonderful world he has created for you. Try building trust with him one moment at a time and discover the freedom that comes from resting in him and letting him care for you.
Are you a growing Christian, exploring the boundaries of your faith the way children explore the boundaries of their world and their parents’ words? When you ask "why," see what happens if you assume that God DOES know what he's talking about and is trying to help you. See what he shows you. Try obeying something he says, even if you don't fully understand it yet, and find out what happens. If he tells you, “No,” try imagining what danger he might be protecting you from.
Perhaps you’re a rebellious “teenaged” Christian, rejecting what you’ve always been told and looking for your own way of understanding and doing things. Perhaps you have been scarred by broken trust and relationships that give you good reason to question God. The good news is that his heart is big enough for all your anger, all your questions, all your doubts. Bring them to him. Go ahead, yell in his face. Like Job, you may be surprised by a powerfully personal encounter with the Almighty, even if it doesn’t come packaged with a neat set of answers to every question.
If you are a mature Christian who has been walking with God for some time, rejoice in the evidences of his trustworthiness in your past. Thank him for the ways he has provided and led. And ask him what he wants to entrust to you. How can you better reflect his faithfulness into the world around you?
And let us all look forward to the day when we can say together, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!” (Isaiah 25:9, NLT).
04 July 2011 @ 12:19 pm
“Go ahead, yell in his face”??? Do we do this while at the same time assuming “that God DOES know what he’s talking about and is trying to help you”?
Get the book: http://www.holditpreacher.com
04 July 2011 @ 3:53 pm
The ‘yell’ part should perhaps be considered in the context of the sentences before it which says so much about how reliable God is in spite of our ‘childish’ behaviour and ‘tantrums’.
“The good news is that his heart is big enough for all your anger, all your questions, all your doubts. Bring them to him” says it all.
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There are so many different times and ways that we yell at God just like ‘cry babies’ so to speak; but still our Father in Heaven is ever so willing to ‘be there’ for us. Patient; Caring; Bonding; Forgiving; Loving. Wow, God is just soo good! I like this article…it really touches my heart.
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Some years ago whilst at a beach picnic and enjoying a dip in the ocean, a nasty jellyfish (we call them blue-bottles) stung me across my neck and shoulder. It was quite a big one and I had to pull it off (got my fingers stung too), but the nasty venom set in quickly causing severe pain and also affected my breathing and heart rate. I started yelling at my family members to quickly get some vinegar or hot water to wash the area which would have helped to break the toxins down. They were so nice in spite of my yelling. They quickly tried all they could do to assist in relieving my discomfort and pain. They were understanding and patient in spite of my ‘yelling’. They responded by continuing to assist me without challenging my inappropriate yelling which was really uncalled for.
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God IS and DOES so much more than that! WOW! Praise the Lord!
Friend of God in Christ
T
09 July 2011 @ 2:01 pm
Trevor,
When we yell at God (as I have on a number of occasions), we need to be ready to listen and accept the answer when it comes. Remember when God answered Job’s rant? “Where were you when I…?” followed by (my paraphrase) “Now, shut up and listen while I tell you what’s really going on and your role in it!”
For quite a while I had my fingers in my ears, so God raised the volume until there was no mistaking that he was God, he was in control and I was just a bit player in the cosmic drama we call the great controversy. What was more, if he could take care of those big issues, then he definitely was able to take care of me.
04 July 2011 @ 7:54 pm
Trevor, thanks for sharing your personal experience which really does point out how coming to God in trust and yelling at him can coexist.
There are also several biblical examples of people holding this tension.
Job says both, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21) and also “Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul” (Job 7:11).
In the Psalms, we also see many examples of people complaining to, at, and even about God while also praising and worshiping him.
Even Jesus “yelled” at God in the Garden of Gethsemane before submitting his will perfectly to his Father’s.
The key point I was trying to make is that we must not allow our difficulties or confusion to drive us away from God; we must keep talking to him about what we’re thinking and feeling, even when it’s unpleasant.
04 July 2011 @ 10:55 pm
Dear Kendra Perry
Ma’am, I think of Psalm 107 whenever crying out to God is mentioned. It doesn’t stipulate any pre-existing criteria or condition, except desperation, in order for God to engage in our cries for help. I’d like to think of it as the Yeller’s Psalm.
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[Psalm 107:4-6], [Psalm 107:10-13], [Psalm 107:17-19], [Psalm 107:23-28]
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.”
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There is so much more you have written which is soo inspiring besides the ‘yelling’ which cropped up in the discussion so far.
I particularly like the tone and the practical ‘real’ aspects of childlike faith in terms of our relationship with God. The reason I get so excited upon reading such an article is because there are no complicated overtones and I can relate to it by my personal experience with God’s Power, His Love and His Grace which brought deliverance and hope in my life.
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I’m one of those regular ‘been there’ – ‘done that’ – ‘got the fed the pigs T-Shirt’ guys who has experienced the wonderful love of God and His Saving Grace.
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My wife may want to use this article for Sabbath School when I show it to her…
God Bless
PS. I hope this article will be the Jan 1 page for a Morning Watch Yearbook…let us know when it is published.
T
09 July 2011 @ 2:05 pm
Kendra,
Thank you, again, for tender insights into God drawn from your relationship with Him. I really appreciate your postings because of your focus on a God who is both caring and accessible.