Imagine for a moment talking to a young child and trying to define for them what the word trustmeans. How would you begin to describe trust in a way that they could understand? If you were to open a dictionary you might read words like, “strong faith”, “belief”, or “reliance”. Maybe you could paint a word picture for this child. Maybe you could say trust is what you do when you sit in a chair without being afraid that it might collapse – or you sit in your dad’s car when he’s driving and don’t think about the dangers around you.
Now imagine another scenario. Imagine two people who are in the hospital because they are both very sick. One of the patients is talking with a friend. As they chat, they sound as if they don’t have a care in the world. The other patient is complaining, and you can tell by their facial expressions that they are really struggling. I have visited people in both of these situations. You might think that their reaction is based on their circumstances. You might even be guessing that their reaction is due to their personality or the level of support that is around them. But I have found that while situations can be very challenging, people’s responses are based more on their faith and trust in God than their circumstances or even their personalities.
I met with a guy once who had just found out he had a very short time to live. He was petrified. His response showed his sense of chaos. He obviously was deeply impacted by his medical situation. But as we talked, he shared about broken relationships and many regrets. He had no faith or trust in anyone but himself. When it came to the most pressing trial of his life he had no peace or strength to cope.
That afternoon as we talked, I shared the hope of Jesus Christ. I shared how Christ had died and risen again to pay his sin debt. He wrestled to understand that it wasn’t his good efforts that God wanted, but his faith and trust. God was evidently working in this man’s heart. That very afternoon I had the privilege of leading Him to the Lord. He was literally transformed. His attitude and responses changed in a moment. His situation hadn’t changed but the evidence of God working in and through him was evident to all.
A few days before he died he asked me to do him a favor. As we sat he asked me to reach out to his relatives, many of whom he hadn’t spoken to for years. He wanted to say that he was sorry. I was honored to do that for him. This was one of his last wishes – he died a few days later. As I reached out to his family and shared his words, one of his closest relatives was so touched that he came to the man’s funeral. No one expected that to happen.
Let me describe it this way: Trust is the bridge from chaos to peace. Trust in something beyond yourself. Trust in the sufficiency of Christ. Trusting that although we can’t pay our own sin debt, Jesus has already paid what we owe in full! Trust is the bridge that moves us from trying to live in our own strength (which often results in chaos) to being able to know deep and lasting peace. We can trust Christ even in the middle of a storm.
Trust is a bridge from chaos to peace.
Pastor Glyn
