The word faith is commonplace in Christianity. We are constantly reminded that we should have faith in Christ, faith in the power of prayer, faith in His saving grace, faith for a miracle, faith for this and faith for that. May I submit that if we but trust Him, everything else falls into place.

        There is a difference in those two words, and it is huge. We have faith with our heads, but trust comes from the heart. Comparing faith to trust is like comparing a drop of water to the ocean. But unwavering trust is tough. It relies on God not only knowing what is truly best for us, but also loving us so much that He will always give us that best thing, even though it might be extremely painful to us as we go through it. Pure trust understands that in our happiness and in our sadness, everything is inevitably being done for the best, even though we may not even realize it in this life.

        Yes, trust can be a hard row to hoe. We would rather have faith that God will bring us through the difficult time we might be facing and allow the answer we desire to be manifested. Although our head may tell us that God can see the future all the way into eternity, and it may even tell us that God loves us as His child, deep within us we would rather the outcomes of each life situation be determined by our own desires than dictated by a second party’s will, even if that second party is the all knowing God of everything. To truly trust may be one of the most courageous things in life, even the life of a committed Christian.

        However, trust is achievable. And believe it or not, it is demanded. Jesus commanded, “Trust in God, trust also in Me.” John 14:1.

        In Unlocking God’s Secrets we discussed that the word “believe” in our Bibles does not nearly do justice to the original Greek word, “pistevo.” A part of the definition of pistevo, you might recall, is “To trust, with implications of total commitment to the One who is trusted.” The more we thoughtfully search out the matter, the more we find out that Augustus Gordon was totally correct when he answered Brennan Manning’s question, “Could you define the Christian life in a single sentence?” Gordon’s response was, “Brennan, I can define it in a single word: trust.”

        Once we have absolute trust, our entire world changes. Psalm 40:4 says, “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust.” And how utterly right that statement is. Once complete trust is a part of us, anxiety and stress evaporate. That “joy that passes all understanding” becomes a part of our life. Somehow, even the harshest trials we face in this life are not nearly as painful and all consuming when we fully trust our Lord.

        But where does this total trust come from. I think it comes from love, our love for Him. As I am beginning to see it, when we love God enough, our desires in our worldly life are lessened in favor of our desire for God’s will to be done. It is kind of like a beautiful marriage in which one partner wants his or her spouse’s happiness above their own. 

        A few are fortunate enough to have such love for the Savior the day they first meet Him. For others of us that love takes time as the relationship builds, as we learn that the commandment Jesus said was above all others, to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind, is truly the most important thing in life, as well as being the commandment that makes all of Christian living so easy.

        Sometimes even the most highly respected “generals of the faith,” like the beloved Dutch born Henri Nouwen, grow over time into that deep love for God that brings about pure trust. It is fascinating to me that when we look at Nouwen’s first thirty nine books we find the word “faith” constantly referred to, but in his last book which was published the day he died, September 21, 1996, we find the word “faith” mentioned only once and the higher word “trust” talked about sixty five times.

        So yes, we can be a Christian with only faith, and not the Ruthless Trust that Brennan Manning discusses in that book that I highly recommended in my book. But for us to have faith and not real trust is not what is commanded, It is not what God wants for our lives.  And it is not what is best for us in every regard. In the end, as has been said, trust may be the only gift we can give to God. And in giving that gift we are truly set free.

        We must strive for total trust. We must practice it daily and try to perfect it. In the end, we must live it. It is the gift we give to God that gives so much more back to us. It is the one word that describes the ultimate Christian life.