How can I trust the faithfulness of God?
The more you trust God, the more you will learn you can rely on Him and trust Him more.First, what is faithfulness? Faithfulness is an active fidelity; a way of working toward the good of another without hesitation, doubt, questioning, or duplicity. It is constant. When God is described as faithful, it means He brings all His power, love, compassion, and dedication to you.
Lamentations 3:22–24 proclaims, "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'" God is faithful, and we can put our hope and trust in Him. One way to learn to trust in His faithfulness is to remind ourselves of verses like these.
Many Christians know intellectually that God is faithful, yet we still find it difficult to actively put our trust in Him. One reason might be because as humans we tend to focus on the temporal (here and now) and the earthly definitions of what is good, successful, and beneficial, rather than on what God deems to be of eternal value and truly good. Simply put, God's faithfulness doesn't always practically look like what we want it to.
Paul talked about living in the flesh as opposed to in the Spirit in Romans 8. Romans 8 is also where we find an often quoted verse of the Bible: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). When we focus on the things of the Spirit, our perspective changes. We come to see and believe that God is faithful, even if our earthly circumstances aren't what we would prefer.
Sometimes we struggle with trusting in the faithfulness of God because we know that we are not always faithful to Him. The good news for us is that God's faithfulness is not dependent on ours. Second Timothy 2:10–13 assures, "The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself." God is faithful because He is God. He will never cease to be faithful to us.
What are some practical ways we can increase our trust in God's faithfulness? Just as we build trust with people by getting to know them, we learn to trust God by getting to know Him. The best way to do that is to spend time in the Bible, attend a Bible-teaching church, and pray. By doing so, you'll learn about God's character and that you can trust in His faithfulness and His immutability. He never changes.
Reading the Bible helps us understand who God is. We can memorize Scriptures that speak of God's faithfulness. We can also look back at times in our own lives where God has shown Himself faithful. Remembering His past works is something that God often instructed the Israelites to do. Christians ceremonially remember the work of Jesus on the cross through communion. Recounting the past work of God reminds us that He is faithful and helps us to trust that He will continue to be faithful.
Other believers can encourage us with the truths of the Bible and help remind us of God's faithfulness in our lives. Believers are to "stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:24–25). Being in fellowship with those who trust in God's faithfulness can help to grow our trust in His faithfulness.
Prayer is the way we communicate with God. When we pray, we are demonstrating that we trust Him. We can ask Him to help increase our trust. We can lay our burdens at His feet and ask Him to faithfully carry us through (1 Peter 5:7). He always hears our prayers (1 John 5:14), and when we don't know what to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26). We also know that Jesus is interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1).
The better we get to know God, the more we'll trust in His faithfulness. It is by trusting Him that we know Him, and by knowing Him that we more deeply trust Him.
Why should I trust in God and how can I learn to trust in Him?
How can I come to really know God?
What does it mean to submit to God?
What is growing in faith? How can a Christian grow in faith?
I'm struggling with faith. What should I do?
Truth about the Christian Life
