“For the word of the LORD holds true, and we can trust everything He does.”
– Psalm 33:4 [NLT]
A friend of mine is a teacher and she explained to me how she has her students walk as a group to get to their bus. The children each hold hands with each other and they walk forward following her. They don’t look around to see the traffic, the people, and the dangers around them. They simply trust her and walk forward with all eyes on her. This type of trust we are to have in God. We are to have this faith where we give it all to Him and do not think a second more about it. We are to have this faith that causes us to simply do as He asks with no questions asked, not concerning ourselves with the result because we understand He is faithful and has promised us a hope and a future.
A big issue is that faith should not be seen simply as having faith in the power of God. These kids weren’t following the teacher because she had power to keep them out of danger. Danger was certainly possible. They followed her because they trusted her. They trusted her because she was a person of good character. She never let the kids down and they remembered that as she led them onward. Though God is all-powerful, if our faith in Him is only in His power, we will have a problem. Oswald Chambers saw it this way: “Faith is unbreakable confidence in the Personality of God, not in His power… We must have confidence in God over and above everything He may do, and stand in confidence that His character is unsullied. Faith stands under all tests—‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.’” (“If Ye Shall Ask”). If we only have faith in God’s power, and not in His character, we will never fully follow God or fully trust Him.
This past summer I was challenged to walk in faith. I could not walk forward simply trusting in God’s power. I had to trust His character. I had to trust His promises. I had to trust His Word. Yes He has the power to do anything in His will; however, is it in His character to use His power in a particular situation or will He sit back and not use this power He has so that we are able to spiritually mature from the circumstance? If we have faith merely in God’s power, where is our faith when God choose to not use His power, when God chooses to be silent? To have faith in God’s character is to truly trust God, to trust His Word and to trust His promises. Knowing that God was leading me forward, I was able to walk in faith trusting in Him. Perhaps He would use His power to take care of anything that would arise, but that didn’t concern me. I trusted Him—I trust God. He didn’t use His power, but He was faithful. He did what He promised. Job trusted God, not simply God’s power. Abraham trusted God, not simply God’s power.
Today I ask you, do you trust God? Do you trust God so much to walk forward even if God may choose to not display His power? Do you have confidence in the character of God? Could you handle trusting God even if you were to be worse off than Job during his time of great trouble? Is your faith in God simply in His power or do you truly trust Him?
Tania Gutekunst 