Faith & Trust

The Word of God is what we can call Living Letters or Love Letters from Heaven. It helps us to put things in perspective when we think of the Bible in this manner. My thoughts this evening is as I write my weekly letter is, what is the difference between Faith and Trust in God? Faith is a belief system and trust is action. When you look at it like this you are working in the realm of possibilities. In that miracles or healings cannot be scientifically explained. Faith does not have any scientific base. We can say that trust comes from our belief system and is therefore permanent. Through the years as a pastor, I realized that I love people that I did not trust. More than likely, you have had similar experiences. In our relationship with God there should never be the question, "can we trust God?" God can be trusted. His Yes is Yes and His No is No. "In Him there is no variableness or shadow of turning." The question on the other hand is, can God trust us?

What then is faith? The life of faith is an allegiance, duty or loyalty to one person or being. It can also refer to believing in something, even if no proof exists. The writer of Hebrews was inspired to write these words: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of things we do not see. THIS IS WHAT THE ANCIENTS WERE COMMENDED FOR."

As you know, I love the old songs of my youth and one that compliments what I am writing you about is the song, Never Failed Me Yet:

Never failed me yet,
Never failed me yet,
Jesus love has never failed me yet,
This one thing I know
Every where I go,
Jesus love has never failed me yet.

We can all sing this song and know that it is true, and we can be assured Jesus never fails. As a believer, our faith in God is unshakable belief that as the Lord, He is the sovereign Creator of all things. He can and will do what He claims. Trust, on the other hand, is a verb. It is something you do or act upon. Always remember faith comes first, but trust is never guaranteed. Trust grows through experiences. You can build your life on trust and confidence in one of our favorite verses. May I add that without it you can never step into your promised security of faith. Without the "trust in the LORD" of Proverbs 3:5, you will never know the joy and confidence of Proverbs 3:6:

Prov. 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
Prov. 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

As I mentioned, our faith is unshakable. Let me show you where this comes to light in the book of Hebrews:

"…Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word, Yet, once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom, which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."

It is here in Hebrew 12:26-28, we find, UNSHABLE FAITH, A FAITH WHICH IS UNMOVEABLE FOR EVER SETTLED IN THE HEAVENS. HOW DOES FAITH COME TO US? THE BIBLE ANSWERS THIS IMPORTANT QUESTION. "FAITH COMES BY HEARING AND HEARING, HEARING AND HEARING OF THE WORD OF THE LORD."
 
GIVE YOURSELF TO THE WORD AND THE WORD WILL GIVE ITSELF TO YOU AND BY FAITH GREAT THINGS ARE DONE.
 
I BELIEVE IN YOU.

YOUR PASTOR AND FRIEND,
Pastor Cleddie Keith