Trust in an Eternal God

Isaiah 26:4- Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.

The picture of God that the Bible paints is one of a steadfast, faithful and trustworthy God. However, despite this, those of us who profess to knowing Him often times seem to find it easier, more convenient, even preferable, to put our hope and out trust in less deserving parties and in less deserving places.

Paul instructs Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6:17 to ‘command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God’.

That we, as people, ‘put our hope in wealth’, is merely one example of our tendency to put far too much of our hope and far too much of our trust into places and people that are so uncertain. When these places and people prove their uncertainty, our misdirected, (meaning we never should have put our trust there), or undue trust, (meaning we put too much to our trust there) can lead to disappointment, disillusionment and discouragement.

Unfortunately, I’m sure that there is not one person will read this that does not know what it feels like to have had their trust broken, even their trust abused. The pain that often results from these negative experiences can often stay with us and can become a stumbling block to us, especially when we are called on to trust again. I know many people who have a very difficult time trusting people who have given them no reason not to trust them, on account of people in their past who have abused their trust.

What’s the saying? ‘Once bitten, twice shy’? How about ‘twice bitten’? How about ‘five times bitten’? How about ‘it seems like whenever I give trust somebody, I get bit’- what then? Shy? No. Terrified.

The world conspires, it seems, to erode your ability to trust anybody, or anything. The pain of the disappointment that results from broken and abused trust is crippling, in that it hardens us, and hinders us from trusting even those who deserve to be trusted.

God calls on us for our complete trust.

Proverbs 3:5, a much loved Proverb, calls on us to - ‘Trust in the Lord with all of our heart…’

The tragedy is that often times, we struggle to put our complete trust in God, even when we want to, because of those negative experiences of our past that we have endured as a consequence of our misdirected or undue trust. And I don’t believe that God is unsympathetic to this dilemma. That’s likely why one of the most determined and constant messages of God to His people throughout scripture is ‘trust me’- because He, unlike anybody or anything else, is completely trustworthy.

In Isaiah 49:23. He makes this bold promise- ‘’those who hope in me will not be disappointed’’.

Many of the many times where the Bible appeals to us to put our trust in God, it references God as an eternal God. The scripture mentioned at the top of this blog is a great example of this.

Isaiah 26:4- Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.

So, the scripture appeals to us to trust in God and then gives us reason as to why we can- that He is ‘the Rock eternal’.

God is eternal. But how does that help to establish His trustworthiness? Because it is helps us to put our trust in God to know, and to be reminded, that God is not uncertain, that He is not liable to collapse, rather, He is eternal and He is everlasting.

And not only is He eternal, but He is eternally the same. It’s hard to trust somebody who is one way one day and another way the next. God’s not like that! He is eternally the same. God declares, in Malachi 3; "I the Lord do not change…’’

It is said of Jesus in Hebrews 13:8; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

God is eternally the same- which means He is eternally trustworthy.The Psalms constantly talk of God as a refuge; a safe haven, where we can find shelter in times of distress.

Psalm 62:8- Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah

Pour out your hearts to him….give over your whole heart to Him…because He is our refuge...under the shadow of His wings, we are safe…as He is completely trustworthy, at all times, and with all things, and for all time.

Selah.