Trust Issues

One of the activities that I enjoy most is hiking, especially climbing some of the mountains nearby. Just outside of town there looms a large mountain called Superstition Mountain. I had some friends that were telling me about a great hike to the top (one of the areas is called Flat Iron). It stands about 4500 ft. They said the hike was a little tough but well worth it.

One cool March morning were set out (about 15 of us) to hike to the top of Flat Iron. Now as we began it was easy enough but as we got to the base I was met with the hike (Straight up the face of the mountain) It was steep, not straight up, but it was like climbing stairs for few thousand feet up.

As we neared the top (with my legs BURNING) I noticed that to make it up to the plateau you needed to scale a 15ft shear rock face. Now I had been hiking for hours and I was too close to quit now, so I found a small crack and worked my way up to the top. The view from the top was spectacular. You could see for miles and miles. It was truly exhilarating.

I guess this is the time of the story that I should let you know that I am deathly afraid of heights. As I stood on top, it hit me that I would have to somehow get down that 15ft cliff to even make it to the trail to get down. There was no way that was going to happen. One of my friends was an experienced hiker and not afraid of heights. He offered to help me get down. He went down the cliff first stopping half way down. He put up his hands and asked me to hold myself out and place my foot in his hands and then I could get down. In other words, I had to place my life in his hands.

To do this I would have to take a blind leap (well hang) off the top to his hand. It was then that I realized that I had trust issues. Now I knew that this guy was a good guy and he wasn’t going to let me get hurt, but that first leap just was a bit much to overcome.

My mind then began to picture me stuck on top of the mountain, by myself all night. How I would be on the news the next day as the helicopter would come to rescue. They would show an embarrassing picture from my high school yearbook as they carried a live shot of my rescue with the caption, “rescue of chicken hiker.” It was too much – I overcame my fear and decided to trust.

This became an important lesson in the value of trust which is: Life is impossible if I do not learn to trust. The fact of the matter is that EVERYTHING in my spiritual life down to the issue of trust. Every success and every struggle finds its root in how well I have trusted in God. It is truly the keystone for life.

There is a story in the Bible of God’s people wondering in the desert wilderness waiting to follow God into His promised land for them. Their leader Moses, was leading them and teaching them to trust God in all things. Unfortunately the people weren’t quite getting the message and they found a way to complain about everything. They complained that they did not have water, so God gave them water. They complained about not having food, so God gave them food. They complained about not seeing God, not having meat to eat, who was in charge, not having the right sunscreen (well maybe not that last one, but they probably would have if they could).

In one instance we find the people once again complaining to their leader Moses that they don’t have enough water. This story is in Numbers 20. What happens next teaches three lessons about what true trust in God is all about.

Lesson #1: True Trust is born out of a reverence for God.

When the people confront Moses and his brother Aaron and complain, they immediately go to God for guidance and perspective.

Numbers 20:6 (ESV) Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them,

Moses and Aaron take the first step. When faced with a trial in life, they go to God, the source of their trust. They go in submission (they fell on their faces) meaning that they went not to take their agenda, but to receive God’s.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to want to go first to others (who might agree with me) or even trust my gut, before going to God, sometimes as a last resort. I need to trust Him first and foremost, to go to Him on His terms. For trust to even take legs it needs to begin in the right place and that place is a place of submission to God.

Lesson #2: True Trust often flies in the face of conventional wisdom

Sometimes what God desires us to do or how he desires us to act goes counter to what seems logical. Often it would not be our first response.

Numbers 20:7-8 (ESV) and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ "Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle."

Certainly just speaking to rock for water does not seem logical. Moses had gotten water from a rock by striking it, but not by speaking to it. Also, why does God keep giving the people what they want, don’t they need to be put straight.

Has God ever asked you to do something, to step out in trust where it just didn’t seem logical? This is often the paradox of following Christ. We die to live, Jesus died to give life, we are to be last to be first. We are to serve to be exalted.

Where is God calling you to trust where it seems to go against conventional wisdom – is it at work where you may have to step on people on your way to the top, but God says be patient. Maybe it’s at home with you spouse or kids. Maybe it’s with your finances where you are tempted to cut a few corners to get ahead.

Listen to God, trust in Him – He is always right, even if it goes against the circumstances you are facing.

The final lesson is the most critical. If we do not get this right, we negate the first two lessons.

Lesson #3: True Trust leads to actions that are God-centered

This is where Moses goes wrong – he takes matters into his own hands and does things the way he wanted to.

Numbers 20:10-11 (ESV) Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" ¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

Notice that even though God did work, and Moses did well in the first two steps, because he did not follow it through with right actions – he didn’t trust.

Numbers 20:12 (ESV) And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."

You see, trust trusts the means not just the ends. Moses did not trust God to enough for him to obey what God said.

We can go to God and even realize what God wants us to do, but if do not do it, we really never really trusted in the first place. Our actions will always reveal our level of trust that we had. Are we willing to do what is right, what God calls us to do, even when it is not easy or it does not make sense?

What trials are you facing where God calling you to trust?