In whom or what do you place your trust? Followers of Jesus are quick to answer that we trust in God alone. I wonder how true that really is for you. Who or what in your life keeps you from placing your complete trust in your Creator? I know the way I live often betrays my assertion that I trust God for everything. If I really trusted God, would I be making so many plans to eliminate as much risk as possible from my life? If my trust was complete, would I spend late nights worrying about circumstances over which I have no control?
We plan for every possible contingency, just in case, and that planning can lead to paralysis. We plan so much that we never quite get to the point of taking action. We think things like, “Tomorrow, if such and such falls into place, then I’ll be ready to abandon everything and follow Jesus.” Any condition we place on trusting Christ reveals that we do not yet trust Him at all. To paraphrase Luke 16:13 a bit, we can’t trust two masters; we either trust one completely or we distrust both. It’s funny we think all our plans will somehow be more trustworthy than those of the God whose plan for all of history contains an infinite number of contingencies to account for the freewill He gifted to us.
It is a common Western practice to stockpile obscene amounts of money for retirement so we can be financially independent. We trust in our savings to care for our needs when we are no longer able to work as we once did in our youth. But financial independence demonstrates a desire to be self-sufficient which leaves God out of the equation altogether. The word independent should never be part of the story of a disciple of Jesus. We are dependent on Him for our very next breath. If He wasn’t holding this universe together, we would all be obliterated in the blink of an eye.
Since we have no ability to control the future or even know if we will live to see that future, it is futile to put our trust in anything or anyone other than Jesus. Who else is with you every second of your life? Nothing or no one else can bend the laws of nature or alter circumstances ten years from now to best fulfill the plans for your life. Money can’t save you. Important friends can’t help you in the end. A good job or an even better name is powerless to defeat the attacks of Satan. Nothing in this world is worthy of your trust.
Only Jesus can make any lasting difference. He will care for every one of your needs (Matthew 6:25-34), and He will save you from even death itself (1 Corinthians 15:54). We can’t save enough to sustain our life. We can’t achieve enough to hold back the hands of time. In the end, only Jesus is worthy of your trust. Do you trust Him with everything in your life?