Track Record of Trust

“I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your doings;
I muse on the work of Your hands.
I stretch out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You, as a parched land…

I trust in You;

Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul.”
Psalm 143:5-6, 8

How do you build trust in someone?  I believe that is by looking at their track record.  If they have been trustworthy in the past, then you can put your trust in them.  If they have broken your trust in the past, then you will probably be wary of trusting them again unless you have seen a radical change in their lives.  These verses start with remembering the days of old.  This is looking back at God’s track record both in the Old and New Testament and in your life.  It is good to write down answered prayers and times when you saw God’s hand in your circumstances.  Our brains tend to forget.  But by looking back you will see that God can be trusted. 

 

Now, there may be some incident in your past where you believe God let you down.  Take a closer look and really ask yourself if it was God’s doing, Satan’s doing, or your own doing.  More than likely, God was not to blame.  He is faithful and true by His very character.  You might say, “Well, He didn’t make it happen, but he sure didn’t take me out of the situation either.”  That’s fair.  But again, sometimes God allows hard situations into our lives so that we will draw closer to Him, we will trust Him, we will realize our need for Him, or that we might be pruned so that our character more closely reflects Him.  God is at work.  He loves you.  If your past cries out that God is unfaithful, then you need to really look at the character of God and recognize that we live in a world ruled by Satan.

When we begin to see God’s goodness and faithfulness in the past and meditate on it then we can stretch out our hands to Him.  He was faithful then, He never changes, so He will be faithful now.  Lean on God.  Don’t look what God can do for you, but rather, look at God – sit with Him, read His word, know Him.  He wants to know you!  When that track record of trust is laid down in your mind then you will be able to say, “Teach me the way in which I should walk.” because you know that God will not let you down.  His eternal purpose will be met in you and you will have been transformed to be ready for eternity!

As you look back and remember, if you find that you are angry at God, that’s okay.  Tell Him.  He is big enough to handle your anger.  Get it out.  Talk through it with someone and then let God begin to heal the hurts of the past.  He is the God of comfort and healing.