Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
Keep trusting me, Becky, the Lord whispered.
As I looked out the 4th floor window from our Washington DC hotel room, the beauty of the old church across the street caught my attention. Then my eyes moved to the big billboard behind the building. “ONE SIMPLE CHOICE” it shouted, as the words drew onlookers to consider TRUIST banking. Evidently, the marketing department at the bank decided to make up a word that would suggest “trust” and came up with this catchy, but fractured spelling.
I believe many of us have fractured experiences of trust. Our prayers aren’t answered in the way we think they should be. A fellow believer hurts us. Someone in authority betrays us. We don’t understand why certain events keep happening. And doubt starts to undermine our confidence in God.
So what does it mean to trust the Lord?
Solomon said trusting in God means not relying on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:4). Yet, we often think we would trust God if we could just see what he’s doing. Tell me why, Lord, and I’ll follow you. Trust that demands to know the outcome isn’t really trust.
When David’s enemies attacked him, pushing him to the limits, he cried out to God. He didn’t consider what “mortal man” could do to him because he knew God would always have his back. He had learned not to trust in circumstances but in the faithful, loving nature of God (Psalm 56). Trusting the Lord means trusting in who he is.
Jeremiah describes those who trust in the Lord as those who refuse to fear anything life throws at them. When others go through the drought of doubt, they flourish. They remain fruitful because they root themselves in the Word-infused waters of life (Jeremiah 17:7-8).
Throughout Scripture, the call to put our trust in God, resounds. The Lord reminded me that morning through a church and a billboard not to make it complicated. So I’ve come to agree with TRUIST. There really is only one option when it comes to our relationship with God….
Simply trust.