Finding Safety in Trusting God

I glanced at the TV as a game show host cut open brand-new handbags with a kitchen knife. This was my first time seeing the Netflix show “Is it Cake?”, a competition where bakers design cakes to imitate non-edible objects. Their goal is to try and trick the judges.

As someone who has healed from being deceived and betrayed, this show was hard for me to enjoy at first. “This is why people have trust issues…we’re encouraged to deceive one another,” I thought to myself. The purpose of the show may be to entertain, but I can’t help but wonder how many people tried to trick others after watching it.

In the context of the game show, we can’t trust the host to help us discern if the item is truly the depicted object or actually a dessert. We can’t trust the contestants to tell the truth. We may want to trust our judgment, but then we end up guessing wrong. So…who can we trust?

People will mislead, lie, and betray us because we live in a sinful world. We may even ask ourselves if we can trust God. In Jeremiah 17, we learn about this contrast between trusting others, trusting ourselves, and trusting God.

1. Trusting other people

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land” (Jeremiah 17:5-6).

The Lord makes it clear: if we place our trust in men, we will be disappointed. It’s not to say we can’t trust anyone, since God designed us for community. But when our trust is only in people, we stop trusting the Lord and turn to others to solve our problems.

We tend to look to man for answers only God can give. We look to others to fulfill roles only God is capable of filling. And we look to people to do things only God can do. As a result, we are left feeling empty, thirsting for something to satisfy.  

Having healthy trust levels, boundaries, and priorities with our relationships will help us live fulfilling lives. We can trust people and not elevate them above God.

2. Trusting ourselves

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds’” (Jeremiah 17:9-10).

Scripture makes it so evident that our hearts are not pure. They are deceitful by nature. The Hebrew term aqob is used to indicate our hearts being crooked, fraudulent, and polluted. It can also be used to describe a steep hill – one that is a difficult path to walk. Our human tendency is not necessarily to do what is right. 

When the Lord calls our hearts “desperately sick,” He uses the Hebrew word anash, meaning frail and feeble. Our hearts are weak. We are quick to live by our feelings, which are not facts.

We have no way to understand how or why we are this way. But God knows the answers we lack. He even examines our hearts and tests our thoughts. He is sovereign, above our understanding and our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). 

And because He knows, He graciously provides us with hope. Throughout Scripture, the Lord promises us a new heart through the Holy Spirit (Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26, Hebrews 10:22). When we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, we are cleansed of sin. We are forgiven and redeemed. We experience union with God in place of sin and separation.

While our hearts are not always trustworthy, we can have confidence that the Lord doesn’t leave us to our own devices. 

3. Trusting God

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:8-9).

We will find faults in others and in ourselves. However, our imperfections only magnify the glory of a perfect God. We are blessed when we trust in Him. Like a tree planted by flowing water, we find all we need in the Lord.

Unlike other potential sources, we can confidently place our trust in the Lord because He never changes. His Word never fails and He has never broken a promise. We will find safety in God as we seek union with Him.

Just as Proverbs 3:5-6 says, we are to trust in the Lord and not lean on our own understanding. When we go to Him and acknowledge His presence in our lives, He makes our paths straight. God always knows what’s best for us. Proverbs 1 and James 1 echo this truth: the Lord is our Source of wisdom and truth. No other thing will meet this need we have. While people may disappoint and fail us, we can trust God with the outcomes. He will never let us down. All we have to do is ask Him for His guidance, a new perspective, wisdom, or whatever we may need.

Friend, trusting is hard work. We may not be able to trust our eyes when discerning the genuine cake. The baker may even try to deceive us intentionally, and that’s all in fun. We can listen to others’ advice, knowing that human hearts and minds are fallible. Instead of trusting in human hearts and minds, we can seek God when making important decisions because He never fails us. We can go to God through His word and in prayer, and expect Him to be trustworthy and true every time.

What are you currently trusting God with? What are you trusting God to do in your life? Let me know in the comments below, so I can be praying for you!