I hear this a lot when I struggle with one of life’s many events. “Just trust in God” they say, highly suggestive that I don’t in some way. So, what does this ‘trust in God’ actually mean?
Does it reflect an attitude that God will provide in that
circumstance or all circumstances?
If we pray for an imminent academic examination, are we seeking God to permit us to pass, or are we content if we were to fail?
If we pray because of a medical issue, what do we infer if the disease doesn’t go away? Could hospitals be confined to history if people just trusted in God? Would it be all down to our lack of trust in God?
For millennia, we have resorted to prayer as a form of shopping list: ‘God to provide this and that’, similar to a shopping chain delivering the weekly groceries. And we might get annoyed if they substitute one item for another. Week in, week out, we might listen to a series of prayers for the world, for others, in Church settings which ask for ‘peace for the world’, <name> to get better, and ‘more people’ to find their way to our own particular church. Prayer in that form can look very different if we explore prayer – why not have a look at this explanation.
Trust
This concept of trust can rely upon on a prior assumption of what might happen, and what we’d like to happen. Absolute trust focuses upon blind acceptance that whatever happens, it will be ok. The Marigold Hotel quote that “Everything will be all right in the end… if it’s not all right, then it’s not yet the end“ is a classic example of that. This hopes that we are in it ‘for the long game’, until the bitter end. It doesn’t see life as ‘for today, or for the next week or even month’…but eternity? [Eternity does not solely mean forever, but a long time]
Advice
When people offer the advice that I need to ‘trust in God’, I wonder if they are looking in the immediate timescale. It might be that it can get us through the next day or three, beyond this current period: to take that counselling phrase, : ‘this time will pass’. This might be suggestive that God acts in our timescales. Is this a form of contract?
What if this trust does not imply a response from God, but a response from us?
Could it be different?
If we were able to change, incrementally, gradually, we might see the world in a different hue. Each of us are ‘built’ differently. We think in our own particular ways. Some of us are logical thinkers, able to process complex situations into clearly defined steps; whereas others may adopt a more scattered approach. I used to be one capable of developing a plan which could mutate as the dynamic circumstances evolved, but, with depression, this is no longer possible. I can plan on multiple levels, but this just adds to my anxiety.
To be told ‘to trust in God’ seeks a simplicity where God may provide – a transactional approach – in our timeframe. Perhaps the phrase really seeks an alternate perspective, one in which we can live with God, day by day, wending our way on this journey of life, in all the undulating terrain. What do you think?
I found the dialogue interesting and I enjoyed it
My thoughts on “how to trust in God” –
I think, If God was a God who just executed exactly what we prayed, on the condition that we pray to him and be good, perhaps this will make the entire world to invest their time in keeping God happy for their well being. Surely, this is not what God would want.
This alternate perspective on trusting in God without expecting results in our timeframe, is helpful especially in situations when we feel our prayers are not answered in a way we wanted it to be.
Depression is not something that cannot be resolved in our timeframe 🙂
I think for some of us, there could be a million instances in our past when God did hear our prayers and things went according to what we wanted it to be, sometimes even without praying. Do we forget all our past blessings whenever we have to deal with prayers not answered?
Sometimes when God doesn’t answer our prayers according to what we have asked him, things turns out to be much better than what we had asked for. I think God has a plan and purpose for each of us. Perhaps that’s why we say in Lord’s prayer – “Thy will be done”. And therefore, when we pray, we should not be expecting God to exactly follow our direction to resolve the issue but leave it to God to figure out what is right for us.
I agree that we shouldn’t use God as a penny arcade device – put your coin in and get what you want out.
Perhaps prayer isn’t at all about getting something material out, but changing us. Like any relationship, we can change by being with someone.
I think to correlate your past with our prayers can lead to a false understanding of causality.
If God has a plan for us, does what we do matter?
My thoughts below:
I am not sure how remembering the past blessings in our life, during our prayers, can lead to a false understanding of causality. Depends on how we analyze things. Instead, I think it might make us feel grateful to God even during our sufferings and make us more humble when we pray. Rather than giving God the action plan to resolve our situations / needs, we can have a conversation with God, telling him about the issues that we are facing because of our situations. So basically, we are working together in the process of resolving issues.
Mathew 11:28 – “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
What if the plan and purpose that God has for us is based on our needs/prayers ? What is good for us, we may not even know at a point of time, as we cannot see whats going to happen in our future.
What if the ‘plan’ that God has for us is about living life closer to God, and has little to do with what we do. For our actions stem from our understanding of God.
My thoughts:
Yes, I agree that the ultimate plan of God for us is about living a life closer to God by having right understanding of God. But practically, in order to get there, we need to be self sufficient first with his blessings. And for this, people do pray based on their earthly needs and God acts according to his plan for them, in order to equip themselves to live closer to God.
How do you think most of the people understand God and live closer to God in the first place? My thoughts are – In most cases its when they experience the goodness of God that brings them out of their difficult situations, through their prayers. The only issue is when they forget their blessings later on and distance from God / lose faith perhaps because their understanding of God was not right.
People’s perception of God may well be born in their early days and what parents/grandparents hand down. If the ‘parents’ are atheist then a stereotypical God figure may be described : ‘ bearded white man with long finger to fire lightening at sinners’ etc. This might also occur if they have a faith.
What we might perceive in later life is one that is not so anthropomorphic, more of a higher power, unable to be sustained under one simple description. It is this power that you describe as one ‘that brings them out of their difficult situations’. That may not be too deliver them into prosperity or even safety but peace. It is that peace which I feel is the kingdom of God that Jesus describes. How does that sound to you?
Could be that understanding God is an ongoing process.
Totally agree with that
I hope so
My thoughts: Peace / Kingdom of God, probably gives the strength to face the difficulties which can be poverty, health issues, safety issues etc. without losing faith in God. Kind of what’s said in 2 Corinthians 4:8,9,16-18 although, it implies heaven as a place where peace means “no difficulties”.
Paul’s response to those in Corinth are seeking to calm down those freed from slavery and trying to find a way in that cosmopolitan existence. He also was expecting Christ’s return imminently. Hence the timescales are very different for them and us. Difficult to draw direct comparisons
As I understand – In our timeframe, prayer gives us peace / understanding of God which then gives us strength to bear the difficulties in our life and our actions stem from this understanding of God, whereas, after Christ returns, it is absolute peace “no difficulties”.
I could go along with the peace element of that .
Most probably, you have read this book by Joseph Murphy called “Power of Subconscious Mind”.
It has many references to the Christian faith. He gives examples from the Bible – Jesus does all the healing by saying – “your faith has healed you”. So it seems like all the miracles that Jesus performed would not have worked if the person he was trying to heal did not have faith. Also, Jesus made a paste of clay and applied it to the eyes of the blind while he was performing the miracle, which probably created hope in the blind person that the miracle would work and thus it worked.
My thoughts – So when we pray, if we have that kind of faith, our prayers can be more effective. Does this justifies when people say “trust in God” ? Although, I do agree that I get irritated when they tell me this.
but there are many healings which occur where the faith of the individual wasn’t present. If that were so, why don’t Christians get some muddy concoction and heal the blind, we could set ourselves up outside hospitals and cure people. It is very complex and possibly very personal.
I return to my point that our trust in God isn’t related to our timeline, and that prayer is more about deepening our relationship with God that getting any material benefit. This hasn’t been emphasised in church teaching as a material gain always comes across in a far more attractive manner. So, prayer isn’t about physically sorting out the world but discerning God for ourselves, and finding peace in that.
3 John 2
New International Version
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
In the Lord’s prayer we do pray – “Give us our daily bread”.
Old testament talks of a lot of earthly blessings.
I totally agree with you on the point that prayer is for building relationship with God and getting us the peace in our time frame. This explains why many people in this world are suffering at some point or the other without getting their earthly issues resolved even with prayers. However, I also think that not all prayers have the same kind of result. Prayers don’t go waste even if we don’t see the result in a way we expect, at that point of time. I agree that this is complex and based on personal experiences in our life time. God must have had some purpose in creating humans in this time frame besides enabling us to understand him through prayers.
In turn:
3 John 2 is a letter to another community. I would ask for everyone to have good health; it doesn’t mean that is “God’s purpose”. How would we explain that to those with a lifetime disability?
The Lord’s Prayer is part of a very long Jewish prayer. Bread being the main food intake, a daily requirement; not a blessing of excess. (although I doubt you meant it to be inferred as such)
Yes, the OT does talk of a lot of earthy blessings, but does that make it correct? In my opinion, the Bible is a collection of different groups of authors retelling their different perspectives of God in different times in different circumstances. 2 Tim 3:16 is a single verse with a context all of its own. As I have said elsewhere, ‘blessings’ is an emotive word which may well have significant meaning of inheritance – not that we might see it as such today.
Prayers don’t go to waste as through prayer we seek to understand God more and more.
Could you elaborate?
Isn’t there a difference between prayer and meditation ?
I thought prayer is communication with God. We do this by praising Him, confessing our sin before Him, thanking Him and asking Him for our needs and desires in our time frame. Prayer is communion with our Creator. When we pray, we engage in loving fellowship with the Maker of heaven and earth.
Christian meditation is merely spending time with our Creator and acknowledging his presence in our existence, surrendering our perspectives, time and priorities to him.
Previously you had mentioned that Christ did not die for our sins but to show us how to love. In that case, why is God letting us suffer in this world ? How can anyone understand anything about God just by praying, while he/she is suffering? You said prayer brings peace. How can anyone have peace, when he/she is suffering ? You cannot even focus on anything while you are suffering.
On the other hand when we pray, it gives us strength because of the hope that our suffering is not going to last for ever. Also, the trust that there is absolutely nothing that is impossible with God especially if we had seen how God has worked in our lives in the past. Some disable people are supposed to have extra ordinary God given talents. With God, there is hope for everyone alive on this planet. We can also pray for people who cannot pray for themselves because of their disability. We never know how God is going to intervene in their lives. Just as you had mentioned earlier (in response to paradise) , earth and heaven are not separate entities, our life continues from this time frame to next and we don’t need to wait for healing or strength, for eternity. I agree that this does not mean that serious medical conditions will just disappear with prayers but we might not know how God can make our load lighter – how he works and when he will intervene cannot be predicted by human understanding.
My thoughts are something close to below:-
Prayer Result is propotional to [Our Faith * God’s Will] => which will ulitimately give us Peace
The reason why God created humans is not only to understand God, but to live according to his will, sharing his love with others as well as to experience and notice how God has worked in our own lives and be thankful to God.
There’s lot there and to answer it in one would give your question sufficient justice, so I’ll answer it gradually over a few days – if that’s ok?
There is a wonderful visual meme which shows a child asking Jesus why did he allow all the suffering in the world, and Jesus responds “I was going to ask why humanity allowed it all to happen”. Why, when suffering occurs do we conclude that God was responsible? Did God tell us to build our properties on the flood plain, or on an earthquake fault line? When we set off the Hiroshima nuclear bomb, was that God’s response to the war in the far east? Perhaps it’s a result of people taking about other people and not talking to each other.
More later