Day 11: Faith as Trust

The faith we develop as fruit of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7–11) may be defined as a quiet, steady, unwavering trust in the goodness, wisdom, and faithfulness of God. No matter what trials or seeming disasters may be encountered, the person who has cultivated this form of fruit remains calm and restful in the midst of them all. He has an unshakable confidence that God is still in complete control of every situation and that, in and through all circumstances, God is working out His own purpose of blessing for each one of His children.

The outward expression of this kind of trust is stability. This is beautifully pictured by David in Psalm 125:1: “Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” All earth’s mountains may tremble and shake and even be totally removed—except one. Zion can never be moved. God has chosen it for His own dwelling place, and it alone will abide forever. So it is with the believer who has learned to trust. Others all around him may give way to panic and confusion, but he remains calm and secure.

In Psalm 37:5, David said, “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it.” More literally, the verse says, “And He is doing it.” Two things are here required of us. The first is an act: “commit.” The second is an attitude: “trust.” The act of commitment leads to the attitude of trust. David assured us that, as long as we continue in this attitude of trust, God “is doing it.” In other words, God is working out the thing that we have committed to Him. It is the continuing attitude of trust on our part that keeps the channel open through which God is able to intervene in our lives and work out what needs to be done. But if we abandon our trust, we close off the channel and hinder the completion of what God has begun to do for us.