Today, I would like to present to you three people to illustrate my lesson on what trusting God looks like.

Now, the scenario is that these people are preparing for a vacation to Malaysia.

Person A:

• Looks up the various news pieces about crimes nearby
• Does background checks on the staff of every hotel he is interested in booking
• Packs three extra sets of clothes in case of spillage
• When he gets to the hotel, he pushes up a chair to the door every night in case there is a break in
• Locks all the windows, and checks that it’s still locked every two hours.
• Makes the hotel staff double check that the fire alarms are still functional

Does this person trust God? No.

Person B:

• Spends about two days searching for a hotel with what he wants
• Buys insurance
• When he reaches his hotel room, locks it
• Sleeps well

Does this person trust God? Yes.

Person C:

• Buys the first hotel he sees because “I trust God!”
• Doesn’t buy insurance because “Jesus is my insurance!”
• Goes to his hotel room, and leaves the door unlocked to demonstrate his faith
• Gets robbed

Does this person trust God? No, but he thinks he does.

And after getting robbed, Person C starts to show his true colours:

• Panics and goes to the police
• But hires a private investigator too
• Harasses the receptionist to show him the CCTV footage
• Runs up and down the streets looking for the thief

Person C is actually Person A trying to be Person B.

Person C thinks that by not taking any precautions, he is demonstrating his faith in God.

Do you notice that Person B, the one who actually trusts God, still buys insurance?

That is because Person B is aware of the part in the bible where it says that God has sent us as sheep into the midst of wolves.

With that knowledge, Person B buys insurance just in case he gets robbed.

Person C has insufficient knowledge of God and His word, so he thinks that he will never be robbed.

And when the robbery happened, immediately he begins to doubt more. He may be wondering about what sin he may have committed to displease God into sending a robber his way.

Before we became Christians, we are usually Person A. Then after we accept Christ, we become Person C.

And God wants us to become Person B.

And we become Person B as we mature in the faith.

The question is, how do I become Person B?

How do I trust God?

Romans 10:17 (New International Version)

¹⁷ Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

We learn to trust God when we practise the message of Christ.

When we come to a greater revelation of Christ day by day, we know more deeply the following truth:

Romans 8:32 (New International Version)

³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

We gain faith by meditating on the message of Christ.

By knowing that when God made the biggest sacrifice for us – Jesus – He will make every lesser sacrifice too.

And we grow spiritually by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Over time, as we practise spiritual disciplines like bible study, prayer, fellowship, fasting and evangelism, the Holy Spirit works in us to produce fruits.

God is the gardener, pruning us into greater faith.

And as we go through the years with God, we slowly have our prayers answered one by one.

We can then look back, and think about all those times He said yes.

We eventually come to a point where we live in an overflow of answered prayers.

We learn to trust God when we can look back and see, and say, “God has been faithful to me.”

And with evidence from the past, we can look ahead to the future and say:

“God will be faithful to me.”

So to summarise:

1. Faith is gained through practising the message of Christ.
2. God works in you to grow your faith through the Holy Spirit (we walk in the Spirit by participating in bible study, prayer, fasting, fellowship, evangelism centered around what Jesus did for us).
3. Your faith grows when God gradually answers each prayer, and you know from personal experience that He keeps His promises.

I hope this helps. God bless.