There’s a rather good new book out on trusting in God. I can’t really get enough of discovering good insights on this crucial topic in the 
spiritual life, and perhaps you are the same way. I’ll share a little of what I’ve found so far, but since I’ve read less than half the book at this writing, I may have more to share later. The book is entitled, Can God be Trusted? It is written by Fr Thomas D. Williams.
Along with some standard teaching on the topic, he tries to fine-tune his subject by saying what trust is not, or perhaps what it is “not quite.” Trust is not the same as optimism, not the same as expectation or reliance, and not quite the same as faith or hope. I’ll let you read for yourself, if you’re interested enough to get the book, what he says about all this, but what I’m giving here is a sort of outline that you might use to reflect on the topic.
He also gives some requirements of trustworthiness, because it is foolhardy to trust in someone who is not trustworthy. These requirements are competence, goodwill, truthfulness, and moral integrity. Of course, God scores really high on the trustworthiness test!
Then there are God’s “competitors” for our trust, that is, the things that we might be tempted to trust instead of God, or perhaps simply a little more than God, or as a safety net—should God not come through for us after all. These are education, wealth, our “networks” (i.e., our circle of friends, colleagues, etc, that seem to give us a sense of security), personal ingenuity, ideologies and theories, with a brief mention of things like power, superstition, sex, drugs, etc. All these necessarily fail the trust test and may even turn out to be quite harmful.
So far all this is helpful reading and is well-organized to situate the topic and help us gain some understanding. What hit home most for me, though, is what follows: the “sins against trust.” These may not in all cases be deliberate personal sins, but in all cases they are obstacles to trusting in God. Three of the four main obstacles are anxiety, complaining, and discouragement. It’s probably not unlikely that most of us will find ourselves struggling with one or more of these as we are confronted with situations that try our trust in God.
I’ll give just a few lines here from each. Anxiety: “Anxiety refers to a distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune… We fret, we doubt, we are afraid and disturbed by what the future may bring… Yet here is where trust in God proves so essential… An unhesitating belief in God’s providential care keeps us from becoming overly worried and preserves our peace of soul.” Complaining: “A complainer seems never satisfied with his or her lot… This is spiritually problematic because it leads us to minimize the presence of God’s grace and love in our lives, to overlook his abundant gifts. Rather than acknowledge his manifest love for us—even in times of trial—we accentuate the difficulties of our existence… Rather than asking himself what God may intend by allowing a certain state of affairs… the complainer sees only the immediate inconveniences or irritations of his situation [mea culpa!]. He also fails to realize how fruitful this sacrifice may be.” Discouragement: “Discouragement normally appears when we stop looking at God (for whom all things are possible) and become fixated on ourselves and our own misery… It doesn’t help us, it doesn’t please God, and it doesn’t benefit other people. In fact, the only one who comes out ahead through our discouragement is the devil, who delights in seeing us doubt the love and mercy of God… Trust shows itself in a particularly beautiful way when we have fallen but still have the hope to grasp the hand of God, who reaches down to lift us up again.”
There is one more, which didn’t quite resonate as much as the others—self-sufficiency—because I’m always crying out for help! But since self-sufficiency is a form of pride, I still pay attention, for pride has many tentacles, and we have to beware of them all. There is a rather humorous (but incisive) passage in this section: “We sometimes think we need to impress God… Like the Pharisee, we pull out our list of qualities and accomplishments as if we were expecting God to step back and say, ‘Wow! You are one impressive Christian! Now I know why I love you so much!’ This isn’t going to happen… such self-aggrandizement merely makes God shake his head sadly, wondering when we are going to get over our infatuation with ourselves and allow him into our hearts.”
One of the main things I’ve received from this book so far is the idea of trust as entrustment. When I trust God, I’m not just relying on Him to come through for me in any given situation. I trust Him because I have entrusted something precious to Him, that is, my soul, my life. We have to be clear on God’s trustworthiness in order to be able to do this, but if we really do personally entrust what is most precious to God, this very act of entrustment in turn enhances our trust. We see God in a new light, not only as a kind of spiritual Protector and Provider, but as someone we know well enough to entrust our secrets to, someone with whom we are on such intimate terms as to be able to hand our very lives over to Him without hesitation, without doubts or second thoughts. When we are able confidently to entrust our immortal souls to God, and all the secrets of our inner lives—and rest in that—we will be able to live in peace and meet the demands and even the disasters of life without anxiety, complaining, or discouragement.
Trust is worth whatever it takes to acquire it. Ask for it in faith, and start living like you believe you have received it. Then entrust yourself to the Lord and start to live life in a more peaceful and fruitful way. I almost just wrote, “Trust me, it will work,” but don’t trust me. Trust God.
