Trust

 

Why is it so hard to believe Christ and trust him completely? Christ wants to give us his life and spirit, and if we look to him for only a moment, our hearts tell us: Here is one we can trust. Yet each of us knows feelings of fear and anxiety. Something in us seeks Christ, and at the same time something in us wants to serve self and is unwilling to surrender to him completely. But that is what we must do, for the Gospel (Jn. 14:1) says “trust and believe.” It is not enough to give Christ what is good in us, or to give him our sins, or to bring him our burdens. He wants our entire selves. If we do not give ourselves to him completely –if we hold on to our reservations –we will never find the full inner freedom and peace promised in the Gospel. We must give Christ our innermost being.

 Often the power of darkness puts fear into our hearts and keeps us from full dedication to God. When Jesus said in the synagogue, “Unless you eat my flesh (Jn. 6:53) and drink my blood, you can have no life,” even his followers found these words hard to accept, and many of them left him. But when Jesus asked the Twelve, (Jn. 6:67-69) “Will you also leave me?” Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have faith, and we know that you are the holy One of God.” Such faith must live in us too – in our hearts, our souls, and our whole being. It must become a reality in us again and again: not a religious system, not a theory, but the knowledge that we can trust Jesus completely and give him everything – our whole lives – for all eternity. It is not necessary for us to understand everything intellectually. It is much more important to experience trust and faith in our hearts and being.

Apart from Jesus we will find no peace. Where he is, there is God. He is there even for those who leave him, as did many people in his time who found his words too difficult to accept. Therefore we pray for ourselves and for them, “Lord, help us. Come into this world. We need thee, thy flesh, thy spirit, thy death and life, and thy message for the whole creation.” We should fear neither our enemies nor the slander and persecution that may come to us.

We should trust in Jesus. He was also slandered and persecuted. We do not want anything better. If we turn in complete trust and love to Jesus, I feel absolutely sure that we will be kept under the loving protection of God.

 We must believe and trust that Jesus is the answer to all our perplexities, problems, and anxieties. I have not always trusted Jesus enough, but I recognize my lack of trust as sin. Life is not without perplexities or anxieties. Yet we know where to turn. It is very simple: if you don’t understand something, trust Jesus. This is not always easy; sometimes it costs an inner fight to do so (Jn. 14:1) wholeheartedly. But Jesus says, “Trust in God and trust also in me.” That is the only answer.

I would advise you not to puzzle too much about difficult questions of faith, such as why God might use a man whom he loves as a tool of his wrath. We do not know enough about God’s love. The only answer to such questions is complete, unconditional trust.

Even when we are in inner need we must forget ourselves and give ourselves in daily service to those around us. Then God will help us. It is not necessarily good for us to keep on talking about our problems or to share our difficulties again and again. God knows what we need before we ask him. Trust in him like a child. Then he will help you.

If we feel tempted to lose trust in each other because of struggles we have gone through, or for any other reason, we must find inner quiet. We must have an attitude of trusting dedication to Jesus that says, “not my will, but Thy will” and makes us absolutely quiet inwardly. Without this strengthening trust, I personally could not go through one day. The Bruderhof will pass away; we will all pass away; ultimately, Jesus alone will be victor.

I beg you –from the depths of my heart –to trust God completely. There are many frightening passages in the Bible, especially in the Revelation of John. But even there it says that God himself will wipe away the tears of all those who have suffered. We must really (Rev. 21:4) believe that Jesus came not to bring judgment but to bring salvation:

God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that everyone who has faith in him may not die but have eternal life. It was not to (John 3:16-17) judge the world that God sent his Son into the world, but that through him the world might be saved.

 Here we see the indescribable longing of God to save humankind. At the end we shall be one with God. We must believe this, for our children too, even if we have to suffer for Jesus’ sake.

Like sunshine over a valley, God’s great love spreads out over the whole earth. It is true that there are terrible things in the world, such as war; and wars will come, but God is greater. He is much greater than man, and his love is much greater than man’s. Do not live in fear. Look down across the valley and toward the mountains, and think of the great God who created all things, and who has you in his hand. If we live according to Jesus and his teachings, we have no reason to be afraid. Let us be faithful to him and to God and leave all fear behind.

Learn to trust Jesus always, even when you cannot understand something. Situations will often arise in life without your understanding why. The only answer is to trust Jesus. You will go through very hard times, but never forget that the final victory is God’s. Always believe this. (Rev. 21:1) Heaven and earth shall pass away, but a new heaven and a new earth are coming.

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