As the faithful, we are called to build our life on God, and not on the fragile foundation of our human nature. Our security, that which will withstand all the storms of life, is founded on His love, on His Word, on His desire to save us. Through trust and faith, we place our security in God and thus live on a solid foundation.
This trust in God can become the fundamental and absolute principle of our life, regardless of our emotions. In fact, we cannot rely on our sensative experience to ascertain whether God is close to us or has turned away. Instead, we must always cling to the certainty that He is always on our side and loves us.
An antithesis of trust is distrust, which is an offense to love. The harm caused by distrust can also be seen on the human level. When someone views us with a distrustful attitude, it is difficult for us to respond appropriately. Everything we do will be interpreted as if we were against them, even if it can be clearly demonstrated that this is not the case. This happens when the heart has already been poisoned by distrust.
If we discover this distrustful attitude within ourselves, we need to learn to counteract it. Otherwise, it will poison our relationship with God and with others. It can be a hard battle, fought within the heart by means of concrete acts of trust and asking God for His Holy Spirit, so that we can see things as He sees them…
It is also necessary to activate trust in God when we see that time and again we fall into the same sins or faults. This can be difficult for us, because we become disappointed in ourselves and we can even become self-conscious and feel inferior. This reaction is understandable; however, we should know that God’s love is still there, wanting to forgive us and strengthen us again.
Another situation in which we must remain confident is when it seems to us that our prayer is not being heard and that it is of no use, for faith teaches us that no sincere prayer is in vain and that God will make use of it in His plan of salvation. This also counts for those moments in which we go through calamities or sufferings.
Even in the face of our existential fears or when bitter poverty comes upon us, we must respond with trust. God will show us a way out in these situations, and it is up to us to cling confidently to this certainty.
Another great antithesis of trust is fear. In this context the Lord’s words apply: “In the world you will have hardship, but be courageous: I have conquered the world” (Jn 16:33). The problem with fear is that we easily allow ourselves to be carried away by it; and, moved by the desire to avoid at all costs the evil that threatens us, we forget to confront it with God and open it to Him. We give too much importance and weight to the evil we are trying to avoid. Let us take as an example the fear of sickness, which can be so strong that we do not even turn to God to deliver it to Him, because we are only occupied in avoiding it with whatever means we have at our disposal.
Confidence is also necessary when we are entrusted with a great mission and we feel absolutely incapable of carrying it out. Let us trust in God and let us not allow ourselves to be so impressed by our own limitations that we lose heart!
Nor should we lose confidence when we are going through inner darkness; it is precisely in those moments that we can be sure that God is with us!
It is important to clarify that confidence should not be confused with a natural optimism, which makes us say lightly that “everything will be all right”. To trust means to abandon ourselves completely to God, to place our hope entirely in Him and in His goodness. Such trust will free us from confusion and restlessness, and give us the courage to accept our life and fulfill the task given to us.
But how can this trust be acquired?
First of all, we must meditate and internalize as deeply as possible those words of Scripture that exhort us to trust in God. We will discover many such passages, for through them God wants to help us to grow in love and trust in Him.
Moreover, we can reflect more often on our life, recognizing how often God has accompanied us and from how many evils He has preserved us.
We are called to always thank God for our life, accepting from His hand every situation with gratitude. In this way, our heart becomes softer and more receptive.
On the other hand, a prayer in which we ask God to increase our confidence will never go unheeded.
It is also important that we work on our inner self, for example, if we perceive in ourselves distrustful and ungrateful attitudes. We must also be vigilant with our feelings and wrong thoughts, and we must learn to deal with them in the Spirit of the Lord.
Another help for strengthening our trust in God is good spiritual literature.
It will also be helpful for us to learn to trust people properly, although this does not mean that we should become naive and imprudent.
It may also help to listen to the testimonies of others who tell us about their experiences that have strengthened their trust in God.
All this will aid us in trust, and day by day we will be able to practice it… This attitude will free our life from a certain tension and inner pressure, and God will be able to glorify Himself more and more through us.
If we begin to live in a relationship of trust with God, we recover something of the carefree paradisiacal state; something of the familiarity in dealing with God, as man had before the fall into original sin. It was as the Lord willed! Then, the relationship of love between God and man will acquire a wonderful radiance, which will attract others as well.
NOTE: To go deeper into this subject, it would be advisable to listen to this lecture entitled “Trust in God”:
