We have to put ourselves in a place called Haran, which is now in ruins in Turkey. We have to stand with a man named Abram and hear God tell him to go. To leave his home, his father, leave what is familiar and go to what is unknown.

Now pretend that God has told you to go. Pack up, leave what you’ve known and go to, literally, God only knows where. Would you do it? Right now, would you do it? Leave your home, parents, friends? Or would you have to think about it, turning that command over and over in your hands, looking for some other meaning to the word ‘go’?

I know. We’re all saying something like, “if God told me to go, I’d go!” aren’t we?

But let’s look at some of the things God has already told us:

Do not worry. Do not be afraid. Do not be anxious. Give generously to those in need. Lay down your lives for others. Die to yourself.

So do we still insist that if God told us to go, to leave all that we know and go somewhere unknown we would do it? We can’t even do what He has already told us to do that doesn’t require nearly the level of faith that it required for Abraham to obey the call of God.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10)

Abraham could have obeyed out of fear. He could have obeyed out of a sense of duty. But one of the reasons that Abraham is held out to us as an example is because of those two little words – “by faith”.

For the sake of my point today, I want to change out the word faith for trust. For faith to fully be faith, trust must be present. But we so often equate faith with believing in God that we don’t always see our lack of faith in certain areas. But if we call it trust, it sort of stands out like flies on rice. I’ll show you.

Because I fully trust God:

• I do not worry about anything.
• I do not live in fear.
• I am not anxious.
• I freely give out of all of my resources, including my money and my time.

Because I trust God, I love my enemies and pray for them. Because I trust God, I willingly serve others, put others first, and consider others above myself. Because I trust God, I will lay down my life for His sake and for the sake of His Kingdom. Because I trust God, I will leave everything to go.

For most of us, very few of those statements are actually true. We want them to be true, wish they were true, and would probably never admit to others that they aren’t true. But they aren’t.

We must lay aside whatever keeps us from fully trusting God’s goodness, His ways, and His heart. We cannot continue to compare Him to man, keeping our guard up, watching and waiting for Him to betray us. We can’t continue to trust Him for salvation, but not for financial provision or employment, or a spouse. We trust Him to save us but we struggle to trust His sovereignty over all things.

We trust the blood of Jesus, but not the heart of the Father who sent Him to shed that blood on our behalf.

Questions:

• How honest am I with myself regarding my trust in God? Am I willing to admit that I do not fully trust Him in certain areas?
• Do I actually trust that His plan for me is good, or am I working my own plan, just in case?
• Do I trust God’s heart for me, or am I just agreeing with what other people say?

I urge us into the Word of God to know the One who is utterly trustworthy.