Are faith and trust the same thing?

It was May 13, 1999. A day that would forever alter my life. It is the day my only sibling and brother, Bryce, died from taking his own life.

I was a college student living in Tijuana, Mexico for my missionary internship and before I could even dry my tears after hearing the news from my dad, I was on a plane to go home to Tucson, Arizona with only the clothes on my back and a bag of dirty laundry. I think shock simply overwhelmed any understanding of how my life would forever be different. I would also be surprised many years later to see how the seeds of doubt in God’s trustworthiness were planted in me that terrible day.

Did I have a strong faith? I thought so.

In that tragic moment did I trust that God would be with me and my family and help us through this? Yes, and He did. Did I know the promise of eternal life and believe that one day I would see my brother again? Yes. Did I ever think I could be angry with God? Never. Did I ever think 20 years later I would struggle with doubt in God’s goodness? Impossible, I thought. 

Although faith and trust go hand in hand, without TRUST, faith will not stand.

Faith is believing God CAN. Trust is living like I know I CAN’T.

-Trust is faith wrapped in a relationship with our all-knowing God.  

-Trust is a deliberate decision to depend on God, who is trustworthy.

-Trust is an exchange of our way and will for God’s will and way.

-Trust takes us beyond believing in God to believing God, period.

-Trust is not independent of obedience. We can’t believe what God says is true and not do what He commands us to do.

James 2:19-22 says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder. Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.” 

Trust is faith in action.

Let’s apply this practically…

As Christians, we can have faith God is preparing a place for us in Heaven, but do we trust Him to work all things for good in the hard and painful things that happen in this world ?

If you are a parent, you may believe that God gave you your kids for a reason, but are you trusting Him daily to help you parent them?

If you are in a struggling marriage, you may have faith that it will get better, but can you let go of control and trust Him with redeeming and transforming it?

If you are a woman who struggles with perfectionism and comparison, like me, we can believe the scripture that says God fearfully and wonderfully created us (Psalm 139:14), but do we trust that only in Him is our true identity?

I know you may be discouraged by your struggle with doubt or wrestling with the truth that the faith you want to have is not the faith you are living out. I want you to know you are not alone. Like many of you, I am still on a journey of choosing to trust God daily that He has my life in His good, loving, faithful, and trustworthy hand even when life takes a turn from what I envisioned or planned. Let’s walk this bumpy and curvy road of trust together, as we declare:

“Lord, we believe. Help us overcome our unbelief.”

Living in the Tension of Faith and Trust Together,

God is in the tension.

Some things in life are both/and. We can be hurting and healing at the same time. We can have pain and purpose. We can hold hands and still be upset with each other. In it all, God is in the tension. Enjoy this bracelet or give it as a gift! All proceeds from sales help fund the ministry of Reclaimed Story. Shop our entire jewelry and journal line HERE