Daily devotional, July 06, 2024 Trust Fall
"It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes."
Psalm 118:8-9
One of the most common Team Building exercises is the “Trust Fall.” In this activity, one colleague will fall on his back and his teammates will catch him. They will then take turns to be the one to fall, and the ones to catch. The objective is to help each team member trust and rely on one another, so that when they come back to school or the workplace, they can collaborate better.
In our faith journey as followers of Jesus, we are being called to solely trust God for everything. We are not to trust man, our own strength, our own convictions, nor the wealth we have amassed.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6
The prophet Jeremiah aptly explains the reason why we should solely put our trust in the Lord, as he addressed the Israelites about their sin of idolatry and misplacing their trust on other things instead of God.
"Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord."
Jeremiah 17:5
The prophet’s discourse remains useful for us present-day followers of Jesus. For indeed, we shall not put our trust in men, in our own strength, our own hearts, and in riches.
According to Jeremiah, when we put our trust in men and our own strengths to resolve our distress and go through life, we are bound to fail. He described this kind of man in this passage below:
"He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land."
Jeremiah 17:6
Scholars explain that Jeremiah’s analogy here points to a tree who is not rooted in its appropriate source of nutrition that will allow it to grow. A man, whose trust is in its own strength or in other human beings, is much like this. A desert shrub in real life looks like it is healthy and abundant, but when you get to see its fruit, it is empty, hollow, full of dust, and just contains a dry pit. A person who does not trust God and just trusts his own self is the same — he will not live a fruitful life. Everything will just be about himself until he fails and falls into regret, and that is where the “UNINHABITED SALT LAND” comes in.
One of the most popular mentions of salt in the Old Testament is in the story about the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a land of immorality which God destroyed with sulfur and fire. The only ones who were able to escape was a family who was told not to not look back as they run for their lives, because if they do, they will turn into a pillar of salt. One of their members did not heed the advice and she indeed turned into one.
Same as us present day people, when we put our trust in other things and these things are taken from us, we get shaken to the core. We lose our sense of security and identity, and we get depressed, as we keep on regretting and looking back to our failure. What we do not know is that when we keep on looking back, we will be eaten up by our past, and we cannot live our present lives the way God wants us to.
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19
Still in Jeremiah chapter 17, the Prophet also discouraged Israelites to trust in their own heart. He said:
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9
The warning applies to us even to this day. Since sometimes we cannot even explain how we feel and why we feel it, the Prophet warns us to not trust our hearts for decisions especially during times of distress. As he said “only the Lord can search the heart.”
With this, we can surmise that when our heart tells us something, we should measure it against the word of God, so that we will know if we are on the right track.
We cannot just trust our own conviction and intuition because our feelings can deceive us. For instance, we are married, and we meet someone who seems just so wonderful and our heart skips a bit or melts each time we see this person. Do we follow what our heart dictates?
"Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered."
Proverbs 28:26
Another thing that the Prophet Jeremiah reminds us is to also not put our trust in riches, especially ill-gotten wealth. He said such riches will just be taken away from us and should not be our source of security.
So, how do we, present-day followers of Jesus, fully trust God? Well, the answer is to surrender our lives to Jesus. We are to follow His teachings and commandments, and believe that He became man to save us from our sins. We are to step away from our sinfulness, and live a life that honors God and upholds biblical values. In everything that we do and decide, we will ask ourselves, “is this pleasing to the Lord?”
"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."
Hebrews 11:6
We are to put Christ as our number one priority and source of strength and security. He is the first one we call on in times of distress, He is our source of joy, He is number one in our schedule, finances, and everything that we do. And when we live a life fully surrendered in Him, we can be sure that we are in safe hands because no one can snatch us away from Him.
"But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him'”
1 Corinthians 2:9
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Jeremiah 17:5-13 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Whom do you trust especially in times of distress? Is God your first or last option?
Conversation with the Lord: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for being the gracious and merciful Saviour that you are. Help me to fully put my trust and confidence in you especially when I am in distress, full of anxiety and regrets. I know that only you can comfort me, I know that only you can strengthen and protect me. Embrace me my Lord, you are my King. Amen.
