Radical Trust

Isaiah 43:1-13 (NIV):
1 But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

3 For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush [a] and Seba in your stead.

4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.

5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.

6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth-

7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."

8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
who have ears but are deaf.

9 All the nations gather together
and the peoples assemble.
Which of them foretold this
and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
so that others may hear and say, "It is true."

10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.

11 I, even I, am the LORD,
and apart from me there is no savior.

12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God.

13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?"

How many times have we found ourselves facing someone in crisis and saying "Don't worry, God is in control". But the question is really, why do we need to have trust, or rather radical trust in God?

In this week's OTC reading, we read about Hezekiah and how he was faced with a threat of attack by Sennacherib, King of Assyria, and despite being chastised by him (2 Chronicles 32:10-19), Hezekiah nonetheless responded in trust in the Lord and "cried out in prayer to heaven about this";

Isaiah 37: 14-20 (NIV)
14. Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
15. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD :
16. "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
17. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
18. "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.
19. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.
20. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God. "

And we read that in the end:

2 Chronicles 32:21 (NIV)
21. And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.

Perhaps radical trust would mean to have having trust in something which under normal circumstances, others would not have. I check with the dictionary revealed that the word "radical" has quite a few meanings, one meaning "extreme" while another referring to that forming a basis or foundation. But I do agree with yesterday's discussion that the focus should not be on the definition because "radical trust" would be different for everyone at different points in time. For someone, radical trust might be trusting in God for matters ranging from exams to going away to serve full-time as a missionary. As Arun points out, someone may find "going to cell on Friday night while others may spend it resting or chilling out" radical. I believe God meets each of us at our varying levels of our faith.

But back to the fundamental question on why is "radical trust" in God necessary? Some have shared how having radical trust in God, though nerve-wrecking because sometimes it does not make human sense, helps us live out our lives according to God's purposes and plans. I have shared how Jeremiah 29:11 have brought me back to Christ after having backslided away from Christ for 15 years. Just at the point in time I was facing crisis in some relationships in my life and in my work, I remember telling myself I will not work in a Christian organisation (because I had backslided) but God had His plans to, within a few days bring me back to Christ and subsequently to a Christian organisation to work. But how do we build trust?

1. Testimonies - hearing testimonies help us know how real God is in others' lives as well as our lives. Hearing from others help us build our faith while sharing our testimonies help edify another while remind us of how God has worked in our lives. Do we remember God's faithfulness or are we like the Israelites in the bible who constantly forgets God's faithfulness and/or take it for granted?
   
2. Reading the Word of God - I believe that God sometimes seek to encourage and assure through His Word and by reading His Word, we will come to open up communication channels with God
3. Prayer - Some have also shared how prayer with God also helps build faith as we commit our lives and circumstances into His hands and keep communication channels open
4. Believing in and Obeying God - Some shared that it is not enough just to only read the Word of God if we do not know and fear God. Trusting in God also means obeying Him under every circumstances. Once you know God for who He is, we will come to know His character as our Father and how real He is. He comforts, assures, encourage but also disciplines. Obeying Him may sometimes mean doing His will even if it does not make human sense. Some have also shared how obeying Him in every little small decisions and big decisions and making it into a lifestyle has also helped to build trust.
   
5. Learning from Other's Faith - Some even shared how they learnt from others' faith, even faith of children and loved ones who show us what it is to simply have faith in God.
   

But another question which crossed my mind is that whether does radical trust have a negative flipside to it? Can trust be misplaced? Well, the answer is fundamentally yes. We can simply ask ourselves, where do we have our trust in? Sennacherib asked in 2 Chronicles:10 "On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege?" In Isaiah 7:3-9, the Lord spoke to Isaiah and asked him to speak to Ahaz about an impending invasion:

Isaiah 7:7-9 (NIV):
7. Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
" 'It will not take place,
it will not happen,
8. for the head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.
Within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
9. The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah's son.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all.'

Where is your trust in? Who is your head? Is it the Lord or man?

Psalm 118:8 (NIV):
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man

I watched a recent movie called "Rendition" and it was indeed sad to see how a terrorist group was made to believe that they have to sacrifice their bodies, blowing themselves into pieces, for the sake of God; to be answerable to God how they have used the "weapon" God has given them for His sake. Deep within me, I was rather uncomfortable how God can be used and/or misinterpreted by man to cause pain and terror.

So what is your level and trust and where is your trust in?

He Never Sleeps


Great is Thy Faithfulness


Still