A: Well, this is a very open ended question. I will break it down since it seems like there it's a 2 Part-er question. One about the trust of your friend, and the other about trusting in God.
Trusting your Friend:
As you have heard it said before, "trust is earned". However, I think it's important to not just start off with a clean state and have each of your friend earn it. Instead, it should be that they have the trust from the beginning and really have to keep it. Similar to "innocent till proven guilty".
Trusting your friend requires you to understand their intentions. Here are some questions to ask yourself in reflection of your friend:
1. Do you find them lying to you for their own benefit?
2. Do they hang out with you when they have no one else and then ditch you when other friends come along?
3. Do they have your best interests at heart?
4. Are they willing to say the things that need to be said and sometimes point out your faults for your benefit? (Speaking the truth in love).
Something to remember is that any relationship needs to be built on trust and love. Whether it be a friend, a boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse. It also needs to be worked on...meaning that if you want a friendship to work out, communication, forgiveness, cooperation, compromise and reconciliation must also happen.
Trusting God:
Trusting God may be a little the tough one out of the two because it's not like you can see Him or hang out with Him in the way you would with a friend. However, I would like to challenge you this:
Think about the last time you really needed God. Like, the last time you went through a struggle in your life, asked Him for help...and He came through; giving you strength, wisdom, courage to get through whatever you needed to.
Now remember this verse: 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
We have to remember that the same God that has saved us from our sins, is the same God that will help us in the future. Christ promises to remain true to us as long as put our faith into Him. He has proven trustworthy in your life at one point or another. And He promises to remain trustworthy through the entire duration of your life.
Another verse that I'd like to share with you comes from the same book, Hebrews 11:1 1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. There is an element of faith that is needed to trust our God. If it was so easy and so plain for people to see, there would no persecution in the world and no one would doubt God. God reveals the truth to us, in hopes that we have the right heart and attitude to see. He has promised us blessings, and our in faith, we must trust that what we do not see now, it will come to fruition in time and through Him.
[answered by Pastor KJT]
