The Difference Between Faith And Trust

Do you ever hear someone say a word and think you know how to spell it, but actually, you don't? You look at the CORRECT spelling and think it looks weird?? Happens to me all the time. *shakes head sadly* Worse, I'll think that I know something - that I understand it thoroughly and completely - when really, I've just memorized a fact. There isn't any depth of understanding, it's just a one-dimensional fact.

Earlier this week, I started thinking about trust. I know what faith is, but what is trust? I was tempted to get out my concordance and the dictionary and work it out logically, but instead I turned to God. (He'll teach you things if you ask Him. Sometimes, He'll use a song to talk to you, or another person, or sometimes, you'll just hear His words in your heart.)

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Proverbs 3:5&6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

These were the verses that automatically jumped to my mind. One has a song that I love attached to it. The other I accidentally memorized from a Kenneth Hagin tape! (He had a unique, memorable rhythmn to his speech.) Since I wanted to exercise that spot in my heart that is always connected to God, I decided not to look anything else up. I just stretched out on our couch and kept repeating these verses over and over, mulling and chewing on them, listening for the Lord. Eventually a train of thought started.

Proverbs 3:5&6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Trust is natural. It's not something we can force. I trust my parents because they took good care of me when I was growing up. When I needed food, they fed me. When I cried, they comforted me. When I almost fell off the couch, they caught me. All of this interaction has built a history or subconscious database that lets me know what to expect from my parents in any given situation. When I ask my dad for help, I don't have to think back on all the times that he's come through for me, but I could if I wanted to.

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is a choice. Faith moves me to do something. It could be anything. I might make an internal decision, or give something away, or speak a confession, or go do something, but faith contains some sort of action. In the bible, the lady who had the issue of blood hoped to be healed by Jesus. So she (I could take this back even further, but I'm going to be nice. =P) decided to find Jesus, left her house, traveled to where Jesus was, pushed through the crowd, stretched out her hand, and touched the edge of His cloak.

Trust is natural, confident reliance on something. Faith is acting like you have a natural, confident reliance on something.

You still with me? Good! I've noticed that I try to cram a lot of information into one post and I'm thinking that for some people it's a hard slog! So, I'm going to make my posts shorter, but more often. I'll post more on this subject in the next day or so. Be blessed!