Life is filled with many uncertainties. And naturally we bring levels of caution to our decisions because it’s clear everyone cannot be trusted. But it’s much easier to have hope and live by faith when we can trust in the goodness of love.
For instance, we’re not likely to envision a positive future with someone when we don’t trust that their heart toward us is good – that they truly love us and have our best interest in mind. And it would seem like a foolish risk to move toward them and allow ourselves to be hurt. But when we can trust in their love then we can have a confident hope that our life together is moving toward the good. And we’re more willing to take bold steps of faith even if this goodness is not fully realized today.
This is true in our life with God as well. Many times our struggle to walk by faith and hold on to hope exposes our doubts regarding God’s love toward us. While we might readily affirm his love for others, sometimes we struggle to rest in his love for us personally. And when we’re not confident that God’s heart toward us is good, we naturally start to wonder if we can trust him with our future, and if the seemingly crazy acts of faith we’re being called to are worth it. In time, we stop looking to God and simply do whatever seems right in our own eyes.
And in many ways this has been evil’s strategy since the beginning – to make us question God’s heart toward us and start to believe he’s holding out on us. And this is why we must keep coming back to our first love – fully trusting in God’s goodness and willing to risk where we cannot trust.
In the end, our life remains impotent and dull without a confident faith and compelling hope. But perhaps none of this matters until we can first trust in the goodness of God’s love toward us personally.
Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash
