Learning to Trust Your Heavenly Father

Photo by Tatiana Syrikova

Is it easy for you to trust your heavenly Father?

Little children who are raised in safe homes know their dad is there to love, help, and encourage them. That is exactly the way it should be! It is the natural order of things. A child will jump into their daddy’s arms or laugh hysterically as they’re thrown high into the air and caught again—all because of trust.

These tiny adventurers engage in the wildest games with their dad. They are absolutely fearless with him, knowing they won’t get hurt.  

What allows a child to be fearless?

Little children are fearless because they are fully convinced their daddy is trustworthy and won’t put them in harm’s way. They implicitly trust in his unwavering care and protection.

That is the type of trust we all need for our heavenly Father.  

What makes it so hard to trust God??

When we don’t know the Lord’s character—who He really is—we will have a hard time trusting Him.  

Many people who struggle to trust God as adults didn’t have a good relationship with their earthly dads while growing up. That isn’t true in every case, but in a whole lot of cases, children who were abandoned, ignored, neglected, physically and emotionally abused, or just not loved the way a child needs to be loved—these precious kids, now adults, feel like they can’t trust God.  

But this difficulty with trusting can change. We can go from shrinking away from our heavenly Father—to running toward Him with open arms.

Let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need. (Heb. 4:16 TLB)

This shift will take time and an increase in faith, but the truth is right there waiting for us. God loves each of us unconditionally. He loves us perfectly. His love knows no boundaries or limitations. All of us get to live inside His affection, letting go of any misconceptions that cloud our view of His character.

The heart of God is soft and tender toward us. He will be patient with us as we learn. One day we will be able to say, “Oh my goodness. He is trustworthy.”

How can you start to trust your Father more?

If you’re having trouble trusting the Lord, here are three declarations that will help your heart and mind focus on the truth about Him. Repeat these as often as you need to:

• Father, Your Word says You have good plans for me (Jer. 29:11). I choose to believe You have good plans for me.

• Father, You have assigned good things to me, not bad things. Your Word says You haven’t given me “a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7 NKJV). I choose to believe I was made for the power, love, and sound thinking of God.

• You have compassion on everything You have made (Ps. 145:9). That includes me. At all times, I am a recipient of Your tender care.  

Your heavenly Father is amazingly, startlingly, beautifully trustworthy. This week may your heart be able to embrace faith and believe the truth about Him at a deeper level.

This devotional is based on Becoming the One by Salomé Roat. Click here to learn more. The book is also available in Spanish.