You can’t learn to trust unless you are willing to take a risk. If you want to be safe all the time, you won’t trust anyone. But that “safety” is an illusion and chasing after the wind. It is when we take a risk and do something “unsafe,” that is when we are truly safe.

For example, let’s take tithing – giving 10% of what you earn to the Lord. You are barely making it as it is with 100% of what you earn. How are you ever going to get by with 90%? Trusting God at this point will be a huge risk. You may not have food on the table for your children for a week if you tithed. So, you play safe. You will give when you have enough, you tell yourself. But for now, you will simply go on as you have always done. Spending 100% of what you earn on yourself….

You see, for wanting to be safe, you have not learned to trust. What if you took a risk? What if you gave the 10% anyway even though mathematically it doesn’t work out? Then, you would’ve seen how God could provide. You would’ve seen God work beyond logic and rationale. You would’ve seen that there is a One who keeps His promises to His children. But because we want to play safe, we have not experienced the supernatural.

Trust looks like this: “I don’t know how I’m going to make it if I do what God says. But I’m going to do it His way anyway. I will take a risk. And see if God will deliver…”

This is not really taking a risk. You are taking a “risk” by trying to play safe because you are under the assumption that you are in charge. But you could be involved in an accident today that will deplete all your savings even after insurance…

Here, you see Israel depending on another nation for her safety. But God says that that very ally will be demanding tribute from Israel as her enemy might do. So, Israel escaped the frying pan only to jump into the fire. She should have trusted God…

PH