Building Trust in God

I'm preparing a sermon for this weekend on the topic of how to breakthrough fear in our lives. One of the points I want to make is that fear and faith are always opposed to one another. When we are fearful, it is very difficult for us to be full of faith. Jesus said to the disciples in the boat when they became afraid of the storm and the raging sea, "O you of little faith."

When we have an experience in our lives that makes us fearful, it is not an easy thing simply to turn it off and once again have faith — or once again to trust. I was reminded of a story Mark Buchanan tells in his very excellent book The Holy Wild, about how one summer a momma snake slithered into the house undetected and hatched a brood under the couch in the basement. Even long after the snakes were gone, Mark recounts that he still doesn't trust the room (and even less the couch). The faith that was once there regarding the rooms safety and security is now damaged, perhaps forever.

I think we must be intentional about building our trust/faith in God because life (and maybe even Father God Himself) continues to throw us experiences that shake our confidence in His goodness. We can easily become like Mark, unable to trust the couch again lest little snakelings come slithering out into the lap.