Faith and Trust

​Similar but not the same are the words faith and trust. Let us see if we can discern the difference between the two of them. Faith is described beautifully in Hebrews 11:1. "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." (NLT) The prayer written by Paul in Ephesians 3:16 and 17 puts words to God's desire for us where faith is concerned. "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." 
 
Faith comes from God. It is a state of belief that God is who He says He is. We believe that God sent His Son to die for us because of His love. Faith is a noun; it is something we possess. Henry Morris IV of The Institute for Creation Research wrote on July 29, 2016, "Faith in God is the confident belief that He is sovereign Creator of all things and that He is and will do what He claims." Romans 12:3 warns us "...think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."  
 
Trust is an action that comes from faith. We trust in God because of His nature. While faith is a belief system, trust is an action. By acting on our faith our trust in God grows over time. When we decide to trust in someone or something we make a willful choice and take a deliberate action. Trust grows out of faith, and yet as we daily renew our trust in Jesus our faith also grows. Remember the man who asked Jesus to heal his son from the violent seizures that possessed him? Jesus responded, "'Anything is possible if a person believes.' The father instantly cried out, 'I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!'" (Mark 9:23, 24 - NLT) This father was asking Jesus to increase his faith and realized he had to trust his son's wellbeing to Jesus.
 
Let us look at some examples of people in the Bible who had faith in God and put that faith into action by demonstrating their trust. Genesis 6:9 says, "Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God." He trusted God by taking the action of building the ark. Hebrews 11:7 puts it this way: "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to receive his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."
 
Hebrews 11:8 and 9 talks about the faith of Abraham:  "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, (action of trust) even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country..." Hebrews 11:17-19 talks about another astounding act of trust that Abraham took because of his faith in God. "By faith Abraham, when God tested him offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, 'It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.' Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death."
 
The bottom line is that we must grow our faith in God by demonstrating our trust in Him. Proverbs 3:5 and 6 says it perfectly: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Use your faith in God to take actions of trust and both your faith and trust in Him will grow.