Distrust in the Garden of Eden
About 6000 years ago God placed Adam and Eve in a wonderful environment in paradise where they lacked nothing. But although they had the loving care of their Creator before their eyes every day, they doubted His love for them and consciously decided to act against His will. They wanted to be on the same level as God—to be like Him—and to make their decisions independently of Him. Does this sound familiar to you? Isn’t it often the case that we fear that God wants to withhold from us what we think is good? Sometimes we are simply afraid that God’s will doesn’t coincide with our will, and so we hesitate to surrender the reins and let Him take the lead.
The very moment Eve listened to Satan and turned away from God, she saw that the forbidden tree was good for food, a delight to look at and to be desired to make one wise (see Gen. 3:6). The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life characterize this world (see 1 John 2:16) and will inevitably take the lead when God is left out.
God’s Proven Love at Calvary
Yet today, compared to the first people, we have many more reasons to trust that God has only the best plans for us. Why? Because He proved His love in an incomparable way at Calvary! What does faith conclude from this? “He [God] who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).
If He has not withheld from us the greatest and dearest Treasure He had, He will give us everything else that is good for us—and He knows this much better than we do! Isn’t it rather irrational and inconsistent if we on the one hand trust God for the eternal salvation of our souls, but on the other hand have a certain mistrust that He will also take care of the daily things, and that we therefore—as best we can—provide security for ourselves?
The Lord Jesus rested in the love of His Father. The daily awareness of this love was the source of His joy (see John 15:10–11). He trusted Him at all times and therefore could say “Yes, Father” even in difficult times (see Mt. 11:25–26). Day and night He turned to Him for guidance and involved Him in every decision of His life (see Ps. 16:7–8).
How about you? Do you also rest in the love of God? Do you trust that He has only the best plans for you every day, even if you do not always understand His actions? How does this trust manifest itself in your daily life and in how you make decisions?
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