CHAPTER 1. What Is Trust? Get Started. What has you anxious right now? Take time to write about it.

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1 CHAPTER 1 What Is Trust? Before you begin, please read chapter 1 in Unshakeable Trust. Get Started Read the opening quote by George Mueller. Do you agree with it or not? Explain. What has you anxious right now? Take time to write about it. How can trusting God alleviate your anxiety about your situation? Trust enables us to live without weights, burdens, or cares, because we have confidence that another will deal with those things for us. Instead of feeling that we are continually carrying a heavy load, we can enjoy a wonderful lightness in our souls. Putting our trust in God and casting our cares on Him requires that we make a decision to do it. The psalmist David spoke frequently about putting his trust

2 2 UNSHAKEABLE TRUST STUDY GUIDE in God. The word put is an action word that we often find in God s Word when He is giving us instructions on what to do things like put on love, put on the new man, put on your shoes of peace, as well as put your trust in God. Write the verse from Proverbs 29:25. Write it from three different Bible versions. Now commit your favorite version to memory. Journal for a few minutes about how God has kept you safe in the past. I encounter many people who are quick to tell me that they are trusting God to take care of their problems, and yet they also tell me they are afraid, worried, and desperately trying to reason out what they should do. This tells me they believe they should trust God and they want to trust God, but they haven t done so yet. They say they trust God, yet they are weighed down with the cares of many things. I ve learned the best way to function in our relationship with God is be truthful with Him. He already knows the truth, but it will help us to face it. I wasted a lot of years claiming that I was trusting God while I was worried and miserable, and it really helped me to recognize that true trust has good fruit. It produces peace the peace that passes understanding!

3 What Is Trust? 3 Get in the Word Match the following verses to the themes. 1 Peter 5:7 Philippians 4:6 Lu ke 1 2 : Psalm 55:22 If you start to worry, look at the birds and how God takes care of them. And then realize you are more precious to God than birds. There s no need to worry about anything; instead, pray about it and watch God work it out. Give your cares to God; he will always take care of those who are righteous (made right through Christ). Give all of your worries and cares to the Lord. God will handle them because he loves you. Do you believe God is reliable, good, honest, and effective? Why or why not? What other adjectives would you use to describe God? How can these adjectives help to remind you to trust and depend totally on God? I have heard the word faithful defined as to be trusted or relied on. We can rely on God! We can lean on Him. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us, but to be with us always (see Matthew 28:20). When we are in need, we can trust Him to be with us and help us (see Hebrews 13:5). When we are going through trials, He is with us and always helps us (see

4 4 UNSHAKEABLE TRUST STUDY GUIDE 1 Corinthians 10:13). And, when all others forsake us, He is with us and remains faithful (see 2 Timothy 4: 16 17). Trust God What do you think is the difference between trying to trust God and truly trusting God? How much do you put your trust in God? (Use a scale of 1 10; 1 is not much trust; 10 is all of your trust.) Write a prayer to God about where you are on the spectrum of trust. Is your confidence in yourself or in God? Explain. The apostle Paul was very clear when he stated that he put no confidence in the flesh. Although he had many natural advantages, he did not put his trust in those outward things. He emphatically says that our confidence is in Christ (see Philippians 3:3). Trust is confidence in the one who is trusted, and confidence in Christ makes us comfortable! It allows us to work with ease, because we believe we can do what needs to be done. Confident trust removes stress, pressure, worry, and the fear of failure.

5 What Is Trust? 5 How can having confidence in Christ help us even when we don t feel confident? Satan does not want us to be confident, because he knows that without it we will not accomplish much in life. Even people who are very talented, intelligent, or capable still need confidence. Confidence is to us what fuel is to an airplane. An airplane has the capability to fly, yet it remains on the ground without fuel. It is impossible to be consistently confident if our confidence is misplaced in people or things because they are changeable, but God never changes and He does not lie! He is the Rock we hang on to in a world that is often a swirling sea of uncertainty. Keep in Mind Trust is more than words it is releasing the weight of your burden; it is a decisive action that brings rest to your soul, mind, will, and emotions. God never changes and He does not lie! You can put your confidence in Him. Commit to Action Make a list of the times you have experienced God s faithfulness in your own life. Thank God for these times and commit to trusting Him even more today.