A staple of team building exercises involves building trust in your co-workers.
Typically this is done by having a team member close their eyes, cross their arms across their chest, and intentionally fall straight backwards into the arms of a co-worker standing immediately behind them. Intellectually they know they having nothing to fear - that is faith, but emotionally surrendering to faith is the really hard part of the exercise - that is trust!
Trust is the dynamic expression of faith, transforming belief into a lived reality.
While faith establishes the foundation of confidence in God’s existence, character, and promises, trust is faith in action—the deliberate choice to rely on God in life’s uncertainties, trials, and joys.
Trust is not passive; it is an active surrender, a daily commitment to align your life with God’s will, as revealed in Scripture. The Bible illuminates trust as a relational, practical outworking of faith, demonstrating how Christians are called to live out their belief through dependence on God’s providence, faithfulness, and love.
At its center, faith is the bedrock of Christian life, defined in Hebrews 11:1 (NLT) as “the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Faith is the intellectual and spiritual acceptance of God’s reality and promises, such as salvation through Jesus Christ — just as the subject in the trust exercise knows that a co-worker is standing behind him.
But trust takes this belief further, and engages the heart and will to act on that confidence. Trust is faith stepping into the unknown, like Abraham, who “by faith… obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land” (Hebrews 11:8, NLT). His trust was faith in action, leaving familiarity behind to follow God’s call without knowing the full outcome.
Trust is deeply relational, rooted in God’s unchanging character. The psalmist declares, “But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, ‘You are my God!’” (Psalm 31:14, NLT). Trust reflects a personal relationship, where we rely on God as a loving, sovereign Father. Unlike blind optimism, Christian trust is anchored in God’s proven faithfulness. For instance, when David faced Goliath, his trust was not in his own strength but in God’s deliverance: “The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” (1 Samuel 17:37, NLT). David’s faith in God’s power became trust through his courageous action, confronting the giant with confidence in divine intervention.
Trust as faith in action often shines brightest in adversity. The Bible repeatedly calls believers to trust God amid trials, not as a passive resignation but as an active choice to depend on His wisdom. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” This emphasizes trust as a deliberate turning away from self-reliance toward God’s guidance. When Job faced unimaginable loss, his trust was tested, yet he declared, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last” (Job 19:25, NLT). Job’s trust was faith in action, clinging to God’s redemption despite suffering.
The emotionally scary part is that trust also involves surrender, a willingness to relinquish control. Jesus exemplified this in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Luke 22:42, NLT). His trust was the ultimate act of faith, submitting to God’s plan despite the cost.
For Christians, this surrender is a daily practice, whether in small decisions or life-altering moments. Trust means acting on the belief that God’s ways are higher, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9 (NLT)
Trust is also closely tied to reliance on God’s provision and timing. Jesus taught His disciples to trust God for daily needs, saying, “Don’t worry about these things… your heavenly Father already knows all your needs” (Matthew 6:31-32, NLT). This trust requires action—choosing not to be consumed by anxiety but to seek God’s kingdom first. Similarly, Paul’s life demonstrated trust through perseverance, as he wrote, “I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return” (2 Timothy 1:12, NLT). Again, Paul’s trust was faith in action, enabling him to endure imprisonment and hardship because of his confidence in Christ’s faithfulness.
For us today, trust as faith in action is a call to live courageously and obediently. It means praying with expectation, serving others selflessly, and stepping into God’s calling despite fear or doubt. Trust transforms faith from an abstract belief into a vibrant, active reliance on God. As David wrote in Psalms, “But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3 (NLT) This trust is not a one-time act but a continual choice, nurtured through prayer, Scripture, and community, enabling us to live out faith in every circumstance.
Trust is the bridge between knowing God and living for Him. It is faith in action, moving beyond intellectual assent to a dynamic reliance on God’s character and promises. Through trust, believers like Abraham, David, and Jesus Himself demonstrated that faith is not merely believed but lived. As Jesus followers today navigating life’s uncertainties, the call to fully trust remains clear: “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you” (Psalm 37:5, NLT).
Trust is the heartbeat of faith, pulsing with the courage to act on God’s truth in every moment.
Our faith tells us that God has our back and won’t let us fall.
Trust allows us to surrender and prove it’s true.
Blessings on you and yours, Jim Black
P.S. if you’d like to read previous ruminations of mine they can be found at https://www.salvationarmyconcordca.org/chronicle/?category=Bible%20Study