“Trusting God” is More Than a Book

by Gus Pidal

For over a decade I have distributed dozens of copies of the book “Trusting God” written by Jerry Bridges. There are certain books that change lives, this one has had paragraphs that have changed and challenged my thinking about God’s sovereignty.

Outside the Bible, I cannot think of a book that I have read more and that has had such an impact in my life like this short book and yet, it seems like every couple of years I need to go back to it. Why? Because I need to be reminded that God is in control, that I can trust him, even when life hurts.

When we suffer, we tend to retreat to ourselves and suddenly, the phrase “trusting in God” seems like a cliché, more than a truth. What I have found often is that I need to be reminded of the truths I know and this book has reminded me time and time again of God’s sovereign care.  

Bridges begins the first chapter asking the age-old question, “Can I trust God?” That is a question we tend to ask a lot. When we get a scary diagnosis, when we get laid off from a job, when we get a 30 day notice on our apartment. What do we do? Can we still trust God?  Job 5:7 says that, “Man is born to adversity as surely as sparks fly upward. All of us find ourselves dealing with pain, difficulty, and hardships that lead to suffering, and sadly it leads us to think, “Is God in control of my life?” Or perhaps we ask, “How can this happen to me?”

To answer this, Bridges writes about three truths: God is completely sovereign, God is infinite in wisdom, and God is perfect in love. He develops these ideas in the rest of the book dealing with God’s sovereign control of all things. He encourages his readers time and time again to learn to trust in God and to glorify Him in all things.

He ends his introductory chapter by quoting David in Psalm 9:9-10, “9 The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; 10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

To know God is not to just to know facts about Him, but to know His character and this knowledge leads us to trust Him, even when life hurts.

As believers, we don’t throw our hands up to fate or think positively. No, as true believers, our hope and trust is in the sovereign God. We believe the truths of the gospel and know that “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all” cares for us and loves us; and when we believe this, when we have faith in this, our hearts can’t but trust Him, who is sovereign over everything.