Just trust

Our world is founded on trust. Think about it. From the time you wake up until you arrive at work or school, you are on autopilot. The alarm dings. You check the news. The coffee perks. You brush your teeth. You grab your wallet, coat and keys. You start the car. You hit the drive-thru for your favorite breakfast sandwich. There are red lights, and bridges and tunnels to pass through and – you’ve arrived.

The ease of that entire morning sequence can only happen because you rely on a series of systems, structures, devices, objects and individuals to show up at the same time, in the same

place, ready to work, every day. You’ve trusted the electric company, the water company and the media to do their jobs before you’ve even hit the kitchen. You trust the people you live with AND yourself for returning your most important things to their proper places. (Although, as a mom of four, I can tell you that finding four pairs of matching shoes in the proper size for the  proper season every morning is nothing shy of a miracle!) You can usually rely on the consistency of fast food, as well as the fact that if you hit the red light at the intersection of Routes 24 and 1 in Bel Air, you will hit every other red light all the way to Perry Hall.

As human beings, we are wired to trust each other and our environments from the time we are born. We are vulnerable. We are helpless. Anyone who’s ever overslept due to a power outage or discovered a dead car battery on the way to an important meeting knows what it’s like to be betrayed by a seemingly seamless program. We all feel the same way every time we hear that a bridge has collapsed or a plane has crashed. If we can’t trust the engineers and construction crews behind our transportation system, who can we trust?

The answer, of course, is God. God may not have invented the cell phone or the bacon-egg-and-cheese bagel, but he did create us and he knows where we are weak. He knows we need him. Where man and everything man-made fails, God always has a plan. So why don’t we trust him the way we do our refrigerators and our windshield wipers? Why don’t we think he will bring us comfort and keep us safe? 

The thing about God is that he doesn’t always deliver upon our expectations right away. In fact, we wonder where he is sometimes when everything feels like it’s falling apart. But, he was the hand below your crumbling bridge that got you to the other side. Think of all the things you’ve been through up until this point. All your struggles, whether they brought you close to death or close to walking out on something or someone you loved, were resolved for you by God. And even if you feel like the road you’re on today is unsteady, trust that you are still in the palm of God’s hand.

God knows your every desire, from the dream job, to the dream spouse, to the dream vacation, to the dream house, and he will provide for your happiness – BUT, it’s not going to be as automatic as that pink frosted donut you treat yourself to every Friday. It will take time, it will take an open mind (because you may not get what you thought you wanted), and, above all, it will take trust.

It’s harder than it sounds, but it starts with thanking God for everything he’s already done for you. Think of all the greatest joys of your life and trust that he will bring you more. Thank God for all the people, places, and things you are able to rely upon every day. Finally, tell God to put his trust in you. Make him an offering by proving your trustworthiness to someone else. Then, trust that something wonderful is coming your way.

Read More Commentary

Question Corner: When can Catholics sing the Advent hymn ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel?’

Rome and the Church in the U.S.

A steady light: Pope Leo XIV’s top five moments of 2025

Theologian explores modern society’s manipulation of body and identity

Corridors of gratitude

Encountering Christ in neighbors facing detention, deportation and loss

Copyright © 2022 Catholic Review Media

 Print