What does it mean to trust in God?

We often hear phrases like "Just have faith" or "trust God," but what does that actually look like for us in our quotidian, mundane lives?

By Patricia Figueroa Green

If you are anything like me and grew up hearing incessant stories about Jesus, you know that faith has carried so many of our loved ones and ancestors. For so many of them, faith is the only thing that life could not strip from them. When things felt unstable, unrestrained, and unattainable, they grasped onto the hope that there is an omnipotent and omniscient God who actually looked over them. But what does having trust and faith actually look like?

If you are anything like me—again—you may have perhaps doubted and questioned the veracity and reliability of this God. I recall sitting in my university's classroom as my disbelief began to fester. The stories of old began to sound more like coping strategies and ways to rationalize an otherwise depressing reality that many of our people were forced to reckon with on this side of heaven.

And yet, I have met the greatness of this God time and time again since those incredulous days. I have been forced to recognize Him for the mighty works and subtle ways he makes Himself known and present in our lives. And even when you claim to follow God's teaching through the bible, many of us do not actually know what it truly means to trust.

Trust is a frightening release of control; a letting go that allows one to come in.

In a world where we must appear to have it all together and make everything look perfect and seamless, how do we reconcile the idea of "releasing" and relinquishing our own will?

I wish I had the answer to this question, as I am also seeking to find it. However, this I do know: it is not about what it looks like; it is about what it feels like. Trusting does not have an appearance; it does not worry about what others may or may not assume. Trusting is walking in a sense of assurance, even when your legs are shaking and your heart is pounding, because you have chosen to believe that the God above is actually standing beside you.

It does not look like perfection, so release the perfect church girl aesthetic and leave it for Pinterest.

It is a heart posture.

A willingness.

An openness.

A heart that embraces LOVE.

A heart that recognizes its own faults and sees the humanity in others.