From Brad Wilcox’s book ‘Changed Through His Grace’ . . .
Facets of Trust
Researchers in education have identified five facets of trust (2) that apply to trusting God’s grace as well. For trust to exist there has to be benevolence—a high level of caring, positive intentions, and fairness—but also expressions of appreciation and love. To trust God we must believe He is benevolent. (see Acts 10:34; 1 John 4:16)
Honesty is vital. Trust depends on integrity, truth, keeping promises, and avoiding manipulation. How can we have trust in God if we feel manipulated by Him? We must believe God is honest and cannot lie. (see Titus 1:2; Ether 3:12)
The next facet of trust is openness, which includes shared decision making and clear communication with us about those choices through prayer (see Luke 21:36; 2 Nephi 18:15; Doctrine & Covenants 20:33).
The final facets of trust are reliability and competence. When people are consistent, dependable, and committed, they open the door for trust. When they are capable, they seal the deal. Trustworthy people are positive examples and effective problem solvers. They know how to handle difficult situations that come up. We must believe that God is fully reliable and competent but also flexible enough to handle anything that comes up in our lives. We can be assured that God takes in stride whatever takes us by surprise. When these five facets are in place, we are willing to trust God and His grace. With Isaiah we can declare, “I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).
Sources of Mistrust
Sounds pretty straightforward, so why do we sometimes lack Isaiah’s confidence? Often we guard ourselves and distance ourselves from God even when we know we need Him. I once had the opportunity to speak at BYU Women’s Conference with Sister Kathleen H. Hughes, former member of the Relief general presidency. She spoke very openly with the sisters when she said, “When life becomes too busy, I sometimes fall short when it comes to letting go and trusting God and Christ. I become too stressed with the events of the day or week or month. I take it all on myself rather than “turning it over to God,”3 Even when we desire to “turn it over to God,” we wonder what that means and how exactly to do it.
Let’s go back to the idea of benevolence. We don’t doubt God’s benevolence as a general rule, but when we are confronted with life’s unfairness or individual suffering, we can begin to wonder. When we pray for help and it doesn’t seem to come, we become discouraged. Even with a knowledge of the plan of salvation, it is easy to feel like the rug gets pulled out from under us more often than we wish. Anger and bitterness can quickly replace trust if we let them. Even when things are going smoothly, it is easy to believe that others are much more deserving of God’s attention than we are. We know “God is love” (1 John 4:16), but we also know we are not always lovable. Peace comes when we remember that God sees more than our mortality. He loves our pasts and futures as well as who we are now. Everything He does—even when it leaves us scratching our heads—is done with our best interests in mind (see 2 Nephi 26:33).~Brad Wilcox, His Grace (Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 2017), (260-62 Dwarsligger® edition) p.189-193 (continued. . .)
