Trust, as a noun, is defined as reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence. It's the confident expectation of something; hope. As a verb, it's defined as relying upon or placing confidence in someone or something.
It's a small word, but its meaning is quite significant. Politicians beg for it. Banks and insurance companies promise it. Marriages start with it but oftentimes end without it. Babies are born giving it, but too many children grow up with it being taken away again and again. It can take years to earn, but only seconds to lose. In a world where promises are broken and lies are more common than truth, it's easy to see why trust can be so hard.
But we cannot compare God to people.
If you're anything like me, you've been let down by people. Life has hurt you in some pretty deep ways. And, sometimes, you're left with questions that will never be answered. But what I've learned in my life is that no matter the struggle, and no matter the situation, God is always the same. Regardless of what I'm going through, His promise remains that "...for those who love God all things work together for good," (Rom. 8:28). That scripture doesn't promise that everything is going to go our way. It doesn't promise that life will be easy. It doesn't promise that our healing will always come this side of heaven, but it does mean that God is more powerful than any circumstance or sin and that he is able to redeem and restore anything for our good and His glory.
This brings us to prayer. So many of us have prayed big prayers that have felt unheard or unanswered, and these are prayers for good things! For lost family and friends, for healing, for provision... Randy Alcorn writes in his book, If God is Good, "If you base your faith on lack of affliction, your faith lives on the brink of extinction and will fall apart because of a frightening diagnosis or a shattering phone call. Token faith will not survive suffering, nor should it. Losing your faith may be God's gift to you. Only when you jettison ungrounded and untrue faith can you replace it with valid faith in the true God - faith that can pass, and even find strength in, the most formidable of life's tests."
Can we come to God in confidence? Yes! But we must also come with the same perspective Jesus had - That is, confidence in God's power, but also submission to His will: "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14:36)