Trusting Jesus

 

When I was in school for Occupational Therapy, I worked part-time in a coffee shop. I met many different people there. One day, I struck up a conversation with the director of OT at a local clinic. Every time she came in, we discussed OT—she would ask me about my studies, and I would ask her about the clinic. Eventually, she invited me to hang out at the clinic, saying I could observe the profession and be an extra set of hands for her. She went above and beyond to set everything up for me. I told her I was so grateful and excited about the opportunity. We arranged several days for me to come in.

I attended the clinic once, and before I went home, their HR department gave me a stack of paperwork to complete as a volunteer. My very mature 20-year-old self decided I didn’t have time for that, so I never showed up again—oops.

Fast forward a short while, and I received my first school clinical assignment. Of all the places I could have been assigned, I ended up at that exact clinic. 

I quickly realized that I needed to work very hard to redeem myself in the eyes of the director.

Trust is built upon a person's ability to keep their word, and I definitely started on the wrong foot with that. 

I discovered that Jesus consistently worked on building the trust of his followers. This trust was reinforced by the fact that when he spoke, his words came into being. Jesus often said things like, "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe..." (John 13:19) When he prayed for Lazarus, he stated, "I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe." (John 11:42) By speaking first and demonstrating that what he spoke came to pass, he was able to help them build their confidence in him and believe.

Jesus offers the same support to His followers today. He does not expect us to trust in Him blindly; rather, He wants to build our confidence in His word. He provides us with the same promises today. When the words He speaks are consistently fulfilled in our lives, our trust in Him grows, leading us to believe with our heart.