5

TRUST
TRUST ME

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TRUST
“Trust Me”

I. INTRODUCTION

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Story: The Helen B. Sterling and the Battleship Melbourne

“Help! We are sinking!”

Far out in the expanse of the great Pacific Ocean, the merchant ship Helen B. Sterling was
struggling in a terrible storm. Going to the radio cabin, the captain sent out a desperate cry,
hoping that a ship would be near enough to come to their assistance. Hundreds of miles away, the
great Australian battleship Melbourne was steaming toward home when, through the airwaves,
they heard the desperate cry for help. Immediately the great battleship swung around and, at full-
speed, steamed toward the sinking vessel. Hours passed. Meanwhile the Helen B. Sterling was
beginning to fall apart.

Going to his radio again, the captain sent out this message: “Can’t last another hour . . .
Waterlogged . . . Sea sweeping right over us . . . Trying to clear lifeboats, but impossible to live
in this storm.”

Back from the Melbourne came this stirring reply: “Keep good heart. We are certain to reach
you.” In effect, the captain of the Melbourne said, “Trust me! I’ll reach you. I’ll save you.”

And the captain of the Melbourne kept his promise. Just before the Helen B. Sterling sank, the
great battleship pulled alongside, and, by the gallant efforts of her crew, transferred the weary,
shipwrecked sailors across the raging sea to safety.1

The captain of the Melbourne proved to be a man of his word. He was trustworthy. Today there is
a crisis and a massive breakdown in trust. There are some people you cannot trust. There is such
a thing as misplaced trust.

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A government inspector visited an aged woman suffering from cancer, who had bought an
apparatus from a mail order company advertising a cancer cure. Upon investigation, the officer
found it was a simple battery with two wires on it that the woman tenaciously hung onto so she
could be cured. Quacks look for gullible victims who will trust them, even though they don’t
merit trust. Some prey on senior citizens and other vulnerable people. Some practice identity
fraud. Some who take advantage of others appear to be very interested and caring. Trust needs to
be combined with knowledge and wisdom—and must be based on underlying reality.

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DEFINITION OF TRUST
Trust is an important factor in wholistic health. Trust is a reliance on a person or treatment.
Confidence. To commit to someone’s care for use or safekeeping.

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Trust is to believe, give credit to, to entrust. The word is related to the Greek word pisteuo, “to
believe.”

II. LIFE’S EARLIEST AND MOST IMPORTANT DILEMMA

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WILL IT BE TRUST OR MISTRUST?

Erik Erikson, famous psychologist, originated the concept of the 8 important questions to
be solved in life. The first and most basic dilemma that humans need to decide is to Trust or
Mistrust.

“Who can I trust in life?” For some, unfortunately, it comes down to “Can I trust anybody?”

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Illustration of Trust and Betrayal

JULIUS CAESAR
In his famous play Julius Caesar, which is based on a true historical event, Shakespeare
develops the theme of trust.

In his famous play Julius Caesar, based on a historical event, Shakespeare develops the theme of
friendship. Brutus had allied himself earlier with Caesar’s enemies, but Caesar forgave him and,
in love, brought him again into his inner circle as a friend and treated him as a son. In 44 B.C.
Brutus, manipulated by Cassius, pretended friendship for Caesar while all the time plotting his
assassination.

Thus Julius Caesar is lulled into a false security by the apparent faithfulness and loyalty of his
trusted associates, and he accompanies them to the Senate. He is being betrayed by those he
trusts. Supposed friends take out daggers hidden under their clothes to slay him. At first he is
ready to resist, but when he sees the dagger in the hands of Brutus, he says, “You too, my son?”
One of the 23 stab wounds finally makes its way to his heart, but his heart breaks before the

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dagger enters. His face registers disbelief. He covers his face with his robe so as not to see the
one he loved as a son, the one he had forgiven, the one he had trusted with high government
positions, betray him to his death.

The world is filled with cloak-and-dagger men. Today they may pretend to be your best friend,
your confidant, your spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, and tomorrow they double-cross you and
cause you immense pain. Today they are your most trusted business partner, and tomorrow they
have joined your competitor, taking your life effort, your technology and company secrets with
them.

Trust is a basic human need.

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We learn to trust from people who are caring, responsive & sensitive to our needs.
• Trust is a basic human need. Meeting this need will develop what psychologists call
“secure attachments.”

Meeting the need of basic human trust will develop what psychologists call “secure
attachments.” Sometimes abuse, negligence, or rejection color our perspectives with a dim view
of life, and we may have doubt about parents, authority figures, God, intimate relationships—so
instead of these, we develop trust substitutes, in which we trust peers, or a friend. By experience
we learn that often these substitutes will abandon us and let us down at the point where their
goals differ from our needs. At a crucial change point in life, we may have to re-evaluate the
objects of our trust. We may have to find a new trust in a more reliable person who will not ever
let us down.

III. THE THEME

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“THE RUNAWAY GIRL FROM TRAVERSE CITY”

Based on Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?

Karen, raised in a cherry orchard near Traverse City, Michigan, and bored with her dull life on
the farm, decided to “dress up.” Her parents had difficulty accepting her nose ring, provocative
dress, and music. She felt like a boiling tea-kettle inside when her parents grounded her. She
decided to run away!

Traverse City newspapers were always full of sordid stories about violence, drugs, and gangs in
downtown Detroit. This is why Karen decided Detroit might be where her parents would least
expect to find her. They’d probably figure California or Florida.

On her second day in Detroit, Mr. Cool noticed her. He took her to lunch, offered her a ride in his
fancy car, and found lodging for her. The pleasure pills he gave her made her feel on top of the
world.

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Life went on for a week, a month, a year. Mr. Cool (her pimp), taught her how to do “tricks.” She
commanded premium prices because she was underage. A penthouse and room service were a
way of life.

One day she saw her picture on a milk carton. She read the caption: “Have you seen this child?”
Her initial alarm gave way to smug security. She was no longer a child. Nobody could recognize
her with her blond hair, jewelry, and make-up.

Gradually, sallow signs of sickness marred her beauty. Mr. Cool turned downright cold toward
her with amazing rapidity. Suddenly she was on the street and broke. She still turned a couple
poor-paying tricks a night, but her drug habit gobbled what little money she had. Wintry blasts
found her huddled on sidewalk grates. Her eyes were shadowed with dark circles. A hacking
cough racked her frail frame. Sleep was elusive outdoors in dangerous Detroit.

One night Karen focused on the picture of her life. Once a worldly “woman,” she sensed now
she was like a lost little girl, cold and afraid, penniless and hungry. Desperate for a fix, she began
to cry. Memories of yesterday flooded her mind: Traverse City in May with millions of cherry
blossoms, and Goldie, her retriever, dashing through the snowy rows to fetch a tennis ball.

Suddenly she couldn’t understand why she had left. Her heart ached. Goldie’s not hungry like I
am, she reflected. My dog’s life is better than mine! Karen wanted, with all her heart, to go home.

She made three phone calls: only to get an answering machine. Twice she hung up, but on the
third try she left a message. “Dad, Mom, it’s me, Karen. I’ve been thinking I might come home.
I can get a bus that arrives tomorrow about midnight. If I don’t find you at the station, I’ll just go
on to Canada.”

During the seven-hour bus trip, Karen wondered: What if my folks are away? Should I have
waited until I actually spoke to them? Maybe they need more time to adjust to the shock of
hearing from me.

She thought about what she was going to say to her dad. She wanted him to know it wasn’t his
fault, that she was the wrong one. Would he forgive her? She rehearsed her speech in her mind.
She hadn’t apologized for anything in years.

The bus finally halted in front of the Traverse City station. “Fifteen minutes,” the driver crackled
over the microphone. Fifteen minutes that would determine her life. She looked at herself in her
compact mirror, touched up her hair and makeup. Will my parents be here? She wondered. Will
they notice the tobacco stains on my fingers?

She didn’t know what she’d find in the terminal. She walked through the doors wondering if
anyone would be there. What she saw was beyond her wildest expectations. She was greeted

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with a sea of party hats and noisemakers blown by familiar faces. Forty family members were
there: Grandma, Great-grandma, cousins, uncles, great aunts, brothers, and sisters. A huge
“Welcome Home!” sign hung across the length of the wall.

Her father emerged from the crowd. With hot tears and quivering voice, she began her apology.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I . . .”

“Shh! None of that! You can’t be late for your party. Wait till you see the banquet we’ve got at
the house.” 2

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TRUST CAN BE LEARNED AND RELEARNED

What does it mean to “learn” a new trust?

Maples and Webster define “learning” as a process by which behavior changes as a result of
experience. In our story Karen learned from her experience that some people can’t be trusted.
But others you can trust in good times and bad times. That is unconditional love. The rough
times in this teenager’s life called into question some basic assumptions that perhaps had crept
into her thinking and practice.

She learned that not all human beings are basically good, that there was a corrupting evil
also present in society. Then, too, she learned that she herself was not fundamentally “good,”
although a desire for goodness continued to exist in her life. But this goodness required a power
above or beyond her own capabilities if her life were to be transformed. She could not trust
in her own goodness to live a virtuous life. What she had been believing, philosophers call
“humanism.”

IV. BRAIN RESEARCH ENLIGHTENS OUR THEME STORY

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Brain Research Enlightens our Theme Story

There are 3 different areas of the brain and each affects the emotions
Lower Brain

In a recent publication Kelly Simpson describes the different areas of the brain and how they
affect the emotions. She portrays three regions and their interrelationship. Sometimes we refer
to these areas as the lower brain, the middle brain, and the higher brain. Our most basic animal
survival responses and controls come from the lower brain, also called the basal area. This
controls our breathing, heart rate, and fight-or-flight responses.

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Middle Brain
In the middle brain we have the storage of emotions & memories similar to filing thousands of
CDs . . .

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Each CD has stored on it all the memories of a certain type. This area is oftentimes called the
limbic system. In the case of the teenager from Traverse City, all the incidents in which her
father had talked to her about her self-destructive lifestyle were stored, so to speak, on the same
CD. When he would speak to her again, she would have a flash back of other similar unpleasant
memories from the past. As she ruminated on these negative experiences, the brain would
produce the identical chemicals associated with the original unpleasant experiences. The trigger
event caused the whole CD to come up with all its information on similar past events. (One may
even feel flooded with emotion, although, by itself, the trigger event is insignificant.)

In this teenager’s Detroit experience she was basically living on the “pleasure-pain” level.
She lived for pleasure and avoided painful emotions as much as possible. She accentuated the
pleasure and tried to forget the pain of her father’s restrictions. The limbic area of the brain and
the basal area of the brain were dictating her decisions. If it felt good, she did it.

Instead of trusting her parents had her best interest at heart, she chose a “trust substitute,”
Mr. Cool. A crucial change point in her life led her to re-evaluate her relationships. When she
contracted a serious sexually transmitted disease, she found Mr. Cool was only exploiting her.
She could not rely on him, or trust him, when the chips were down. When she no longer served
his agenda, he turned her out on the street without a penny. Now she learned something by
experience her parents had been trying to teach her since childhood. She could not have faith in
those who had casually entered her life in non-committed relationships.

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Upper Brain
Now, for the first time in a good while, the Upper Brain, usually called the Frontal Lobe, took
over.
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Values-Reason -Emotional Memories -Primal Instincts

Karen began weighing her options on the basis of values, logic, and reason.

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Karen’s upper brain reinterpreted her explosive memories & began to evaluate sexual drives in
terms of long-range goals.

The frontal lobe is where thinking and reasoning take place and where the will—or the power of
choice—is located, created by God to be the Supreme Court and Central Command. Karen made
a deliberate choice to return home, if her parents would receive her. Of course her welcome far
exceeded her expectations. By the trials of life, she had discovered whom she could trust. Dad
was someone she could rely on, someone she could trust. He had unconditional love for her.

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V. WHOM CAN I TRUST?

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Whom can I Trust?

Myself? Do I have the answers for life’s greatest problems? Humanism? Can I trust human
opinion when the crisis hits?

So we return to our earlier question: What/whom can I trust? Can I trust myself? Do I have the
answers within me for life’s greatest problems? Does humanism have the answer? Can I rely on
human opinion when the crisis hits?

Sometimes we place our trust in unworthy things/ people.

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MISPLACED TRUST
Some trust in riches, the people they know, position or power.

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Jeremiah 17:5-8 NLT

“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the Lord
They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future . . .”

. . . “They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives.” But the same
verses in the Bible go on to say:

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“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water …”

. . . “Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves
stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit.”

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CASE STUDY of a Man who after 38 Years Found Someone He Could TRUST

He had been sick 38 years. He said, “There was no man to help me get into the water.” Society
and friends can only bring us so far. They bring us to the edge of the pool.
“ ‘Do you want to be made well?’ ” The King James Version says, “whole.”
“ ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ ”

The paralyzed man trusted. He believed. He willed to get up, and he did get up and he did walk.
Jesus spoke directly to the man’s will. Can you trust Me? Ultimate trust is a transaction in which,
through a sovereign act of the will, we place our lives unreservedly in to the hands of our Creator
and our Redeemer.

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What if the man had doubted that Jesus would heal him? What if he had said, “Well, heal me
first, and then I’ll try to get up”?

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Trust Is a Measure of Relationship

At the heart of relationship is TRUST. The paralytic trusted Jesus, and his life was changed.
He put his health in the hands of the Great Physician.
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The Opposite of Trust Is Doubt

In the agony of reappraisal many times we are led to the point of visiting again our earlier
decision to Doubt and Distrust God.

A dictionary definition of “doubt” says: “To distrust. To be uncertain about something. To be

undecided in opinion or belief. A feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality, or nature of
something.” The original word, as used in the Bible, comes from the Greek diakrithete, from
diakrino: to hesitate, be in doubt, to be at odds with oneself, to waver. What will happen to us if
we doubt that God is able to help us? We ourselves will suffer the consequences.

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Healing of mind/spirit, body and relationships is within our reach when we completely trust
God

VI. HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE BENEFITS OF TRUSTING DIVINE POWER

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Health & Lifestyle Benefits of Trusting Divine Power

Scientific Research

Let’s look at some of the scientific research dealing with the impact and benefits of trust in a
higher power. Dr. Thomas G. Plante of the Bannan Center summarizes scores of studies as he
states that investigations have found that religiousness (which we define to be trust and faith
in a divine power) is associated with better health, enhanced ability to cope with adversity
and illness, and lower rates of mortality from all causes. Studies have noted lower levels of
anxiety, depression, and substance abuse and higher levels of self-esteem, marital adjustment,
life satisfaction, and well being. In conclusion, he states that research generally supports the
notion that religiousness is associated with positive mental and physical health outcomes. This
includes less depression, loneliness, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, alcohol abuse, and
delinquency as well as more hope, life purpose, social support, and optimism.

In fact, infrequent church attendees are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease as
regular attendees, and are four- to seven-times more likely to have a heart attack. Hypertension is
40 percent lower for those who maintain religious practices than those who do not.

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VII. LEARNING HOW TO TRUST

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Learning How to Trust through the Art of PRAYER

Have we sensed God has been good to us in our lives? How do we grow in a trust relationship?
The only way trust can grow between two individuals is by regular, positive communication
with each other. Prayer is the way we communicate with the most trustworthy, reliable Person
in the universe. According to the Barna Research Group, in the past seven days 82 percent of
Americans prayed to God.3 Does prayer make a difference? Maybe we pray, but perhaps we
haven’t fully benefited from the power that the right kind of prayer could offer to our lives.

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Clinical Research on “Distant Prayer”

Heart patients who are prayed for make a better recovery than those not prayed for—Dr.
Thomas Plante, Bannan Center

Dr. Thomas Plante reports some astounding research that has shaken the medical world. This
involves “distance prayer.” State-of-the-art research methodologies, such as double blind
randomized clinical trials, studied 400 patients in the cardiovascular unit at San Francisco
General Hospital. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups. All received the best
of standard medical care. But a prayer group outside the hospital, with no personal contact,
prayed regularly for half the patients. The hospital staff and the patients did not know who was
being prayed for. Out of the 19 outcome measures (e.g., death, length of hospital stay, etc.), the
group that had been prayed for did better on 16 of the outcome measures. This type of research
has been repeated in other places with similar results and has been published in quality medical
journals.

If this is true when a group prays for someone they don’t know, and the person doesn’t know he
is being prayed for, how much more so it would be when the individual is being prayed for by
friends and loved ones who are personally there to support the one who is sick.

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Prayers for Healing

God always answers our prayers for healing. Sometimes there is immediate physical healing.
More often, prayer may bring us emotional and spiritual healing which God sees is our greater
need.

Yes, there will be physical healing, but for some it will come on the day when Jesus returns to
take His loved ones home to heaven. We can always trust Jesus to answer us.

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We need to cooperate with our prayers.

When our lifestyle harmonizes with our prayers, then the physical cooperates with the
spiritual, emotional and relational powers in our healing.

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What would you think of a case in which a man asked God for physical healing from a
sexually transmitted disease, yet he continued to buy pornographic material and continued to
visit prostitutes? Would God be honored by answering his prayers? We need to do our part in
cooperating with healing agencies.

What would you think of a case in which a woman asked her friends to pray for her healing
from diabetes, yet she continued to consume large amounts of sugar and fats and was grossly
overweight? Would God be honored by answering prayers for her healing from diabetes?

Refer briefly to the WIN! Model

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The WIN! --Wellness Integrating Needs graphic

WIN! Wellness Integrating Needs—is a logical, reasonable way of seeking God in the Mind/
Spirit sphere, but it must be supported by correct habits in nutrition, exercise, drinking pure
water, moderate exposure to the health-giving rays of sunlight, gaining freedom from chemical
dependencies and obsessions, breathing fresh air, and rest. We then support this by our
relationships, practicing and applying appreciation, communication and resolving conflict skills
in the home. God can bless a balanced, harmonious approach in which we not only believe in
God’s divine healing power, but we permit Him to live in us so that, as 1 Corinthians 10:31 says,
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

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We can TRUST BIBLE PROMISES

The Bible Is Full of Promises
“Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them” Psalm 119:140,
NIV

Schoolteacher Everett R. Storms, of Kitchener, Canada, during his twenty-seventh reading of

the Bible, tallied the promises. It took him a year and a half. He found 7,487 promises of God to
man.4

The most powerful kind of prayer is that which claims God’s promises, because He is
trustworthy. Apart from the Psalms, which is a prayer-book all its own, there are 650 recorded
prayers in the Bible. Out of these, 450 received recorded answers. Among the remaining 200 are
valid prayers that were probably answered, but no record is given. Among them, however, we
also find examples that violated the principles of valid prayer (e.g., Balaam in Numbers 23:10)
and blocked God’s desired answer. Sixty-nine percent of Bible prayers received answers, most of
them immediately. So seven out of 10 scriptural prayers were directly answered. “Now all these
things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the
ends of the ages have come” 1 Corinthians 10:11, NKJV.5

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Exceedingly great and precious Promises

“By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises: that through these
you may be partakers of the divine nature…”—2 Peter 1:4 NKJV

“ . . . having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

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“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly, above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us” Ephesians 3:20

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The Most Powerful Verse in the Bible —Ephesians 3:20

• God is able (dunamis)
• Acts exceedingly abundantly
• Above all we ask or think
• According to power (dunamis)
• That works in us (energeo)

The first able (1) in the verse is from dunamis. God has dynamite power; He is able to perform
what He sets out to accomplish. God (2) acts exceeding abundantly or super abundantly above
the greatest abundance; entirely above all bounds. This is an abundance that is manifest at the
time of our deepest need—above all that we ask or think. God promises us every good in His
Word, everything we can imagine, beyond all that we have either read of or seen. Then the
verse says (3) “according to the power” [again from dunamis, the Greek origin of our word
“dynamite.” In this verse we have double dynamite. (4) “That works in us” (from the Greek verb
energeo, in action, operative; origin of our word “energy”). He is able according to the power of
the Holy Spirit that works in us. In this verse Paul uses four power-packed words to describe the
tremendous might and energy of the Holy Spirit working within the Christian.

Again Paul tries to describe in words God’s indescribable extraordinary provision to meet all our
needs.

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Divine Superlatives -2 Corinthians 9:8

“God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in
all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

Christ has power within Himself. Inherently He is omnipotent—all powerful. This is the Creator
who “spoke and it was done” Psalm 33:6, 9.

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Philippians 4:19 Supply All Our Needs

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

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Share a local or personal story of how God answers prayer for material need.

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1 John 1:9 God Forgives our Sins

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”
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John 6:37 God will Accept Us

“The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”

VIII. APPLICATION

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A Promise Claimed while in the Hospital with Cancer

“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God I have put my trust; I will not fear.” -Psalm
56:3,4

When Millie was in the hospital and very ill, an attendant came to her and said, “Here is a
promise for you. It’s in Psalms 56:3,4.” It says, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In
God I have put my trust; I will not fear.” After that when Millie became afraid, she would repeat
those verses. She had no one else to go to except to God, and there she felt His protective power.
She could trust Him.

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Trusting God Meets Our Greatest Need

The Bible says: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of
the Lord our God.” —Psalm 20:7

We need a secure reality in which to place our trust—a secure reality that goes beyond humanity.
We cannot trust in the police. They may arrive too late. We cannot trust in burglar alarms because
they can get out of order. We can’t trust in armies and navies; they are subject to defeat. We
cannot trust in our own strength, it diminishes day by day. We need a greater reality in which to
trust—a reality that the devil cannot disturb, jealousy cannot jar, the grave cannot hold, sickness
can’t subdue. We need a reality that transcends human understanding. Jesus needed no help in
creation, no help in making available our redemption. He liberates our souls and asks us to live
out His love within us. Do you want Someone like this to trust?

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The Experience of the Teen from Traverse City

Karen had to relearn a trust relationship with her father. As she reflected on how her father met
her needs when she was younger, she made the choice of returning to this trust relationship.

Our Heavenly Father is now offering us irrefutable evidence He can meet our needs. He met our
need on Calvary. He so loved the teenager in our story and He so loved us He gave us all—His

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only begotten Son. He meets our need of forgiveness and reconciliation. He meets our need to
experience emotional healing. Finally, He meets our needs for wholeness and wellness. Unlike
the teenager who was thrown out like rubbish, Christ says, “ ‘Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.’ ”

We have looked at this teenager’s experience from the vantage point of what was happening in
her brain to move her from distrust of her father to a trust substitute in Mr. Cool, to betrayal of
that trust, and, after a critical reevaluation and relearning, back to trust in her father.

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Will it be TRUST?
or Will it be MISTRUST?

In this presentation we’re not just talking about the teenager from Traverse City. Her journey is a
parable of your journey and mine. The details of the script may be different, but this is the same
journey we all make. In the end we all must face up to the same fundamental life decision, just as
she did. Yes, developmental psychologist Erik Erikson had the question right. The first and most
basic decision in life is: Will it be trust? Or will it be mistrust? We all face the crucial divide.

We live in a world of doubt. Up to now we have been taught to question our trust. Maybe it’s
time to question our doubts.

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WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF LIES

• LIE—The Secret of Happiness is Trust Yourself
• LIES about God

One of the big problems is that we live in a world of lies. Millions of people believe lies.
Many self-help psychology books that flood our bookstores tell us all you need to do is to trust
yourselves.

The teenager of our story was believing lies. She believed the lie that her father really didn’t
have her best good at heart. She believed the lie that if she could do whatever she wanted, she
would be happy. She believed the string of lies that Mr. Cool told her to trap her into prostitution.
Today millions are believing lies about God. They believe the lie that God doesn’t love them.
Other millions believe the lie that there is no God.

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We live in a world of LIES -2-

• LIE—You’re no good
• LIE—Things, Power, Prestige will make you happy
• LIE—Do what whatever you want, and be Happy
Many believe the lie, “You are no good.” “You are of no value.” “You are just junk.” That’s one
reason there are so many suicides.

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Bank accounts, jobs, positions and people can be here today and gone tomorrow. Some believe
the lie that can eat whatever they want, do little or no exercise, take drugs, cheat on their
spouses—and still be healthy and happy.

Have you sometimes shown yourself untrustworthy? Have you trusted someone who is
untrustworthy and been heart-broken? God can make you trustworthy and He can make that
someone you love trustworthy too.

IX. APPEAL

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It’s Time to Reject the LIES & Choose to Believe the TRUTH
• The truth is that by trusting in God you can change negative, self-defeating behaviors.

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The TRUTH
• You can choose to live a healthy lifestyle
• YOU CAN BE A WINNER in your mind/spirit attitudes, in your biological sphere, and in
the practice of positive relationships.

The truth is that by trusting in God, you can change negative self-defeating behaviors. You can
choose to live a healthful lifestyle. As we have shared here in the WIN! presentations, you can be
a winner in your mind/spirit attitudes, in your biological sphere, and in the practice of positive
relationships in all their 21 integrated factors. But you can’t do it on your own.

45 PowerPoint ©

The Secret of Success

Cultivate a Trust Relationship with God
The issue—Will you TRUST God?
You can trust God anytime, anywhere.

You can claim the promise of John 6:37: “He who comes to Me, I will by no means cast out.”

Story: Armand’s Father and the Earthquake

Armand’s father had always told him that he would come to help him whenever Armand needed
him. That day he had dropped Armand off at school and returned home when a powerful
earthquake hit. Father ran to the school and found it in total ruin. Going to the area where his
son’s classroom used to be, he began to dig in the ruins and move obstructions.

The fire chief arrived and told Armand’s father to desist, since it would be impossible for anyone
to survive in that rubble. Numerous others advised him to quit since he was only raising false
hope among the parents. But Father continued to work feverishly, removing broken metal and
concrete slabs. He ignored the it-can’t-be-done people and labored 48 hours without stopping.

142 • WIN! Wellness: Integrated Balanced Living

Finally he heard Armand’s voice, “I knew you would come, Father, because you told me
whenever I needed you, you’d be there.”

There are plenty of doubters who tell us lies, but like Armand, we can choose the truth and
always trust the word of our Heavenly Father. You can trust God anytime, anywhere.

Prayer: We invite you to join us in the prayer of trust on the screen as we repeat it together.

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A Prayer of Trust (1)

Heavenly Father, Thank You that we can trust You. You have given us so many promises that
give us hope.
We’re out here battling the daily storms of life.
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A Prayer of Trust (2)

And sometimes the crises come in mountain-size waves that sweep over us. You’ve got the
chart. You have the compass. You have the wheel in Your nail-pierced hands.
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A Prayer of Trust (3)

We will not fear, but we will trust You. And beyond that, we trust You to bring us and our
families safely home to the heavenly port. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ferris, Winston. Bible Secrets of Answered Prayer. Berrien Springs, Mich.: Word Alive Ministries,
1996. Unpublished manuscript.

Lockyer, Herbert. All the Promises of the Bible: A Unique Compilation and Exposition of Divine
Promises in Scripture. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1962.

Maxwell, Arthur S. Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories, 5th ed. Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1976.

Yancy, Philip. What’s So Amazing About Grace? Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1997.

End Notes
1
Maxwell, 1976.
2
Yancey (1997): 49-53.
3
http://www.barna.org.
4
Lockyer (1962): 10.
5
Ferris (1996): 9-10.

Factor 5: Trust • 143