As true as this may sound, it's also a convenient excuse that we as humans use to justify why it's hard for us to trust God especially because we haven't seen Him. We all have the ability to trust, only when we choose to. Yes, trust is a matter of choice and I'll explain with examples. We live in a world full of wolves and we ought to be wise as a serpent, yet harmless as a dove (Matthew 10:16). I'm not saying to trust humans or any fly that lands on your roof - hypothetically speaking. However, we do have the ability as humans, to trust and we have no trouble trusting whoever we choose to trust. The keyword here is "choose" because it's a choice that we make consciously and unconsciously.
EXAMPLES
1. You get your food and/or drinks from the drive-thru restaurant without seeing who made it or how it was made, yet we trust them. We eat without questions and we believe it wasn't maliciously made with something like saliva etc. We trust even when we have no proof. We sip through that straw and take a bite of that burger because we have made that decision consciously or unconsciously to believe it is good and clean for consumption. Yes, we are very capable of believing and trusting God even if we haven't seen Him. His handy work and evidence is all around us. Blessed are those who haven't seen and yet they believe (John 20:29).2. The mechanic or dealership gives you your car and tells you the oil change is done along with the tire rotation or whatever else. You didn't open the hood to check or verify that the nuts and bolts are fastened properly. You take their word for it and you jump in the car; off you go without ever thinking that one of your tires can easily fall off on the highway due to human error. Yes, we are capable of taking Jesus at His word when He said: "...I am with you always..." - Matthew 28:20. Especially, for all He has done in our lives.
3. We've heard many medical professionals marvel at some patient recovery simply because they have no human or scientific explanation for what happened or how it happened. This is where most people including unbelievers start throwing around words like miracle or miraculous. The knowledge of a higher power has always been there and always will. If we know this much, why not seek Him more? He rewards those who diligently or earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
TRUST vs TEST
Trust can easily turn into a test if we are not careful. We trust God to protect us from an accident when we get on the road and pay attention. Our trust turns into a test when we start driving intoxicated, paying little to no attention on the road or simply standing in the middle of a busy highway and hoping for a miraculous intervention while being completely negligent. We pray for physical growth and prosperity with the hopes that we would serve God more and do more good only if he blesses us with more material possessions. "Lord save me from this situation and I promise I will serve you more." Nope, this is not trust. This is like the devil telling Jesus he would make Jesus a ruler over all the kingdom if Jesus bow down to him. Jesus doesn't need anyone to make Him into a king because Jesus is already is the King of kings. In the same way, God doesn't need to do anything for us to worship Him or worship Him more because He is God and deserves our worship. We ought to have a mindset that is willing to submit to God in good, bad, rich, poor, happy, sad, health or in sickness. No, it won't be easy.
Speaking of testing, Proverbs 20:13 is by no means saying you should not sleep. Those who know me personally, know that I have a very bad sleeping habit, which I do not recommend. Rest is just as important as work. Solomon is saying not to LOVE sleep (inactivity) to the point where it becomes all you want to do. "Sleep" equals inactivity. Always being inactive on your couch without closing your eyes, can also fall in this category. It's like saying the "love of money" is root of evil but money is not evil.I think it is fair to say that love of sleep can lead to laziness, which in turn can lead to poverty both physically and spiritually. The lukewarm church in Revelation was a spiritually lazy church. Being physically poor doesn't mean you are lazy so let's not take things out of context. A healthy, able, capable person cannot sleep all day while expecting handouts from those (friends, family, etc) who choose to burn the midnight candle. This is another example of testing God. Too much sleep is obviously bad for many reasons. I'm not talking about those who medically have not much of a choice. It's hard to accomplish anything both physically and spiritually if all we want to do is "sleep" or be inactive or create such atmosphere.
Finally, God's handy work is all around us and He has done things in our lives that erased all kinds of doubt. But we continue to test Him by asking Him to prove Himself over and over again before we can trust Him. When we selfishly ask God for a favor in exchange for our trust, even when we know we should just ask and let His will be done, we are basically testing and not trusting (Luke 4:12; Deuteronomy 6:16).
We should trust God just like Paul did when he told Timothy "... I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to GUARD what I have entrusted to Him until that day." - (2 Timothy 1:11-12). We trust the banks to keep our money safe but apostle Paul trusted God with his soul. He committed his life into God's care and was confident that God will keep it safe for him, until that day when the crown of life will be given. It's great to give our lives to God by becoming a child of God. And if you are, good to know that you have been converted but it's time to be convinced that God is able to take care of the life that we put in His care until that day (John 14:1-3; Psalm 33:16-22; Proverbs 16:20).
As the song goes:
"Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus..."
