What Gen Z Really Wants to Know About GodSample

Can I Trust You?

I can trust God because of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God the Son has experienced human life. Though Jesus may not have experienced some of the exact circumstances you or I may face (Jesus never had a smartphone with social media), he did go through common human experiences. Jesus experienced loss, celebration, sorrow, friendship, loneliness, disappointment, joy, injustice, and more. God is not a stranger to the things we face. He is up close and personal, not a distant divine entity. He knows our struggles. God’s "with-ness" is one reason we can trust him. God is with us in every situation, and he will never leave those who follow him.

In Matthew 4:1-11, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This breaks immediately with the idea that a trustworthy God would not lead you into difficulty. But if we understand God is trustworthy, we can look for the reason the Spirit led Jesus into the desert. The desert does not feel like a safe place, but the Spirit did not leave Jesus. There must be something good or safe about being in the desert with God the Spirit.

The devil challenges Jesus to bow down and worship him, to trust and rely on Satan instead of God the Father. Jesus responds, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Matthew 4:10). Jesus’ words and actions reflect relying on and trusting God alone. It does not trade the goodness of God for the tangible, immediate, and temporary promises of the devil. The devil attempted to create doubt that would deteriorate trust in God, but even in his weakened state, Jesus’ actions say, I trust God the Father.

This is not to say all deserts are safe and all temptations are good, but rather helps us to trust in God in all circumstances because God is with us, God will not leave us, and God keeps his promises.