Is Trust Important for Our Health?

One definition for health is being free from illness or disease. Another definition is “sound state of the mind; natural vigor of faculties.”¹ The goal of health is peak physical, mental, spiritual and emotional well-being. 

Trust is define today as a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something.

In 1828, Webster defined trust as “Confidence; a reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person. He that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Proverbs 28. He or that which is the ground of confidence. O Lord God, Thou art my trust from my youth. Psalm 71.”

 In the Ten Essentials for Health™, trust is listed as one of the essentials for health. In fact, in my  Start a New YOU!®² graphic, trust is the center, the core, the heart of the Ten Essentials for Health™.

How is our health so dependent upon trust?

Distrust entered our world with the first sin of Adam and Eve. God explained to Adam and Eve, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:17³.

Then that old serpent, called the devil and satan, the deceiver of the world (Revelation 12:9), told Eve, “You shall not surely die: for God knows that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5.

Eve chose to distrust God and believe the lie of the serpent (satan). In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 we read, “But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not...” Paul refers to satan as the “god of this world”.

In Adam and Eve’s distrust, they transgressed the law of God, which states, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” They chose to turn from their Source of Life (Colossians 3:4), from the One Who was the Health of their Countenance (Psalm 43:5) and they chose to enter the way of death, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). 

Sin is a terminal disease that separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). God our only source of life and health. If we cannot trust God than we are in a state of a terminal illness. Therefore, if we cannot trust we cannot have total health; we cannot have “Confidence; a reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person.”

God was not willing to let Adam and Eve perish without a full knowledge of their choices. Their response to their distrust of God was to hide from God; from the very One Who had previously been her delight and the highlight of the day (see Genesis 3:8). Their distrust threw the whole world into disarray and into a state of distrust from that moment until now.

Distrust is a physical disease that not only affects our health but also our relationships.

Achieving our best health, requires actively developing trusting relationships with God and our fellowmen. 

As God came to the Garden of Eden in the cool of the evening, as His tradition was, to fellowship with man, He calls to Adam and Eve, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9. He did not call because He did not know where they were, but because He never forces Himself upon His creation. His inquiry was an invitation to reconnect, because distrust had led to separation.

Adam and Eve eventually come out from behind the bushes and trees, looking very guilty and quite silly covered in fig leaves. Perhaps, if not too overcome by the gravity of the situation, maybe inside of Himself, God chuckled at the new skimpy attire of His creation, but probably, more accurately, He mourned to see His beloved children in such a state. God understands all the circumstances that have made us what we are, and He looks upon us with pity.

A very sad conversation followed with devastating effects on the relationships; Fingers were pointed and blame was cast upon the serpent which ultimately led to blaming the Creator God who made the serpent.⁴ 

We are helpless victims in a world of distrust. We cannot not fix our lack of trust. But God can with His remedy for distrust and broken relationships, and helplessness. He will help us come back into a trusting relationship and He will mend our helpless, broken state thorough our willingness to connect with Him.

God covered Adam and Eve with the remedy; with the skins of a lamb, representing the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and Who would eventually crush the serpent’s head (the devil, satan) under His feet (Genesis 3:15; Romans 16:20). The skins represented Jesus’ perfect, righteous, trusting life that covers all who choose to cooperate with Him, Who is our life (Colossians 3:4). 

Isaiah 61:10 tells us God covers us with “garments of salvation”; a “robe of righteousness”. Galatians 3:27 explains that when we accept Christ, we “put on Christ.” And Ephesians 6:10-18 gives a character description of these garments calling it “the whole armor of God” that empowers us to stand against the temptation, deceptions and distrustful suggestions of the devil.

Our perfect, righteous and holy God sees our sin-stained, self-righteous, corrupt and ugly character, covered with fig leaves and says, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you: And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statues, and you shall keep My judgments, and do them. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleanness.” Ezekiel 36:25-29. What a beautiful exchange!

God offered Adam and Eve the choice to continue listening to and following the serpent’s deceptive suggestions and surely die; Or they could accept Jesus’ life, death and resurrection as their own and one day again commune face to face with God and walk with Him in the cool of the evening.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

God nor His Son came to condemn Adam and Eve or us (John 3:17), but to save us from our distrust, AKA: sin.

Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth (Revelation 13:8). When there was sin, already there was a Saviour.

Self-sacrificing, Creator Jesus basically said, “I’ll take the blame; count it as My sin.” Jesus was made sin for us Who had not committed any sin that we might have His life, His trust, His health (2 Corinthians 5:21).

In the kindest and most tender manner God seeks out and draws us to Himself, as He did Adam and Eve, to teach us “that he who would be healed must cease to transgress the law of God. He must cease to choose a life of sin. God cannot bless the one who continues to bring upon himself disease and suffering by a willful violation of the laws of Heaven. But Christ, through the Holy Spirit, comes as a healing power to those who [covenant with God, to] cease to do evil and learn to do well…Those who awake to the importance of living in obedience to God [Trusting in Him] in this present evil world will be willing to separate from every wrong habit. Gratitude and love will fill their hearts. They know that Christ is their friend. In many cases the realization that they have such a friend means more to the suffering ones in their recovery from sickness than the best treatment that can be given.”⁵

All of us have distrust issues that affect our relationships. God wants to mend our relationships and help us experience trust.

God says this is possible when we “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33:34) “with our whole heart” (Jeremiah 29:13; 24:7) and “forgive men their trespasses” and do unto others as we would have them do unto us (Matthew 6:13-14; 7:12). 

Maybe this seems like an impossibility right now, but with God all things are possible. He can change our hearts and minds; we can tap into His power to change! 

The definition for health in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary also includes, “Salvation or divine favor, or grace which cheers God’s people. Psalm 43.” Because in ancient Hebrew, health and salvation were the exact same word!

Just as God wants to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21), He also wants to save us from the health destroying lies of satan (Revelation 12:11; James 4:7-8).

Without trust why would we do the other nine essentials for health? We trust that God has our best interest in mind and therefore we desire to cooperate with His saving health plan (Psalm 67:2).

Trust is clearly essential for the fullness of health!

Will you fully trust Him?

Blue Skies,

Dana

Dana West, RDN, LD, ACLMDIP thrives on helping her amazing clients get a new lease on life by embracing health and conquering disease, through learning to cooperate with God, Our Chief Physician and His saving health plan (Psalm 67:1-2 KJV), one step at a time, so they can live with renewed energy and enthusiasm doing all the things they love to do again, just as God intended for them.

You can get a new lease on life too, in her Start a New YOU!® Online Program. Details Here

References

1. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.

2.  Start a New YOU!® is the pneumonic for the Ten Essentials for Health™

3.  All Bible References are from the King James Version.

4.  As Creator of everything, including the serpent, God accepts the ultimate responsibility for sin. He endowed creation with the freedom of choice, and man made a bad choice. Therefore, God offers a remedy that will leave off forever, distrust, finger pointing and blaming others. In the end, all will say God is good and just in all His ways (Deuteronomy 32:4), and every knee will bow to God the Father and Jesus the Son (Isaiah 43:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11).

5.  Ministry of Healing, p. 224