We trust in God because He remains faithful under all circumstances. There is much talk today about faith, and faith is important. When we have faith we have the victory and we can forge ahead.

Trust is different. Trust is our helpless dependence on God's absolute faithfulness. Sometimes we get pressed past the point of faith and all we have left is a blind trust that God somehow is up there and will pull us through. In our moment of weakness and defeat we are not able to express faith, but we can trust. We are not in happy victory, but we are trusting; and this helps us to throw off fear.

Have you been there? I have!

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. (Psalms 91:3—NIV)

Satan is always setting snares to catch the believers. These are hidden along the paths where we usually walk.

If we are not in prayer, if we are living carelessly, if we are not abiding in Christ, we may suddenly find ourselves caught in the snare of temptation and sin. The Lord advised us to pray "Lead me not into temptation." But we thought this prayer was for those ungodly sinners somewhere. We did not realize we are just about to find ourselves in a situation where we cannot escape.

If we had been abiding in Christ as we were supposed to He would have kept us from getting caught.

Sometimes the Lord permits Satan to sift us, even when we have been praying and are being careful. Then we experience pain and confusion. If our faith does not fail the Lord will bring us through in triumph. But we must never force ourselves out of God's prison, because to do so we have to break God's laws. We are to keep before the Lord, waiting patiently for Him. In due time He will deliver us.

"He will save you from the deadly pestilence." There are several major pestilences in America today, such as AIDS, other venereal diseases, cancer, tuberculosis, and diabetes. I do not say these never afflict Christians for sometimes they do. Yet we have God's word that He will save us.

What do we do when we or a loved one come down with some dread disease.? We pray, pray, pray, in the meanwhile pressing into God with all our strength. He always hears us.

Notice the following, for it presents an apparent contradiction:

You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. (Luke 21:16-18—NIV)

"They will put some of you to death." "Not a hair of your head will perish."

When we are abiding in God, He always saves us from the deadly pestilence and from every other harm. And yet sometimes Christians become ill and die. But the Scripture cannot be broken.

The answer to this seeming contradiction is that God does not regard our flesh as having eternal significance. "The flesh profits nothing," Jesus exclaimed.

God knows the number of hairs on our head. Let us say we burn to death in a fire. All of our hairs are burned up. Have they perished? No, not at all. Why? Because God will raise them in the resurrection.

To be continued.