Trusting or trusting in?  There is a difference.  Do I trust God or do I place my trust in Him?  These seem the same but they are worlds apart.  It is easy for me to say, "Lord, I trust You", but it is not always easy to put my trust in Him.  There are times when I say I don't trust myself yet I place my trust in me.  Can I trust in me to keep myself and still trust in Him?  

An example I have used for years is a metal folding chair.  You can say as much as you want that you believe the chair can hold you but until you sit in it there is no trust.  Once you sit in it, you have exercised a basic trust.  You increase your trust when you pick your feet up off the ground.  It does not increase the weight on the chair when you take your feet off the ground.  It does make a statement that you have removed yourself from the position of apprehension, i.e., you are in a position to stand should the chair collapse.

You can move to a deeper level of trust by standing on the chair.  This always seemed to make people nervous when I had them do this.  Even though they may have felt uneasy getting up on the chair, there was usually a smile when they succeeded.  The smile, however, quickly faded when I told them to jump up and down on the chair to prove their trust.  

You may think this is a silly exercise but if you will think about it you will understand the process is true in your relationship with the Lord.  You may say you trust Him but are your placing your trust in Him.  Are you fully dependent on Him?  

There is a very popular New Testament verse, John 3:16.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life".  The word believes does not mean a mere acknowledgement but rather to entrust salvation to God.