Trust, It's What Friends Do

Trust.

We hear this line over and over in Christian community: “Put your trust in God.” “You need to trust God more.” “Trust God.”

Hmmm. Googles the definition of trust.

Definitions from Oxford Languages: trust /trəst/ nounFirm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. “Relations have to be built on trust.”

But how can we trust something we can’t see? How can I trust the strength of an invisible being? And how can I have a firm belief in something I don’t fully understand?

If I’m honest, serving an all-powerful, all-knowing, infinite God can feel more scary than safe. So how can I trust Him—especially in things I don’t even trust myself with?

These are questions I’ve been wrestling with lately. I’ve found myself in a new situation with people I don’t fully know and an outcome I can’t see. How can I trust them? I don’t.How do I trust myself? I don’t.

So here I am, caught in the crossfire between fear and the need to make a decision: Do I keep moving forward, or do I turn back?

To answer this question, my mind has been pulling movie quotes to get me through. If you’ve been reading my blogs, you may know that I was homeschooled. One of the joys of self-learning was being able to design my own classes. In high school, I took Movies as Literature, where we analyzed films—“to equip students with the ability to discern underlying messages in movies,” as the Amazon description put it.

As these movie quotes came flooding back, so did their messages about trust.

The first one that came to mind: Finding Nemo.

If you’re familiar with the story, it doesn’t take long to see that the main characters, Marlin and Dory, couldn’t be more opposite. The very fearful Marlin is on a journey to find his lost son, while the upbeat, carefree, and very forgetful Dory tries to help him along the way.

Throughout their journey, there are moments when Marlin completely loses his cool. His desperation to find his son blinds his sense of direction, making him frantic and panicked. Oh Marlin, how I relate to you.

I think Marlin’s hang-up is how tightly he’s holding onto the outcome of finding his son—and honestly, who wouldn’t? We’re talking about his only child. A father’s love can’t be beat. But in his desperation, he loses his peace. He struggles with trust.

“Come on, trust me on this one. Yes, trust. It’s what friends do.” — Dory

In this moment, Dory is trying to convince Marlin to follow her into the unknown as they search for his son. Marlin is confronted by both of his fears: losing his son and being misled by this new “guide.” But his love for his son makes it worth the risk to trust Dory—and we see his trust tested again and again as their journey continues.

Marlin’s decision is one to be noted. Trusting God, for me, is always tricky when I’m in the midst of a big decision and terrified of making the wrong one.

Like Marlin, my fear of regret—or the shame I feel when I give in to fear—often pushes me forward. It’s what gives me that extra nudge to say “yes” instead of cowering back. But even then, I’m still filled with anxiety, second-guessing my decision when things don’t turn out the way I’d hoped.

Trusting God, though, feels different. There’s a peace there. A knowing. And maybe it’s not a knowing of the outcome but a knowing that God will be with me—even in my mistakes. That’s comforting.

I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to make the “right” decision. But God promises that He will take what the enemy intended for evil and turn it for good—that He will redeem all things in due time. So if I know that’s true, why don’t I take the risk? Why don’t I say yes?

At the end of the day, I think we all understand just how finite we are. We need to trust in someone bigger than ourselves—someone who can see the beginning from the end when we cannot. We need a guide, a Dory of sorts, to remind us to “just keep swimming” when we’re lost, confused, and unsure of what’s next.

Sometimes, the only thing we can do is trust.