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Looking again at the Biblical account of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, I can’t help but wonder about the thoughts that may have been going through David’s mind when King Saul was clothing him in his armor, bronze helmet, and coat of mail (1 Samuel 17:39). So how was David able to avoid just going along with the program? Well, David had past experiences of God helping him when he encountered the lion and the bear (1 Samuel 17:37). Based on these personal experiences, David was able to trust that God would help him in the battle against Goliath.
  
As a new believer, I enjoyed hearing experiences of how God helped other believers overcome things like using profanity, lying, gossiping, selfishness, and impatience, just to name a few. Common to most of these testimonies was that the ability to trust God grew with each small victory. Admittedly, I wasn’t having many victories in God. Why? I wasn’t learning how to trust God because I was not allowing God to help me.

Before giving my life over to the Lord, when I faced challenges, I put my trust in worldly things like human wisdom and money. It was all I knew to do. Sadly, long after giving my life over to the Lord, even with the knowledge that God was there to help me, I continued to trust in worldly things.

Ephesians 4:22 says: “throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception (NLT).”

In the above verse, the Apostle Paul was not saying that we would exist as new believers in a state where we continue to maintain our old sinful nature. No way! The intent in Ephesians 4:22 was that we would break away from all of that. That we would put on Jesus Christ (put on the new man) and leave behind the sinful thoughts, behaviors, etc. of our lives before we encountered Jesus Christ.

Someone may be thinking: is it even possible to throw off our old sinful nature and former way of life?

From my experience, if we try to do it on our own the answer is no. This is because our hearts – which includes our soul, our mind, our will, our affections – will always lead us to trust in things other than God. As Jeremiah 17:9 says: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

As believers, we must know that each time God helps us to overcome something from our old sinful nature, like impatience for example, we come to know more about God. Indeed, the testimonies of what other believers have experienced in and through God are wonderful. But, our own personal experiences of God’s supernatural help, builds our trust in God. Being able to recall God’s trustworthiness helps us to trust God when we face another, and oftentimes, bigger challenge.

If as a believer you are still trusting in worldly things like human wisdom and money, just know that you are not without a hope. Take a moment here and call upon the Lord and ask for help. Ask God for the grace you need to trust Him. As Jeremiah 17:7 says: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord (ESV).

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Except where indicated, scripture references are from the American Standard Version (ASV), Darby Translation (DARBY), or King’s James Version (KJV) – all public domain.