Why Can't We Trust God?

WHY CAN’T WE TRUST GOD?

WHY CAN’T WE TRUST GOD?

FOUR SORROWS THAT LEAD US TO TRUST

Thomas Wise

Copyright © 2020 Thomas Wise

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Why Can’t We Trust God?/Wise —1st ed.

First edition: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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What Others Are Saying

Why Can’t We Trust God? is recommended reading for Christian adult believers and thinkers, and focuses on the latest scientific evidence supporting belief and the Word of God. Tom P. Wise’s purpose and focus is clearly presented in introductory paragraphs that combine science, news, and affairs of belief and the heart:

In this book we are going to explore what it means to trust in Jesus, and to trust in our God––who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As we broach this subject, we will dig into concepts of suffering as they are presented in the Bible and in issues of trust as they are described in current academic research. Combining the two elements of academia and faith may provide for us a picture by which we may choose to trust in Jesus, God’s only son.

This blend of perspectives from both scientific and faith-based examinations allows readers to contemplate not just the meaning of God’s Word and Biblical promises, but the scientific evidence that support them. Additionally, Wise creates a blueprint for this progressive examination and follows it religiously: As we progress through this discussion, we will learn together how the three bases of trust form our ability to choose to trust. These bases are personality, cognition, and institutional trust.

Chapters stick to Wise’s plan as they document God’s consistency in his message, advocating a form of attention and listening which encourages not only introspection and belief, but cultivating time to truly listen and perceive this message in daily life:

God does not need us in order to carry out his plans. He provides us with opportunities to participate in his plans so that we are blessed by doing his work, and that others can see God in us and in our lives. By listening carefully, God will tell us what he is doing and then we can do his will.

One doesn’t anticipate an injection of autobiography into such a treatise, but Wise adds observations of life that includes his own, juxtaposing Biblical passages and quotes with his own experiences to pinpoint moments of enlightenment and realization. This creates a multifaceted, human approach to spiritual understanding that encourages his readers to adopt their own reflective process from a combination of reasoned examination and Biblical study, daily life experiences, and scientific knowledge.

The result is a survey recommended for any thinking Christian who would better understand the nature of God’s actions in the world, the process of both watching and acting, and how to link personal objectives and goals with God-driven belief.

Christians will find Why Can’t We Trust God empowering, enlightening, and rooted in personal, political, religious and scientific experience.

—D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Why Can’t We Trust God? by Thomas P. Wise is a book that gives us a blueprint of how to lead a life of service to God through trust and suffering. Wise tells us that there are three bases of trust that form our ability to choose to trust -- personality, cognition, and institutional trust. He posits there are four sorrows we face in life, Life in a Fallen World, Pain Due to our Sin, God’s Pruning, and the Hate of the World, all designed to point us to God. Using scripture and modern-day science and thinking, Wise deftly intertwines the two to show us a path that brings us closer to God and what he wants us to do in service to him. Wise shows us how we develop trust in our lives and how that trust can lead us to salvation through Jesus Christ, and then how that trust can lead us to a fruitful life of service to God. Wise goes through the four sorrows one by one, showing how pain and suffering have all been designed to impact our lives and to lead us to Jesus and a closer walk with Him.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It really made me think. Using scientific reasoning along with scripture really opened my mind to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and what that really represented for mankind. Always using scripture to back his teaching, and throwing in personal experiences that show how suffering affected his life deepened the message Wise presented. I would really recommend this book to those who are seeking Christ and for those who have accepted Him and are looking for a way to serve God by having a closer walk with Him.

—Richard L. DeMoss, Reader’s Favorite

To my children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and, of course, my parents, that they may have a close, trusting, and loving relationship with Jesus. And, to my wonderful wife of thirty years this year, Nancy; I love you.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Contents

List of Tables

Preface: Love the Lord Your God

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: The Sorrow of a Fallen World: Where Our Personality Is Formed

Chapter 2: The Sorrow of Personal Sin: Where Our Personality Meets God

Chapter 3: The Sorrow of God’s Pruning: Where We Decide to Serve God

Chapter 4: Living for Jesus: The World Hates Those Who Love the Lord

Chapter 5: There Is Joy in Trusting God

Chapter 6: Trust and Follow: For These Pains Are Pains of New Birth

References

Index

List of Tables

Table 1. The Flaws of Jesus’s Disciples

Table 2. Flaws of the Great Men of the Bible

Preface: Love the Lord Your God

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 KJV)

"T rust

in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Prov. 3:5-6 NIV). For years and even today, I sit in my living room each day and watch the news, reeling as the wheels seem to have come off this crazy world of ours. For a while there, every time I tuned in to one of the 24-hour news channels, anchors expounded upon the devastation of Christians in the Middle East. Heads were removed, families burned alive, and children crucified for refusing to denounce their trust in Jesus.

News casts displayed the ravaging of entire generations of Christians, and the vanishing of whole communities in the mayhem. In Iran and Turkey, the Christian has almost disappeared (Griswold 2015). The number of believers in Iraq is less than half of what it was in the 1970s, dropping from 4% of the population to less than 1% (Tristam 2017). In other nations, including Egypt, home of the largest Christian population in the Middle East, churches are regularly attacked and destroyed, and female Christians are forced into sexual slavery. In Egypt, one’s religious affiliation is stated on the State ID (Sherwood 2018). Unfortunately, Egypt’s state ID makes it easier to identify and persecute Christians. And yet, Christians in the Middle East hold fast to their trust in God.

We don’t suffer the same persecution as our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. In the United States, we enjoy the freedom to worship according to our own conscience. Yes, some believers do suffer abuse in the courts and are devastated financially and emotionally by a legal system that is drifting from the roots of the constitution. And these faithful believers, too, hold steadfast to their faith.

It is hard to watch the news and even harder to explain God’s love to friends, coworkers, and family members as they too suffer through another news day of mayhem and pain. And yet, we know that God is good, that he loves us and cherishes our love for him. Suffering is, and for some populations always has been and remains, a way of life, and yet the passion these people show for Jesus is unwavering.

In this book we are going to explore what it means to trust in Jesus, and to trust in our God––who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As we broach this subject, we will dig into concepts of suffering as they are presented in the Bible and into issues of trust as they are described in current academic research. Combining the two elements of academia and faith may provide a picture by which we may choose to trust in Jesus, God’s only son.

God, in his unwavering love for us, developed his story over several thousand years. In God’s own unchanging and all-knowing way, he painted for us a cohesive, concise, and accurate picture of life on this Earth. Through his Word, God illustrates an experience that he knew would be painful, but ultimately rewarding: one that, through suffering, would point us toward him.". God’s Word tells us of Four Sorrows we face in life, which, through perseverance, we will overcome. These Four Sorrows are Life in a Fallen World, Pain Due to Our Sin, God’s Pruning, and the Hate of the World––directed toward us when we live for Jesus. All are