2 Timothy 2:15 English Standard Version (ESV) Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

There are several issue at hand here. First is doing your best. We are not all as skilled as some who are so gifted as to have total recall of all scriptures, chapter and verse with relevant meaning. To be fair none of us are as skilled as the Holy Spirit who is God in the third person. God knows us better than we know ourselves and He takes all of us into consideration as to honest effort. He will touch our conscience if He needs us to do better.

Secondly is the issue of coming into His presence. Our tendency is to avoid coming before our creator because we feel unworthy. Unconfessed sin is a problem. We can and often do feel ashamed even after confession of sin. Confession does not remove it from our memory.

I will skip over approved and ashamed for the moment to address the word of truth. If we consider the bible to be the word of truth then a face value reading of the bible can and often is accepted without understanding. It is true, don’t argue. Handling the truth is a different matter than just blind acceptance. We are meant to do something with the truth other than to just believe.

This is where the Holy Spirit is required to direct us with relevant understanding of the truth for each of us. There will be different paths for each of us according to our calling. We do not all go to seminary school. We do not all get called into foreign missionaries. Some of us cannot communicate well enough to teach. Some of us are not wise counselors. If we try to decide for ourselves what our calling should be without following the leading of the Holy Spirit, we may find ourselves adrift without help.

How well do we hear the Holy Spirit? That too differs among us.

Proverbs 3:5-6 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

My accountability partner asks, “Are faith and trust the same?” His question was posted on my blog after I made the assertion that faith and believe are not the same.

Let us look for ourselves. A bible search revealed that the vast majority of searches for “trust” and God” return results indicating Lord and Lord your God. This points to a relationship between man and God dedicated to the title Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord and always has been.

Trust is a relationship issue. If the Lord says a thing, He will make good on His Word. Now how does the Lord communicate His Word?

Romans 10:17 English Standard Version (ESV) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

John 1:1 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John explains that Jesus Christ is the Word.

John 14:26 English Standard Version (ESV) But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

The Holy Spirit is only given to those who have placed their faith in Christ and made Him the Lord of their lives.

John 14:17 English Standard Version (ESV) even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

The people in the world do not have a relationship with the Lord and cannot hear His Word.

Faith and trust are related to one another through this same relationship. We hear the Lord by faith and we walk by faith. Trust is built in this relationship if we have a right understanding of His Word and the Lord proves Himself to be true.

If we do not have a proper understanding of His Word, it is we who cannot be trusted. The Lord remains true for He is God.