Trusting someone can be a frightening thing. Trust is defined as an assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. For people accustomed to being self-reliant and in control of their own affairs, the thought of relinquishing that control to someone else is scary. This is relevant when it comes to money as well as in all other areas of our lives.

In our quest for prosperity and success in financial matters, we have several choices. We can trust in ourselves and risk making a mistake, trust in others who could disappoint us, or trust God. Most people have a narrow view of prosperity applying only to money, and the phrase “In God We Trust” printed on paper currency comes to mind. However, God wants us to experience prosperity in all areas of our lives. “Beloved friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and that you continually enjoy good health, just as your soul is prospering” (3 John 1:2, TPT).

Trusting in God certainly applies to our finances, but that’s only one aspect. Prosperity results from relying on Him in everything and in all situations, good and bad. In the Old Testament, the people showed a lack of trust in God by murmuring and complaining against Him when He sent Moses to lead them out of Egypt. They didn’t prosper as slaves working for Pharoah, but they didn’t have the vision or wisdom to see that God was working to bring them into a land of milk and honey (Joshua 5:6).

Trust makes us vulnerable, and requires the courage to lower our defenses, step out from behind our protective walls, and open ourselves up to accept help. In the wilderness, God asked His people for their trust in the face of danger, but their courage failed and they resisted Him. “When Pharaoh let the people go, God led them not by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God said, Lest the people change their purpose when they see war and return to Egypt” (Exodus 13:17, AMPC). The result was that they blocked their own prosperity.

In the wilderness, the children of Israel let their fear get in the way of their faith; fear tolerated is faith contaminated. While God was trying to lead them to freedom and prosperity, they were discussing returning to Egypt and bondage. The wilderness was scary, and although the thought of returning to Egypt was not happy, that environment was familiar and all they knew. “And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!... And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt” (Numbers 14:2, 4).

We can learn from what happened. God wants to lead us to our promised land. Believing His promises of prosperity allows Him to do so. “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22). His will is for us to experience prosperity not just in our finances but also in our marriage, our family life, our health, and our relationships.  

Trusting God will take us out of our comfort zone. It’s normal to feel fear sometimes, but we mustn’t let it stop our forward momentum. When we find ourselves in our own “wilderness” situation, we know He can safely lead us out.  The result will be prosperity on every level.