Is It Really Sweet?

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

Just to take Him at His Word;

Just to rest upon His promise,

Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord!"

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!

How I've proved Him o'er and o'er;

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!

Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

This hymn has lived in my heart since I was a little girl sitting in the pews on Sunday morning, and it is a favorite of mine when rocking my sweet baby boy to sleep at night. But just recently did I truly stop to ponder the words in my heart and ask myself the question, "do I really find it sweet to trust in Jesus?"

Somewhere along the way, trust in God became a Christian platitude we place over wounds we do not fully know how to sit with. We say, “just trust God,” as though trust is simple. As though trust does not sometimes involve grief, waiting, disappointment, or the slow surrender of the life we imagined for ourselves.

The older I get, the more I realize that trusting God is easy to romanticize when life is unfolding the way we hoped it would. It is easy to call trust sweet when prayers are answered quickly, when doors open exactly the way we asked them to, or when obedience seems to lead somewhere beautiful.

We read stories of radical trust in Scripture and often place ourselves in the shoes of the heroes of the faith, all while struggling to trust God in some of the simplest corners of our own lives.

Mary trusted God with an unplanned pregnancy out of wedlock. A scandal that could have destroyed her reputation. A calling that would alter the entire course of her life. Abraham trusted God enough to leave behind everything familiar without knowing where he was going. He trusted God enough to place even the life of his promised son into the hands of God. The disciples trusted Jesus enough to leave their nets, their homes, and their understanding of what life was supposed to look like. They trusted Him enough to put every part of their life at risk, and many of them eventually trusted God to the point of giving up their lives for Him.

We love these stories because we know how they end. We know what they gained from their trust.

But I wonder if trust felt sweet while Mary sat in the uncertainty of what everyone would think about her. I wonder if Abraham felt peace every step into unfamiliar land. I wonder if the disciples fully understood what they were surrendering when they first said yes to following Jesus, or if it felt sweet as they were martyred for their faith.

Maybe trust was never sweet because it removed uncertainty or pain, but because it continually revealed the nearness and faithfulness of God to those who chose to trust Him.

Seasons of trust rarely feel easy or what we would naturally describe as “sweet.” And yet, throughout Scripture, trust continually becomes the place where people encounter the faithfulness of God most deeply.

Mary carried the Messiah into the world. Abraham became the father of nations. The disciples experienced communion with Jesus that transformed the entire course of their lives.

Behind every act of surrender in Scripture stands a God who continually proves Himself worthy of trust. The sweetness of trust is not found in our ability to trust well, but in the unchanging character of the One we are trusting.

I think that is why the hymn writer says, “How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er.”

Trust becomes sweet when you have walked with God long enough to see His faithfulness meet you again and again. When you realize that His presence remains steady even when life feels uncertain. When you discover that surrendering your plans to Him was never meant to harm you, but to draw you closer to His heart.

I have found in my own life that trust does not come naturally to me. I like to have a firm grasp on the details of my life, especially when it comes to my future. I want clarity. I want certainty. I want to know where God is leading before I fully surrender to the path ahead.

But lately, I sense the Lord inviting me into a deeper place of trust with Him. A place where faith is no longer built on having every answer, but on believing that His character is trustworthy even when the future feels unclear.

And because His faithfulness in my life has been proved “o’er and o’er,” I am learning to lean into this season with open hands. Not because I know exactly where He is leading me, but because I know He will be faithful when I get there. And more than that, He is faithful even now as He gently directs my path one step at a time.

So if you are in a season of waiting, a season of wilderness, or a season of wondering what the Lord is doing, you can rest in the truth that it really is sweet to trust in Jesus.

Sweet not because we always understand His plans.

Sweet not because surrender is painless.

Sweet because the One we are trusting is faithful.

Even when we cannot see what He is doing, we trust the promise that He is working all things together for good for those who love Him.

So my prayer continues to be:

“Oh, for grace to trust Him more.”