One of the three things humans control is the choice of whom or what to trust. Where we place our faith. On what we decide to depend.
We must either trust in God or place our trust in something, or someone, else who is wholly undependable. It is a great gift that we are given this choice. It is a major distinction that, for now, separates us from the angels, for they see God.
At one time in history it was common for people to place their dependence in gods of gilded wood. We think of this as archaic. But this ancient practice was really a means to trust in self. The basic formulation was “This idol will give me what I want when I want it, it is a power I can manipulate and control.”
We can trust money as a means to depend on ourselves. Sometimes we place our faith in our own illusions, such as the illusion that we actually know and can control the approval of others.
Although it is difficult to trust a God we cannot see, it is by far the most rational choice. The alternative is to trust something, or someone, observably undependable, like a piece of driftwood fashioned into an image.
It takes way more faith to believe that creation fashioned itself than to believe it was designed by a marvelous Creator. Even so, we are drawn to embrace illusions of control. To trust in a purposeless material props up the mirage that we are master rather than servant.
However, at some point mirages vanish. Illusions are revealed. And we are left with the reality that “It was, at the end of the day, just a piece of wood, not a god.” Although we cannot see God, his handiwork is everywhere, if we choose to see it. Our opportunity to trust God is foundational to making other choices that lead to life and fulfillment according to our design.