Fuel the Journey: Bible Verses on Faith and Trust

When we read Matthew eleven’s final verses, we are drawn into a script where Jesus reads the hearts of those who were following Him thousands of years ago. Drinking His words in this passage is like reading the pages of our own minds in modern times. Though uttered millennia ago, the words invoking rest are eternal in nature. The Word of Christ addresses the weariness of the human traveler, regardless of time or the space we occupy.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30, NIV

Bible verses on faith and trust offer us food and fuel to transport us through dry and weary seasons. Even when we take a road trip, whether solo or with family and friends, we require a few staples that we need. That varies with the traveler, but we can rest assured food and fuel are essential, especially if we expect to be on the road for a significant time and distance.

On a journey, we may also need to pause and rest intermittently to give ourselves a moment to gather strength and refresh before resuming the next stretch. As we experience the nature of a trip in our natural world, we must consider what we need for a spiritual journey as well.

Just as we can’t subsist only on the snacks we pack or purchase for our road trip, our lives are designed to be sustained by the Word of God as food and fuel (Matthew 4:4). In this way, we embrace the Bible as the believer’s manual for living. It conveys God’s instruction and unfolds dramatic plots of subterfuge and stealth. It also undergirds our hope through a collective narrative that points to One Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

He, as the Word, embodies the living Scripture that infuses His words into the parts of our souls that are parched and aching for what only the Living Water can furnish (John 1:1-14; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23; John 4:14).

Bible verses on faith and trust provide nourishment to sustain us through the best and worst of what we may encounter in this life. They answer the emptiness within, furnishing righteousness to fill our own hungry and thirsty souls (Matthew 5:6).

Humans, in both the pages of Biblical history and the present, crave relief from struggle. We yearn for the rest that only the Savior can give as described in His invitation to come. We are welcome to come even as we are weary or burdened. When we encounter Him, we embrace the Christ who transforms us and refuses to leave us the same.

The empowering presence of His Holy Spirit has the power to shift everything. Here He begins with us, making all things new (1 Corinthians 5:17; Revelation 21:5-6). We have to choose to surrender, unburdening ourselves of sin and weights to rivet our gaze on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2). We must decide in our hearts that the One who expressed joy in offering His life in place of ours is trustworthy.

Wherever He beckons for us to surrender, we can be assured that there is something infinitely better waiting in the exchange. Yet, that is the challenge that many of us have suffered through. The Father knows how desperately we need to soak in the truth and healing that Bible verses on faith and trust can provide.

Many of us have been stripped of our value, in one way or another. By the time we arrive at a place where we can process choosing to deliberately engage in a relationship with God, it seems easier to cling to the familiar. We find ourselves conflicted and suspended between two realities. On one side we want to cleave to God. On the other, dysfunctional patterns of belief and behavior seem to corrode our lives with the iteration of destructive cycles spinning us out of control.

As frequently as we hear, “come as you are” in faith spaces, we wrestle with trying to fix life, ourselves, and others when the Lord just wants to embrace us in rest. The underlying premise conveys that God loves us completely in our current condition. What needs to be made whole in us only happens when placing our faith and trust in Christ Jesus.

Jesus loves us too much to leave us in the same wounded and weary state as when we arrived. As Beginning and End, He who is, and was, and is to come, Jesus commits to initiating transformation in us, keeping us through the process, and sealing the work He finished with His Holy Spirit (Revelation 1:8, 21:6; Philippians 1:6; 2 Timothy 1:12; Ephesians 1:13).

We aren’t perfect, and never will be until we stand before Him, perfected through the work of His Holy Spirit alive in us. Although our healing process may bring hidden hurt to the surface, God wants better for us than to live bound to what He came to destroy.

It is as we experience daily life with Him, that the Holy Spirit desires to empower us to live an abundant life, unburdened of the soul wounds that erode our kingdom promises of peace and joy (John 10:10; Romans 14:17).

We can take courage and revive hope from these embedded Bible verses on faith and trust. They remind us that God is for us, defying anything and anyone that would try to stand against us (Romans 8:31; Psalm 35:1). He instructs and course corrects, even through difficult circumstances.

He lights our path instead of abandoning us to follow what seems comfortable to the natural mind, but would otherwise end in soul destruction (Isaiah 43:2; Hebrews 12:6; Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 14:12).

In doing so, He produces the change that walking with His Spirit brings to a life shipwrecked by sin and its effects (Romans 8:2, 5-6). The miracle of it all is that He does the work; we simply have to believe that He is God and that He is able (Hebrews 11:6).

Jesus, however, won’t wrestle us into this. His Holy Spirit engages us with unmistakable truth, speaking gently and clearly to us. He will navigate us through the maze of impossibility when we ask and acquiesce to His kind and compassionate guidance.

Yet, when we have been mishandled by life and people, faith is the most precious item remaining in our possession. We have so little of it left, whether in God, ourselves, or others.

Often, our fledgling faith seems barely enough to present to a God whose ways are unfathomable, yet loving and faithful (Romans 11:33; Psalms 25:10). Scripture makes it clear that it isn’t the size of our faith that produces the change in and beyond us.

All we need is a tiny seed of faith. A mustard seed is among the most minuscule, but it flourishes and provides shelter and shade, expanding larger than one would imagine judging the size and scope of the seed (Matthew 17:20).

Where we need to increase and endure our God-confidence, Jesus provides His Word that will help to develop and grow our faith as we come to hear and understand (Romans 10:17). We can’t experience faith with our natural senses, but when we pair it with prayer and fasting, it provides visible and tangible evidence of what we hope for and assurance of what our expectant hearts will experience (Matthew 17:21; Hebrews 11:1).

Next steps.

Consider where you are in your faith journey. Note the references in this article and take time to study, pray, and speak over yourself the Bible verses on faith and trust. Seek the Holy Spirit, and remain open to His leadership as you connect with other believers and resources offered on this site.

Select a professional counselor and schedule an appointment to gather additional support along your journey. You will find the rest as well as the spiritual and practical steps to help you move forward into your future.