Why is trusting God so difficult—especially when what we see doesn't seem to match what we believe about Him?

In this episode of Milk to Meat, we take the conversation about obedience one step deeper. Obedience isn't merely evidence that we love God; it's also evidence that we believe God loves us.

When God tells us to forgive, we have to trust that His way is better than revenge. When He calls us to generosity, we have to trust that our security isn't ultimately found in what we possess. When He tells us to love our enemies, pursue holiness, or surrender control, we're being asked to trust that God's ways are better than our own.

That's why obedience is ultimately an act of faith:

I obey because I trust God.

I trust God because I know His character.

I know His character because He has revealed His love.

But what happens when trusting God becomes difficult?

We go back to the garden and discover that the struggle began with the Fall. The serpent didn't simply convince humanity to break a command—he convinced humanity to question God's goodness.

“Did God really say...?”

The lie was ultimately this: God can't be trusted. God is holding something good back from you.

And we still wrestle with that lie today.

We want to understand God's plan. We want to know the outcome. We want God to explain Himself before we obey. And when suffering comes, unanswered prayers remain unanswered, relationships fall apart, or life takes a direction we never expected, the question becomes much harder:

“If God is good, why is this happening?”

So what do we do when what we see doesn't seem to match what we believe about God?

We explore how faith learns to trust God's character even when we don't understand His circumstances, why our limited perspective can make God's goodness difficult to see, and why the cross gives us the ultimate reason to believe that God is good—even when the story doesn't make sense yet.

Because ultimately, faith isn't trusting God because we understand everything He's doing.

Faith is trusting God because we know who He is.

And sometimes the deepest obedience is simply saying:

“I don't understand, but I know who I'm trusting.”

What does the Bible actually mean when it commands, “You shall not murder”? Does the Sixth Commandment prohibit every taking of human life—or does Scripture distinguish murder from self-defense, military service, law enforcement, capital punishment, and other circumstances?

In this 2nd Helping episode of Milk to Meat, we begin with the Hebrew behind Exodus 20:13 and examine how Scripture itself distinguishes intentional murder from other forms of killing. From Cain and Abel and the cities of refuge to government authority, soldiers, police officers, defending your family, and the use of force, we follow the biblical text to understand the value of human life and the moral responsibility involved when a life is taken.

Then we turn to Jesus' words in Matthew 5, where He takes the commandment even deeper—moving beyond the final act of murder to the anger, resentment, and hatred from which violence can grow.

The question isn't simply, “Did someone die?” Scripture also forces us to ask about intent, circumstances, culpability, necessity, and the value of every person made in the image of God.

What does love look like when you can't see it?

Love is an inward reality, but it always produces an outward expression. We may not be able to see love itself, but we can see what love produces—faithfulness, sacrifice, patience, forgiveness, service, and obedience.

In this episode of Milk to Meat, we continue exploring why obedience is evidence of our love for God. John tells us plainly, “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.” But that doesn't mean we obey God in order to earn His love. The direction matters:

Love → obedience.

Not:

Obedience → earning love.

We go back to the garden and discover that humanity's first disobedience wasn't simply about breaking a rule. At its deepest level, it was a failure to trust God's goodness and a decision to believe that we knew better than God.

Then Jesus enters the story.

Where Adam chose his own will, Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Where Adam's disobedience brought death, Christ's obedience led Him to the cross—and through death into resurrection.

The cross is therefore not only the ultimate demonstration of God's love for us; it is also the ultimate picture of love expressed through obedience.

We also explore why obedience is not opposed to grace. The gospel doesn't say, “Obey God so God will love you.” It says, “God has loved you, pursued you, redeemed you, and reconciled you in Christ—now live as someone who has been loved.”

That changes everything.

Christian obedience isn't about earning the Father's approval. It's about responding to the Father we already know has loved us. It's the difference between legalism and discipleship, between trying to become accepted and learning to live from the acceptance we've received in Christ.

God loves → God gives → God rescues → we receive → we trust → we obey → we are transformed.

Obedience isn't the price of admission.

It's the evidence that the gospel has taken root.