Introducing The Stages  -  Trusting in the Lord

The 2nd stage of the 6 Stages of Spiritual Development is Trust in the Lord. Once it has been established that the foundation of Christianity is obtaining and growing a personal, intimate relationship with the Lord, the new believer must learn to be able to trust Him.  If we are going to be able to do such things as pray, grow our relationship, or step into the exciting adventures He has prepared for us, we must learn - and it is something to learn as it does not necessarily come naturally - how and why we can trust our Heavenly Father.

Stage Objective:

Before the young believer can begin to pray, obey, and/or get close to the Lord, they first need to be able to trust Him. In this stage, the student needs to learn to be able to trust the Lord because they:

1.

Understand that God is our Father*.

2.

Understand that we are His adopted children.

Mentor Focus:

In this stage of faith development, the new believer’s faith is wrapped up in the people they associate with. In the case of a child, his faith is that of his mother or father. If he finds himself in a Hindu or Muslim household, he will most likely also be Hindu or Muslim. If he grows up in a Christian home, he will most likely be a Christian as well. Similarly, in the case of an adult, faith follows along with the individuals we find ourselves associating with. Certainly, the need for strong, loving mentorship is obvious.

Mentors need to be loving, caring, and nurturing - modeling what we know our Heavenly Father is like. Mentors need to recognize that the young believer’s understanding of the Father will be directly tied to their experience with the mentor.

Mentors need to think of their disciple much like a parent does with a young toddler. Though the student may be personally very mature, they are still vulnerable in their faith. Therefore, mentors need to:

1.

Continue to be in contact with and available to their disciple regularly throughout the week.

2.

Continue to direct the disciple’s spiritual activities while intentionally beginning to allow and encourage the disciple to be more independent.

The student’s relationship ultimately needs to be with the Lord. While we need to create and develop a loving and caring relationship with the disciple, our most important responsiblility is to help them build an independent relationship with Him!

*

In some cases, it may be necessary to first gain an understanding of what a Godly father is. In the event of a broken home or personally harmful childhood experiences, it may be important to first establish an understanding of what a loving, caring, nurturing person a father is supposed to be.