Can God Trust You? Faithful Stewardship in Matthew 25
We spend a lot of time asking whether we can trust God. But this weekend's message flipped the question in a way that's harder to shake: Can God trust you?
Think about it this way. A healthy relationship runs on mutual trust. It would be a contradiction to say, "My marriage is great—she trusts me completely, but I don't trust her at all." In the same way, a strong relationship with God isn't one-directional. Trusting God is a no-brainer, because He is faithful forever and never changes. The surprising, humbling truth is that despite our failures, God actually wants to trust us too.
The parable: what God gives, He expects us to use
As we closed our Transformational Stories series through the parables of Jesus, we landed on the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. A master leaves on a journey and entrusts his wealth to three servants.
"To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey." (Matthew 25:15)
The first two servants put their money to work and doubled it. The third dug a hole and hid his. When the master returned, he told the faithful servants, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21)—but he called the third a "wicked, lazy servant" (Matthew 25:26).
The kind of person God can trust
A faithful servant is simply someone who works well with what God has actually given them. Three qualities stood out:
1. Recognize what God has given you
Your abilities, responsibilities, opportunities, relationships, time, talent, and treasure are all gifts. Not everyone gets the same amount—one got five, one got two, one got one—and that's the point. You are not called to be faithful with what your sister, your hero, or someone you admire online was given. The quickest way to miss your own gifts is to spend your energy envying someone else's. Comparison steals the time you'd otherwise spend being faithful.
2. Choose to be dependable
To be faithful is to be dependable—to actually do what you say you'll do. You can't choose your gifts, but every day you can choose whether you'll be reliable with them. Dependability isn't occasional obedience; it's consistent character. A car that only starts four days out of seven isn't dependable. What would it look like to be a dependable spouse, parent, giver, or servant—showing up even when you don't feel like it? Obedience determined by feelings isn't really obedience at all.
3. Work urgently and strategically
Notice that the servant with five bags "went at once" to put it to work. Delayed obedience is disobedience. But urgency alone isn't enough—doubling money takes planning. God wants willing hearts and wisdom. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, whether in your finances, your marriage, or your walk with Him.
The reward of faithfulness—and a reason behind it
When the master returned, both faithful servants said something the third never did: "You entrusted me..." They understood they were stewards, not owners. Everything we have—our money, time, relationships, even our next breath—is a gift entrusted to us by grace. When you realize you're the renter and not the owner, you live differently.
"You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:23)
Here's a pattern many of us have seen: chase the fruit and you'll be frustrated; pursue the root—faithfulness—and the fruit follows. Be faithful with what's already in front of you instead of complaining about what you don't have. God trusts more responsibility to those who steward the little well.
The cost of faithlessness
What's striking is that the unfaithful servant didn't lose his one bag—he simply buried it. Unfaithfulness isn't only wasting your life; it can be merely maintaining it, refusing to multiply for God's glory and others' good. Two roots showed up: fear ("I was afraid," Matthew 25:25) and selfishness. Fear freezes you; you cannot be fearful and faithful at the same time. We're called to live by faith, not by fear.
The parable's ending is sobering—the gift is taken away and given to someone who will use it, and the servant is cast into darkness. It's a real warning. But the invitation underneath it is grace: God's will is going to get done; the question is whether it gets done through you.
Faithfulness starts with the Faithful One
The good news is that our faithfulness isn't what saves us—His is.
"What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all!... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:3-4, 23-24)
The cross is the clearest picture of God's faithfulness toward unfaithful people. The more you trust the Faithful One, the more faithful you become—and the more He can entrust to you.
A takeaway to sit with this week
Take an honest inventory: name three things God has entrusted to you right now—a relationship, a responsibility, a resource. Are you multiplying them, or just maintaining them out of fear? What would faithful, dependable stewardship of that one thing look like this week?
If these questions stirred something in you, we'd love to meet you. Wherever you are on the journey of faith, there's a place for you at Arroyo Church in Livermore and across the Tri-Valley. Come as you are.