So explain the "trust God" side of faith to me.

[JLHPROF]

So I've long said that there are two sides to the coin of faith.  The belief side (that there is a God, that Christ was his son, that Joseph Smith was his prophet etc).
And the trust side (that God loves us, will help us, never gives us more than we can bear, will not fail us etc).

The first (belief) is not an issue for me.
But the second...My left brained, rule and law focused, covenant understanding side believes the second.  I know that God says we receive blessings from following the laws.  I know that God says when we do what he says he is bound.  I can believe that logically.

But I've always had a hard time exercising the trust side.  God says he will provide for us?  Why then do so many faithful go hungry, homeless, etc?
God says he can will heal us if we ask in faith, but then sickness hits with a vengeance.  We are told we will never be given more than we can bear - why do so many testimonies collapse under the weight of the burden?  I know people who trust God to help them find a job but are still unemployed.  People who rely on God to guide and direct their lives who end up in very wrong paths.

I 100% believe in God and his gospel, but I am always struggling to exercise the trust God part.  Because I have seen so many people who do trust God not have that trust fulfilled.
So, anyone want to take a stab at explaining it to this left brainer using scripture and doctrine, and if you must appeal to the emotional I suppose that's ok too.

 

[JAHS]

I think trusting God doesn't mean that we give up on our own efforts completely. Sure for some things when we have done everything we possibly can, we have to leave it in His hands temporarily, but we have to be ever ready to step in and do more when we can. There is that old saying, "Pray as though everything depends on God and work as though everything depends on you." 

Edited June 19, 2016 by JAHS

[JLHPROF]

29 minutes ago, JAHS said:

I think trusting God doesn't mean that we give up on our own efforts completely.

You'd never know that reading most Christian internet memes and listening to a lot of people preach.

[Rivers]

For me, trusting God is simply having faith that He is there and that He loves me. 

[gopher]

9 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

But I've always had a hard time exercising the trust side.  God says he will provide for us?  Why then do so many faithful go hungry, homeless, etc?
God says he can will heal us if we ask in faith, but then sickness hits with a vengeance.  We are told we will never be given more than we can bear - why do so many testimonies collapse under the weight of the burden?  I know people who trust God to help them find a job but are still unemployed.  People who rely on God to guide and direct their lives who end up in very wrong paths.
 

Add me to this list - over two years now.  It's tough trying to figure out if you are doing something wrong.  I feel my faith is strong and would like to think my trust in God is equally strong.  It all sounds so easy sometimes in the scriptures and in conference talks when you want to read it that way.  Sometimes it has taken years before I recognized how God provided for me during tough times.  It's hard to imagine having the faith to move mountains when you are wondering why your faith isn't getting you a job.

I can't find the conference talk by Elder Scott where he mentioned he prayed 10 years for something before he received the answer.  It gives me some comfort knowing that even the prayers of apostles aren't always answered immediately.

Great topic.

Edited June 19, 2016 by gopher

[janderich]

The Lord has given us many opportunities to choose, but there will come a time, if it has not already, when you will be unable to effect circumstances as you desire. Despite all your effort you will find that you cannot change the outcome. It may be with a wayward child, it may be with a medical condition or disease, it may involve monetary circumstances. How then is the outcome decided? It is at such a point, we must understand these words of the Lord, "all flesh is in mine hands: be still and know that I am God" (D&C 101:16). If we fail to understand that he is in control than we will loose faith. We will come to believe in random chance, and that he is far away from us. But such is not the case. 

One in this faithless condition suffers from the illusion of control. It is stated so well in Kung Fu Panda. 

Quote

Oogway: My friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours until you let go of the illusion of control.

Shifu: Illusion?

Oogway: Yes.

Oogway: Look at this tree, Shifu: I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time.

Shifu: But there are things we *can* control: I can control when the fruit will fall, I can control where to plant the seed: that is no illusion, Master!

Oogway: Ah, yes. But no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.

Shifu: But a peach cannot defeat Tai Lung!

Oogway: Maybe it can, if you are willing to guide, to nurture it, to believe in it.

Shifu: But how? How? I need your help, master.

Oogway: No, you just need to believe. Promise me, Shifu, promise me you will believe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_pB9xyhZGw

When we give up this "illusion of control" we find a peace that we could never find when we struggled to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. Suddenly we start to see that our efforts are important but small. Only when He magnifies our efforts do they bare fruit. 

[CV75]

10 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

So, anyone want to take a stab at explaining it to this left brainer using scripture and doctrine, and if you must appeal to the emotional I suppose that's ok too.

Like love, trust is its own reward, and it is an eternal attribute such that “whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.” There is no greater blessing than the resurrection, and in that last day, all His promises are kept.

In 2 Nephi 4:19-35, no matter how discouraged and weak he felt, Nephi still knew in whom he trusted. It was part of his personal character.

With regards to trusting Him in our sufferings, Mosiah 23: 21-22, “Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people.”

Alma 36: 3-28 shows the nuance in our expectations from trusting God “And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported [not necessarily delivered] in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day…  And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will [note the future tense and its association with the last day] still deliver me. And I know that he will raise me up at the last day, to dwell with him in glory; yea, and I will praise him forever...”

We always place our trust in one thing or another (“Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men,” 1 Nephi 28:31), so it is a proper exercise of agency to put our trust in God, no matter what.

[thesometimesaint]

We are not our trials. We are how we respond to them.

[bluebell]

9 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

You'd never know that reading most Christian internet memes and listening to a lot of people preach.

I think that's part of at the problem.  So many people find their spiritual truth on Facebook or internet memes (such as the idea that God won't give us more than we can handle-the scriptures don't say that anywhere).

I think that trusting God ultimately means submitting to His will (think Mosiah 3:19) and it is really really hard.  The only thing that has ever helped me is to pray specifically that my trust in Him can increase, and that I can see His hand in my life so that trust will be easier.  

I have been where you are in regards to trust (and will probably be there again)-our family has had some hard trials-and learning how to submit has been the only thing that has worked for me.  Much love to you brother.  If it helps, your testimony of many spiritual truths as well as your doctrinal knowledge has helped my own testimony a lot.

[Flyonthewall]

50 minutes ago, CV75 said:

Like love, trust is its own reward, and it is an eternal attribute such that “whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.” There is no greater blessing than the resurrection, and in that last day, all His promises are kept.

 

In 2 Nephi 4:19-35, no matter how discouraged and weak he felt, Nephi still knew in whom he trusted. It was part of his personal character.

 

With regards to trusting Him in our sufferings, Mosiah 23: 21-22, “Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people.”

 

Alma 36: 3-28 shows the nuance in our expectations from trusting God “And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported [not necessarily delivered] in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day…  And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will [note the future tense and its association with the last day] still deliver me. And I know that he will raise me up at the last day, to dwell with him in glory; yea, and I will praise him forever...”

 

We always place our trust in one thing or another (“Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men,” 1 Nephi 28:31), so it is a proper exercise of agency to put our trust in God, no matter what.

 

I would have loved to have felt supported instead of left on my own.

Spiritually I feel like: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=i+got+a+rock&&view=detail&mid=34033077A118F2D6132C34033077A118F2D6132C&rvsmid=0EF06763D04E5FB644300EF06763D04E5FB64430&fsscr=0&FORM=VDQVAP

[Glenn101]

We must also understand the difference between what the Lord puts on us and what we put on ourselves or is put upon us by our fellow man.

My understanding of trusting the Lord is that everything will be made right in the end. Obviously everything is not made right in this life.

 

Glenn

[JLHPROF]

Thank you for all the answers so far.
I have tried for some time to understand this aspect of faith and still struggle to understand how it is even supposed to work.  What is the pattern?  The rules upon which the trust aspect of faith operate?

God says "when we do what he says he is bound" and "when we receive any blessing it is by obedience to the law".
Here is one of the scriptures I just don't see being fulfilled:

• Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
  26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
  27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
  28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
  29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
  30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
  31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
  32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
  33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

So if we have faith God will provide food and clothing etc.
That would mean if this promise is kept that no saint praying and pleading in their faith would lack these things.  But we know they do.
Or

• Matthew 7:7 ¶Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
  8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
  9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
  10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
  11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Here and in many other places God promises that if we ask he will always answer.
Now I have had prayers answered.  I have had them answered in unexpected ways.  I have had to wait to have prayers answered.  I understand all those things.
But God often allows prayers to go unanswered for his own wise purpose and I understand that he knows better, but how does that fulfill the promise to answer?
Not saying God is wrong - if he doesn't answer he has the reason.  But how does that go with the promise to answer?

We are promised if we call upon the elders AND have faith (and it is not our time to pass) that we WILL be healed.  I know many who meet all these criteria who continue to struggle with health.

I guess my trust part of faith is so hard because I do see promises not kept.  So when I have an issue and I turn it over to the Lord I often have a hard time believing he will help with it.  I'm not talking about his ways of answering prayers being different than expected.   I get that.
But sometimes God seems to not keep his promises yet we are to trust that he will.
Am I missing something?

[Mystery Meat]

Perhaps no scripture explains the principle better than Daniel 3:18. Here Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were about to be cast into the furnace. They had just expressed their belief that they would be delivered from the furnace, but then say after making the declaration, "But if not..." Trusting in the Lord must carry the "But if not" because it shows that we may not always get the answers we want.

I believe the Lord will help me get a job.

But if not....

I believe the Lord will help me find a spouse.

But if not....

I believe the Lord will remove this temptation from me.

But if not...

So on and so forth. Trusting in the Lord does not mean all of our prayers will be answered the way we want, but it does mean that we will trust that the answers that do come are for our ultimate gain.

[janderich]

11 minutes ago, JLHPROF said:

Thank you for all the answers so far.
I have tried for some time to understand this aspect of faith and still struggle to understand how it is even supposed to work.  What is the pattern?  The rules upon which the trust aspect of faith operate?

God says "when we do what he says he is bound" and "when we receive any blessing it is by obedience to the law".
Here is one of the scriptures I just don't see being fulfilled:

• Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
  26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
  27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
  28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
  29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
  30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
  31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
  32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
  33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

So if we have faith God will provide food and clothing etc.
That would mean if this promise is kept that no saint praying and pleading in their faith would lack these things.  But we know they do.

The Lord is not promisng we will always have food and clothing. No, he is promising we will have what we need. Often that is food and clothing but sometimes it may no be so. Therefore, we need not worry about such things. We spend so much of our time in needless concern.

Or

• Matthew 7:7 ¶Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
  8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
  9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
  10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
  11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Here and in many other places God promises that if we ask he will always answer.
Now I have had prayers answered.  I have had them answered in unexpected ways.  I have had to wait to have prayers answered.  I understand all those things.
But God often allows prayers to go unanswered for his own wise purpose and I understand that he knows better, but how does that fulfill the promise to answer?
Not saying God is wrong - if he doesn't answer he has the reason.  But how does that go with the promise to answer?

God does answer, we just do not hear him. He always answers. It is we who are too caught up in what we want to hear, expect to hear, or are two distracted in concern about the moment. Let it go, and we will see God's hand.

We are promised if we call upon the elders AND have faith (and it is not our time to pass) that we WILL be healed.  I know many who meet all these criteria who continue to struggle with health.

I believe the words are something like, "not unto death". Some illnesses will remain with us until we die. I believe my wife has such a condition. I tried healing it but I came to understand that it was not the Lord's will, it would remain with her. 

I guess my trust part of faith is so hard because I do see promises not kept.  So when I have an issue and I turn it over to the Lord I often have a hard time believing he will help with it.  I'm not talking about his ways of answering prayers being different than expected.   I get that.
But sometimes God seems to not keep his promises yet we are to trust that he will.
Am I missing something?

He does keep his promises. It is just the recognition part of it. Let the moment be. Listen to your heart and reserve judgement about how the answer is to come or what the Lord should do, and you will see his hand even at the most unexpected times. 

 

[bluebell]

17 minutes ago, JLHPROF said:

So if we have faith God will provide food and clothing etc.
That would mean if this promise is kept that no saint praying and pleading in their faith would lack these things.  But we know they do.

Sometimes i think it helps to challenge our assumptions.  For example, do we know that there are saints who have no food or clothing or shelter?  Disasters happen and there are no doubt a few days where we could be without those things but besides that specific example (and maybe even in that example too), do you have experience with people who are actively seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and are starving to death with no clothes or shelter?

Quote

 

Or

• Matthew 7:7 ¶Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
  8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
  9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
  10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
  11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Here and in many other places God promises that if we ask he will always answer.
Now I have had prayers answered.  I have had them answered in unexpected ways.  I have had to wait to have prayers answered.  I understand all those things.
But God often allows prayers to go unanswered for his own wise purpose and I understand that he knows better, but how does that fulfill the promise to answer?

 

Does God really allow prayers to go unanswered, or do we sometimes just not recognize the answers when they come?  Or do we ignore the answer of 'no'?   Or do we not really ask, and not really seek, and not really knock, and then get discouraged when there is no answer, nothing is found, and the door stays closed?

You don't have to answer these questions.  I've just found that asking them myself has really opened my eyes to how my assumptions about things (though they seem so reasonable when they aren't examined!) fall a part when i confront them and try to back them up.

Quote

We are promised if we call upon the elders AND have faith (and it is not our time to pass) that we WILL be healed.  I know many who meet all these criteria who continue to struggle with health.

Does this promise apply to every illness, or just those illnesses that can result in death?  Would God make a promise that faithful saints will always be healthy unless it's time for them to die?  That doesn't seem to make sense when we compare it to our knowledge of the purpose of this life and the opposition that we all MUST pass thru.  

Perhaps sometimes we try to apply this promise in ways that God never intended it.

[JLHPROF]

9 minutes ago, bluebell said:

For example, do we know that there are saints who have no food or clothing or shelter?  Disasters happen and there are no doubt a few days where we could be without those things but besides that specific example (and maybe even in that example too), do you have experience with people who are actively seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and are starving to death with no clothes or shelter?

Have you seen 17 Miracles?

Quote

Perhaps sometimes we try to apply this promise in ways that God never intended it.

I think this is the real answer, but then how should we apply our trust in God if we don't even understand what he is promising to do?

[JLHPROF]

20 minutes ago, janderich said:

The Lord is not promisng we will always have food and clothing. No, he is promising we will have what we need. Often that is food and clothing but sometimes it may no be so. Therefore, we need not worry about such things. We spend so much of our time in needless concern.

Except that sometimes even the faithful don't have what they need.

Quote

God does answer, we just do not hear him. He always answers. It is we who are too caught up in what we want to hear, expect to hear, or are two distracted in concern about the moment. Let it go, and we will see God's hand.

Now this is very true.
My question is one of reliability and dependable outcome.  Not of God's motivation and care.

God helps us according to our faith.  Except when he doesn't because he knows better.  That's the challenge.

[CV75]

2 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

But how does that go with the promise to answer?

We are promised if we call upon the elders AND have faith (and it is not our time to pass) that we WILL be healed.  I know many who meet all these criteria who continue to struggle with health.

He always answers, eventually, and perhaps not always in a temporal sense (this helps us develop patience and perspective). True spiritual power is developed in the development of the "But if not..." attitude.

It may be our time to suffer, even though it is not our time to die.

[bluebell]

2 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

Have you seen 17 Miracles?

I have.  I think of that kind of experience more like a 'disaster' than people trying to get thru their daily lives and have what they need.  However, I remember miracles in that movie where food was provided, and shelter, and clothes.

Fowls of the air sometimes starve as well, or freeze to death.  If we go back to that promise you quoted, it seems like it's not a promise that we will never be hungry or cold, even to death, but that we will have what we need in order that we can accomplish God's will (the promise is in regards to missionary work, after all).   

Quote

I think this is the real answer, but then how should we apply our trust in God if we don't even understand what he is promising to do?

I have found that praying to know God's will and to see His hand has really helped me to understand Him better.  I also found that this  blog post helped me profoundly to understand how to connect with God's will better.  I know that what touches one person doesn't necessarily help another, but I would definitely recommend checking it out.

[bluebell]

2 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

God helps us according to our faith.  Except when he doesn't because he knows better.  That's the challenge.

I think that God always helps us according to our faith, it's just that sometimes our faith is in something that isn't His will.  Our faith cannot produce an outcome that is different than the will of Him whom we have faith in.

[BlueDreams]

One of my favorite verses is in Job 5:17-24:

 17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

 18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.

 19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

 20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.

 21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

 22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

 23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

 24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.

Notice that it's not after several tribulations and struggles and whatnots that the person is "delievered." When I read these I don't see that the problems disappear but that the person through them has a greater capacity to endure and overcome it.

To me trusting God isn't necessarily about having things "fulfilled" per se. But a sense that what comes, with God, will be for my growth and betterment. I've had hints of a promise (and sometimes more than hints) given to me over something near to my heart for about 4-6 years (depending how whiny I feel that day about this taking forever). It's still no where near fruition. But the journey that I've been on with God has been more than I could hope for. I've learned more about patience, temperance, humility, etc in this time than at any other point in my life. All of these have made the Lord's voice easier to hear and discern, to the point that each prayer feels answered and other concerns or questions are more readily revealed. I'm also more at peace with my life than I have ever been. I still ache for what God's promised and struggle with it, but the journey has it's own rewards that I couldn't have had any other way. So I trust the crazy road the Lord puts us on. 

 

With luv,

BD

[Teancum]

17 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

So I've long said that there are two sides to the coin of faith.  The belief side (that there is a God, that Christ was his son, that Joseph Smith was his prophet etc).
And the trust side (that God loves us, will help us, never gives us more than we can bear, will not fail us etc).

The first (belief) is not an issue for me.
But the second...My left brained, rule and law focused, covenant understanding side believes the second.  I know that God says we receive blessings from following the laws.  I know that God says when we do what he says he is bound.  I can believe that logically.

But I've always had a hard time exercising the trust side.  God says he will provide for us?  Why then do so many faithful go hungry, homeless, etc?
God says he can will heal us if we ask in faith, but then sickness hits with a vengeance.  We are told we will never be given more than we can bear - why do so many testimonies collapse under the weight of the burden?  I know people who trust God to help them find a job but are still unemployed.  People who rely on God to guide and direct their lives who end up in very wrong paths.

I 100% believe in God and his gospel, but I am always struggling to exercise the trust God part.  Because I have seen so many people who do trust God not have that trust fulfilled.
So, anyone want to take a stab at explaining it to this left brainer using scripture and doctrine, and if you must appeal to the emotional I suppose that's ok too.

 

I suggest if you are really interested in this topic you read Bart Ehrman's book God's Problem.  After that I would love to discuss this issue with you. 

 

[Teancum]

17 hours ago, JAHS said:

I think trusting God doesn't mean that we give up on our own efforts completely. Sure for some things when we have done everything we possibly can, we have to leave it in His hands temporarily, but we have to be ever ready to step in and do more when we can. There is that old saying, "Pray as though everything depends on God and work as though everything depends on you." 

Tell this to a mother in Africa who watches their child starve.  Tell this to the refugees from Syria who while fleeing their war torn nation to save themselves and their families drown I the Mediterranean sea. 

[janderich]

4 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

Except that sometimes even the faithful don't have what they need.

Now this is very true.
My question is one of reliability and dependable outcome.  Not of God's motivation and care.

God helps us according to our faith.  Except when he doesn't because he knows better.  That's the challenge.

The faithful do indeed receive what they need (although perhaps not what they want). This is the testimony of scripture. Do you have something in your own life or reading that makes you say otherwise?

I see your point about reliability of outcome. But peoples situations are so unique and personal that it does little good to try and analyze why or why not God did or did not help someone else. The best way is to look to our own lives and ask God. 

[JAHS]

52 minutes ago, Teancum said:

Tell this to a mother in Africa who watches their child starve.  Tell this to the refugees from Syria who while fleeing their war torn nation to save themselves and their families drown I the Mediterranean sea. 

It's a hard thing to see. That is one of those moments when they have to leave it in God's hands, and even though your mortal life suffers and dies you can still live eternally with God. And He will see to it that they get that chance.  And at the same time it is a test and opportunity for us to help these people so "that the works of God should be made manifest in" in those we help.  (John 9:2-3)