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Do you find it easy to trust? Or have you been let down so many times that trust is something that takes a long time for someone to earn. Trust is an interesting element of human interaction, and a foundation of any successful relationship. Trust is often founded on experience, as we see that a person is worthy of our trust. Trust is also more easily given as it received. When we feel trusted by someone, we find it easier to be vulnerable with that individual. When we trust someone, we believe, on the basis of evidence and expectation that their word will be true, that their actions will not cause us harm, and that they have our best interests at heart.
As human beings, we have limitations, and we usually place limitations on our trust. If someone says they’ll be on time, we may believe them to a certain extent. If we have a secret, we will determine if a certain person should be told. If one of our friends puts their ambitions before our friendship, we may not be surprised or overly hurt – because we’ve learned how to protect ourselves by not trusting. We believe that we know best for ourselves, and we will stubbornly guard that part of our autonomy.
I believe that this is one of the reasons why men and women have so much difficulty being together and staying together – an intimate relationship means allowing another’s decisions to influence one’s life. And if I don’t trust you, I will not feel comfortable allowing you to make decisions on my behalf, because I will not see your decisions as in my best interests. If the trust isn’t there, then the relationship will not work. Period.
Now there’s one thing I should mention about trust. You can only absolutely trust someone you absolutely know will never let you down. Trust, faith, and hope, are inseparably linked. Trust is defined as firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing. Trust says “I know what I believe in, and I’m going to keep believing it, even if there’s evidence to the contrary.”
The better you know the person you trust, the easier it is to know how worthy they are of trust. The more you see their character, the better able you are to see the integrity there. As time goes on, we learn how trustworthy the ones in our lives are, by the evidences they give you. Trust is a paradoxical concept at times however, for you must extend trust before trust can be personally proven. And this is a risk.
When you trust someone, you open yourself to experience their love, and also to experience pain. Of course, there is the possibility of learning how trustworthy someone is by listening to them tell you how they deal with others, or watching and interpreting from their behaviour. People are creatures of habit, and they won’t treat you much differently from the way they treat others in their lives. Watching someone, listening to them, examining how they deal with others helps to establish a foundation that the individual can be trusted. But all of that would be considered secondary research, at best. In order to experience the feeling of trusting someone, you must let down the barriers, in big steps, or small, and offer the trust. The risk is there, but the reward of trust is significant.
Any relationship is grounded on trust. A relationship with God is no different. And in fact, the stakes are much higher. God offers us eternal salvation, a free gift when we accept the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, and enter into a relationship with Him. And being in a relationship with God involves trusting God, and trust isn’t something easily given. Let’s consider one reason why this might be the case: God has presented Himself to us, through scripture, as our loving Father.
And for some of us, our father is not someone we trust. Our father might be someone we avoid, someone we share limited information with, someone who breaks promises, someone whose interests for us are not what we see as our own best interests, someone we fear… And when we call God our father, the name carries with it emotional “baggage” that makes it difficult for us to give God the trust a real relationship needs.
Does God trust us? I don’t think so. Let me explain why. God knows the end from the beginning. God KNOWS us. And the human heart is “deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” (Jeremiah 17:9) Jesus “entrusted himself to no man, for he knew all men” (John 2:24) And since he knows us, it any confidence He has in us is confidence in the part of us which He inhabits.
The Spirit wars against the flesh, and as long as the flesh has something to say, the reaction of the human heart to God is not guaranteed. And since God knows all, including exactly what choices we are going to make, what he gives to us is not trust – an expression of confidence, but rather freedom – and expression of love. That’s the freedom implicit in the patience shown to the children of Israel. That’s the freedom expressed in the preaching of Noah for 120 year. That’s the freedom spoken in John 3:16 and 17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son … not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” That’s the freedom shown to the prodigal son, who went away with his father’s riches to waste them in revelry and bacchanal. To one another we extend trust, but God gives us freedom – and that freedom expresses his love.
We can learn much about the faithfulness of God by reading in His Word how he related to people. Consider the account of Joseph – He was taken by his brothers, thrown in a pit, sent to Egypt as a slave, rose to prominence in his master’s household, was slandered by his master’s wife, thrown into prison again, and left there to rot… He could have complained… He could have cried… He could have given up. But He trusted – and God came through for him.
Consider the account of Job – a rich man, stripped of wealth, health, family, and left with a nagging wife and 3 unfriendly friends – He didn’t know what was happening, and He didn’t know it wasn’t God putting him through “hell”, but He had a relationship that let him know that nothing could happen to Him if God didn’t allow it. He could have cursed God and died, but instead he said, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him”
Consider Moses, taken from his parents at a young age, living in a strange land, learning strange religions, languages and customs… ending up killing a man, and tending sheep in the wilderness for 40 years. He didn’t understand the role God had for him. He didn’t know what great leadership position God would put him into. He made excuses when God called Him. And he made mistakes. He could have given up, when the people made him mad. But He didn’t, He trusted, and watched as God used Him to confirm His law to the world. He led, and saw God save His people over and over again. He didn’t make it into Canaan, but God raised Him from the dead and took Him to heaven.
Consider the children of Israel who moan and complained for water, for food, for meat, and a God who gave them what they needed every step of the way. Consider those who received neither silver nor gold from Peter, but rather salvation and healing. Consider a God who saw a world in need of a Saviour, and gave Jesus.
Speak to some of the older Christians that you know – sit down for a few hours and listen to their stories of how the Lord brought them through. Speak to them of trusting, and doubt, of disappointment that were blessings in disguise. Ask them if the God they serve can be trusted. You will grow from the experience.
God knows for us what is best for us, and history and Scripture show us that he provides for our needs. And we can see that there is a foundation laid that God is worthy of our trust. With that foundation, we have the invitation to trust him and see that he will deliver. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)
God can be trusted. His love is incomprehendable. His grace is more than sufficient. And his plan for your life is far better than any of us can imagine. “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered into the hearts of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
We need a relationship with God. That relationship is our lifeblood. HE is the vine, and we are the branches, and without our relationship, our life because empty because there is no LIFE in it. Our relationship is grounded in the trust we have for the God who offers His love freely, and offered His life freely, so that we could have life.
Our God is an awesome God. So place your life fully in His hands. Don’t second guess His will. Do believe that your trust in Him will renew your strength. You will mount up on wings like eagles. You will run and now grow weary. You will walk, and you will not faint.
Peace, joy, and love to you!
Resting in the everlasting arms,
Dave.
They that hope in the Lord…