Trust. Trusting. Trustworthiness. Who can I trust? When should I trust? So many questions about trust.
We all know that trust is earned. No one would trust someone they just met. I saw a commercial on tv the other day, and, of course, I don't know what it was about because I wasn't really watching it. It showed a guy handing a briefcase full of money to a stranger on the street and then asking this stranger to watch it for them while they went into a building for a few minutes. The point of the commercial was this; not one of the strangers asked to watch the briefcase full of money, took any of the money. Yet, your bank, whichever horrible untrustworthy bank, you keep your money is STEALING from you every day with fees and charges. OK, I get it. We shouldn't trust banks or financials anymore. But, I don't trust strangers on the street not to steal from me, either. I am absolutely sure I would not trust a stranger on the street and I pretty sure I wouldn't trust someone I knew, either. Everyone has a tipping point. Some people out there have a lower threshold of trustworthiness than others, but the bottom line is, nobody is completely trustworthy.
Jeremiah 17:5-12 says; Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord." (stuff about a shrub in the desert) “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord." (stuff about a tree near water and fruit) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ... I know there are a lot of sick hearts out there in the world.
This brings me back to the question of who to trust. The Bible is pretty clear. It tells me to trust God and not to trust other men or even myself. Btw, I have lied to myself before, so I know I'm not trustworthy, even to myself. I am supposed to trust God. Here's the rub. Trust is earned, right? In order for me to trust God, I have to learn to trust God by letting God earn my trust. I'm sure I can find many verses in the Bible telling me to trust God.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says; Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Psalm 31:14-15 says; But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand;
Psalm 118:8 says; It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
I could go on and on with Bible verses. My point is, at least for me, reading Bible verses does not build my trust in God. I need to experience God's faithfulness to build this trust. And this is a risk. To be honest, I haven't always felt comfortable taking this risk. Yet, I have been comfortable trusting myself or others, even when I've been let down by others and myself. Heck, even my own eyes have betrayed me, as in, "officer, I didn't even see that STOP sign."
I think trusting God is a risk. I know this is not the Christian way to think, but it's how I think. I KNOW trusting God is what I'm supposed to do, but it is scary. God doesn't (read NEVER) think the way I think. Nor does God want the same things for me, I want for me. This is just the way God is. However, I'm learning even though the things I want are good, the things God wants for me are best. And, sometimes, the things aren't exactly what I'm looking for. I'm learning God does not cause hurtful things to happen to me when I trust him, but he allows them to happen. Things like sickness. Things like mental illness. Things like hurricanes and earthquakes and tsunamis. Bad things happen in the world. Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen to people who do good things. Doing good things does not mean God is going to keep bad things from happening. (btw, sometimes good things happen to bad people, but this is another discussion)
I'm learning, in order to develop trust in God I have to start trusting God. I have to check God out. I need to give up my stuff to him and see how he does. I have to give him all my stuff. I have to give him my good stuff and my crappy stuff and see what he does with it. This is scary stuff. To boil it down, it goes something like this. God created me, he knows everything that is going to happen to me, he let me be born anyway, he loves me, but he knows bad things can happen to me because I live in a sinful world, but he has overcome the world and I just have to stick with him and tell others about him and his son and then he will take me to paradise. I think I'm going to give this another try.
Psalm 34:8 says; taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
So, I'll give God a taste. I think it's going to be like the first time I tried sweetbreads. I knew what they were and it didn't sound good, but they tasted delicious.
We all know that trust is earned. No one would trust someone they just met. I saw a commercial on tv the other day, and, of course, I don't know what it was about because I wasn't really watching it. It showed a guy handing a briefcase full of money to a stranger on the street and then asking this stranger to watch it for them while they went into a building for a few minutes. The point of the commercial was this; not one of the strangers asked to watch the briefcase full of money, took any of the money. Yet, your bank, whichever horrible untrustworthy bank, you keep your money is STEALING from you every day with fees and charges. OK, I get it. We shouldn't trust banks or financials anymore. But, I don't trust strangers on the street not to steal from me, either. I am absolutely sure I would not trust a stranger on the street and I pretty sure I wouldn't trust someone I knew, either. Everyone has a tipping point. Some people out there have a lower threshold of trustworthiness than others, but the bottom line is, nobody is completely trustworthy.
Jeremiah 17:5-12 says; Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord." (stuff about a shrub in the desert) “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord." (stuff about a tree near water and fruit) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ... I know there are a lot of sick hearts out there in the world.
This brings me back to the question of who to trust. The Bible is pretty clear. It tells me to trust God and not to trust other men or even myself. Btw, I have lied to myself before, so I know I'm not trustworthy, even to myself. I am supposed to trust God. Here's the rub. Trust is earned, right? In order for me to trust God, I have to learn to trust God by letting God earn my trust. I'm sure I can find many verses in the Bible telling me to trust God.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says; Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Psalm 31:14-15 says; But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand;
Psalm 118:8 says; It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
I could go on and on with Bible verses. My point is, at least for me, reading Bible verses does not build my trust in God. I need to experience God's faithfulness to build this trust. And this is a risk. To be honest, I haven't always felt comfortable taking this risk. Yet, I have been comfortable trusting myself or others, even when I've been let down by others and myself. Heck, even my own eyes have betrayed me, as in, "officer, I didn't even see that STOP sign."
I think trusting God is a risk. I know this is not the Christian way to think, but it's how I think. I KNOW trusting God is what I'm supposed to do, but it is scary. God doesn't (read NEVER) think the way I think. Nor does God want the same things for me, I want for me. This is just the way God is. However, I'm learning even though the things I want are good, the things God wants for me are best. And, sometimes, the things aren't exactly what I'm looking for. I'm learning God does not cause hurtful things to happen to me when I trust him, but he allows them to happen. Things like sickness. Things like mental illness. Things like hurricanes and earthquakes and tsunamis. Bad things happen in the world. Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen to people who do good things. Doing good things does not mean God is going to keep bad things from happening. (btw, sometimes good things happen to bad people, but this is another discussion)
I'm learning, in order to develop trust in God I have to start trusting God. I have to check God out. I need to give up my stuff to him and see how he does. I have to give him all my stuff. I have to give him my good stuff and my crappy stuff and see what he does with it. This is scary stuff. To boil it down, it goes something like this. God created me, he knows everything that is going to happen to me, he let me be born anyway, he loves me, but he knows bad things can happen to me because I live in a sinful world, but he has overcome the world and I just have to stick with him and tell others about him and his son and then he will take me to paradise. I think I'm going to give this another try.
Psalm 34:8 says; taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
So, I'll give God a taste. I think it's going to be like the first time I tried sweetbreads. I knew what they were and it didn't sound good, but they tasted delicious.
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| sweetbreads |
Excellent - Proverbs 3:5-6 is the theme verse of the camp where I work. (I still don't Sweet Breads)
ReplyDeletesweetbreads huh? trust is a risk no matter who we put it in...and that too is the essence of faith
ReplyDeleteTrust is such a hard thing to do, even with God, as you've so aptly stated here. But I have to say, as I look back on my life, God has never failed me. :) I'm glad you're choosing to trust Him more too. Great post and topic!
ReplyDeleteI think this is one of the reasons this verse reads "TASTE and see that the Lord is good".... it's the most daring. hardest to do, to trust...i don't like just putting stuff in my mouth :)
ReplyDelete~ Tara -pohlkottepress
I love the scripture...taste and see...this makes it real...intimate...
ReplyDeleteBlessings~
So true, risking in order to trust is so hard AND so necessary to taste the good life.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely honest post! But those sweetbreads, you're braver than I am!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your prayers for our church building permit my friend.
A comparison I would have never thought of making. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's scary to taste some foods, as it is scary to trust God with EVERYTHING. But, once you try them (sweetbreads) you discover they are delicious and because of your fear you've been missing out on something wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI hope this point came out. I'm thinking I may have been too nebulous. :(
It's good to have focused prayers and your mission sounds right up God's alley. I pray it is a blessed endeavor.
ReplyDeleteSweetbreads are delicious. just sayin'
ReplyDeletetrust, faith, belief... all in the same ballpark. thanks for being such a faithful reader. :)
ReplyDeleteTry them, you'll like them. :)
ReplyDeleteIntellectually, I agree with you 100%. But, giving it all up and leaving it in God's hands? I just can't seem to get there. And, I'm trying.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean. I think the key, at least for this to be something I can do, is for me to remember this life, this walk on earth, is not IT. This is only the prelude for eternity. And that's where faith comes in. I may have to write more about this after I experience more trusting. But, I think I'm exactly where you are. I'm trying.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I struggle with as well. I think we all need to work hard for ourselves, and realize that some things we just cannot change or control. This is a GREAT post, thank you for this :-)
ReplyDeleteYour message is really the mission-0n-the-street message today. So many people live in dysfunction, maybe don't know a father's love - so how are they going to love The Father when their own father abandoned or abused them. So many people aren't in church; it's not taught in the schools (which is why public schools were created - to teach people how to read so they could read the bible and their salvation not be at the whim of a ruler) - so learning to trust the Father is a one-step-at-a-time thing - and through relationship, that is how you build that trust. Awesome! Powerful! Truth Message!
ReplyDeleteit is so nice to hear you say that trusting God is a risk... i think too often we're afraid to admit that. love to you friend, as you seek to trust...
ReplyDeleteWhat we want is good... but what he wants is best. Thanks for that... my heart is fighting to trust him this week.
ReplyDelete