This is the million dollar question. It’s the basis for a solid relationship. The key to decision making. The ability to follow someone’s leadership. Do you trust them? Speaking from personal experience…it’s very hard to trust. If asked, I would tell people I am a trustworthy individual. In the last year, I had someone look at me and say some of the most hateful things I’ve ever been told…their words haunted me and made me start asking myself “can people trust me?” More importantly, I began questioning who I trusted. And scarier still…even though I would quickly tell you that I trust God…did I really mean it?
I’m not about to say I have all the answers…good gracious, I’ve been learning this trust lesson for a while now and I’m pretty sure I’ll be learning it for the rest of my life. Anyway…here’s some thoughts from what I’ve been learning on the subject of trust.
The Bible speaks clearly on trust, one verse that has often arrested my attention is Psalm 33:20 and it says: “Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield, for our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.” My life often felt, and sometimes feels, like a big waiting game. In life – we wait a lot. Wait in line, wait at a red light, wait for movie tickets, wait for the “perfect” man or woman, wait for a new album, wait for vacation time to come around, wait for 5 o’clock to get here, wait for summer, etc. etc. etc. I’m learning it’s not so much about the waiting…it’s what we’re doing in the “wait” time. As we are doing our daily activities, going through the normalcy of life are we more focused on the wait or on what God is calling us to in the moment?
Several messages I’ve heard lately have spoken deeply to my heart. Pastor Norman made a comment the other night in service that went like this: “The heart of the problem…is a problem of the heart.” Oh how true. Every problem we can come up with, boils down to an issue in our heart. We need to be chasing after the hearts of people. It is with our hearts that we make decisions. With our hearts we communicate. With our hearts we share, hide or remain aloof. It’s a protection thing. It’s a way to make others warm to us.
Our words are very important and must be protected. There are standards…God’s. When we compare our words, to the Scriptures, are our words going to stand or be found lacking and crumble? Our words show the place of our hearts. Naturally, our desire is to hide our defects. We simply want to be loved and accepted as we are, and Satan has us buying into the lie that if people see us as we truly are – we will be unlovable. And even I, must say, this is something I struggle with. I don’t open up easily and if you’ve heard my heart…count yourself among the very few. As we cover, with words, the true value of our hearts…this is a issue of pride, which makes it an issue of sin. Herein lies the problem.
The scariest part is it’s not just person to person. If others cannot trust our words…what about God? The communications we share with others, with ourselves and with God are somewhat interconnected. Being able to be honest with ourselves, God and others is important. So as we go into this new week…challenge yourself. Speak honestly. Be honest with yourself. Yep…the truth is not always pretty but it saves a lot of heartache in the long run. Jesus is asking us to TRUST Him. Trust is a delicate wire on which we walk. We must make the decision to either trust God, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense to us, even when we wonder “why”…God knows. He understands everything and in time, His will shall be seen and it will make sense. Take it a day at a time…or take a big leap of faith and ask yourself: “If I can trust God for my salvation, why don’t I trust Him in the little everyday matters of my heart?”
Into My Heart 