Why is it so hard to trust, yet so embedded in God's plan for each of our lives? Everywhere we turn around we are asked to trust someone or something else, yet most of us are raised to stand up for ourselves, defend ourselves, and trust no one but ourselves. What of this is actually biblical apart of God's design? Certainly He doesn't want a bunch of push overs, but he doesn't want a bunch of angry, bitter, selfish people either. Can we build good solid relationships that build up and encourage each other in Christ without trust? Can we learn from one another with out trust? Can we have healthy marriages and families without trust? Can we follow Christ whole heartedly without trust?
Trust is part of God's design, a key part of his design. His kingdom is designed around relationships, a relationship with Christ where we trust Him completely with our lives, more trust than we are ever asked to give anyone else. Relationships with spouses, where we ideally trust our spouses like Christ and the church. Relationships within family, that are called to resemble the relationship between God the Father and His son. Yes trust is a huge part of our life following Christ.
Here is some food for thought on trust straight from our source for truth... :
Psalm 56:3 "Even when I am afraid I will trust in you."
Psalm 115:9 " Israel, trust the Lord. He is your helper and shield."
Psalm 31:14 " I trust you, O Lord. I said, "You are my God."
Psalm 56:11"I trust God. I am not afraid. What can mortals do to me?
Psalm 33:21 "In him our hearts find joy. In his holy name we trust."
Psalm 37:3 "Trust the lord, and do good things. Live in the land, and practice being faithful."
Proverbs 3:5 "Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding."
Acts 27:25 "So have courage men! I trust God that everything will turn out as he told me."
2 Timothy 1:12 "For this reason I suffer as I do. However, I'm not ashamed. I know whom I trust. I'm convinced that he is able to protect what he had entrusted to me until that day."
Romans 10:9 "If you declare that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved."
Hebrews 13:6 "So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can mortals do to me?"
1 Corinthians 11:1 "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."
- Trusting those God has asked you to serve under, that they are following Christ. Trusting leadership.
Ephesians 5:22-23 "Wives, place yourselves under your husbands' authority as you have placed yourselves under the Lord's authority. The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. it is his body, and he is its Savior."
- Trust, to allow your husband to lead your family takes great trust... and is first learned as you trust Christ to lead you in your life...
Ephesians 5:33 "But every husband must love his wife as he loves himself, and wives should respect their husbands."
- Mutual trust to supply that basic desire with in our relationships, love and respect.
I know there are so many more verses about trust, trust between followers of Christ and Christ, trust between spouses, trust even between parents and their children, children trust that their parents are going to take care of them. Even trust between Jesus and God the Father.
I guess I say all of this to say that I believe at the root of so many relationship issues whether it is between spouses, friends, family members, ourselves or even our relationship with Christ stem from a lack of trust. A fear that is separating us from having the full relationships God intends for us to have. A fear that we will be hurt, lead astray, abandoned, or judged. Yet there is so much freedom in trust! As we learn to trust we are set free from these fears, and our relationships go to a new level. A level where we share things with others we wouldn't have before, and we have the new freedom to walk through our life with others at our side and then to do the same for others. Freedom to be ourselves, we have to trust ourselves, and who God says we are in order to truly be ourselves...
So I challenge you, and I challenge myself... let's continue to take bigger steps to believe what God says about us, to believe the best about others, and to trust... if you are having issues in your relationships examine this issue of trust, is there something there that you don't trust? Why? What can be done to solve that? I am not saying lets throw down our guards, logic and common sense... that would be unwise. I am just saying lets turn from our culture of self-reliance and open ourselves up a little to trust others so that we have can the meaningful relationships God has created us to desire and to have. Sometimes the hardest people to trust are those closest to us. Start with little things... :)
