Trust

I have been pondering this idea a lot lately.  Trust has become my answer for "what is the bottom line of Christianity?" Trusting God is something I've been learning, but I have also been thinking about trust between people.  I think we are sorely lacking in that arena as well.

When someone tells you your spouse has been cheating on you, how many of us will brush that off as just a nasty rumor?  I doubt the numbers would be high, and that is sad.  It seems like our natural first instinct is to believe a horrible story like that, even if the spouse never gave any cause to mistrust.  How many of us could hear that and think, "no, I know him/her and I trust him/her, so I'm not going to just simply believe this story." ?  With this issue of ultimate betrayal, trust is forfeit and fear takes over.

Let's step back a bit.  What if you are a teenage girl wanting to date this super cute boy at school, and your father is against it?  You've had a wonderful relationship with your daddy for 16 years, he's taken care of your every need and has loved you well, always encouraged you to pursue your dreams and passions and provided many opportunities for you to do so.  Suddenly he's just out to destroy your happiness and ruin your life!!  Um...  Probably not.  Trust would tell you that maybe he knows something you don't, maybe he is still that wonderful father that wants the very best for you.  Trust wouldn't believe that he has suddenly turned into a monster.

And what if we turn the tables.  What if your husband really was cheating?  What if your best friend in the world was the one to tell you about it?  Do you trust her as you always have?  Or do you fly into a rage and throw her out of your life?  Did she suddenly turn against you?

We've all seen scenarios like this play out and they're all pretty disastrous.  So what am I getting at?  Trust isn't automatic.  Trust isn't a given.  Trust is built over time and made stronger by history.   It is my hope that we would all consider our level of trust with the people closest to us.  Do we know their hearts?  Do we know their character?  I know that some people are good at deception, but do we really want to start from there?  I think that trust is deeply important to our lives, so I am pondering how that works, who should I trust?   How do I monitor my levels of trust with the various circles of relationships in my life?  It's tough, but I think it is important enough to warrant more attention.