TRUST

I’d have to say my father was a pretty good ‘dad’. I think one of the top attributes of a good father is trust. In the very purest sense of the word, I always believed that my father never had ulterior motives, a hidden agenda, or any thought in his mind of anything but my utmost well-being. As a child when he spanked me for my own good, or uttered the dreaded, “this is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you,” I admit I found it hard to trust him then. And when he chose not to allow me to do something or to go somewhere, and I would ask him, “Dad, why?” often the reply was, “because I’m dad,” and in his mind he didn’t need to give me the reason; just the answer. I certainly found it hard to trust that logic.

When trust is betrayed it can be devastating. Certainly this is a part of the ‘sadness’ of child abuse. The destroying of the trust that once existed (or should have existed) between a parent and a child is like a once strong ship being bashed against the rocks until it ultimately falls to pieces (or like singing “I Fall to Pieces” on the Idol stage as they are booting you off and then literally ‘falling to pieces’).

Recently during a Bible study, the subject of Adam and Eve came up, and the discussions drifted to the oft accepted reason as to ‘why’ Eve ate the apple as being the sin of pride (versus Eve having an apple fetish or ‘an apple a day keeps the dogma away’). No doubt pride was an element of it. The allure of power perhaps; maybe even the excitement of the unknown. But there had to be a moment of sadness with Eve; suddenly a shadow of doubt had been cast on the sincerity of her Father. The trust she had experienced there in the Garden was being undermined. Would her Father, the only father she had ever known deceive her and withhold something from her? Would He be selfish and stingy? Did the One who provided for her every need not actually have her best interests at heart? Was He lying?

You look through the Bible and you don’t really find God specifically telling us to trust Him but it’s definitely implied. God often warns of the consequences of trusting in ourselves, or trusting in weapons or gold. In Micah 7:5 we are warned even about trusting a friend (see previous blog ;). He often tells us of the rewards we can expect when we do trust Him, but you just don’t see where he comes out and says, “Trust me.” The fact is, when someone says, “Trust me,” that’s the moment I get suspicious. If something in their words, or actions or even the tone of their voice causes my countenance to change to the point that they feel it necessary to ask me to ignore what I’m feeling and/or seeing and just ‘trust them’, I immediately look for my wallet and the nearest exit (or for Ashton Kutcher).

God expecting us to trust Him and rely on Him is very real. It’s implied in His actions and inherent in His very being. It’s outwardly apparent as the world around us; yet it’s taken for granted like the delicate balance maintained in the earth’s rotation, the climate, and the seasons; it’s inconspicuous and subtle as the beat of a heart or the moment of conception. When we err, when we doubt, when we show despair; those are the times we haven’t trusted. I’m not even talking (blogging/rambling) so much about trusting for ‘provision’ like the ‘lilies in the field’ that Jesus talked about in the 12th chapter of Luke. I’m referring to Job saying, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” It’s the undying, never failing, it’s for my own good type of trust that I have in my earthly father…to the omnipotent power.  Once the serpent destroys that trust, then we'll usually feed ourselves the 'poison' apple.

I always know that when my life starts feeling like an old knock-knock joke and I hear “Knock knock,” and I reply “Who’s there?” and then I receive the answer “God”, that the minute I blurt out, “God who?” or “God why?”…I know that I’ve blown it. May in the future my answer be “I thought that was You!” or better yet, “I trusted that was You!”