The topic of trust has been on my heart a lot over the past several years and really coming into more focus the past few weeks. Here are a few definitions according to dictionary.com…
| 1. | reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence. |
| 2. | confident expectation of something; hope. |
| 3. | a person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust. |
| 4. | the obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence or authority is placed: a position of trust. |
| 5. | charge, custody, or care: to leave valuables in someone’s trust. |
| 6. | something committed or entrusted to one’s care for use or safekeeping, as an office, duty, or the like; responsibility; charge. |
All of us has struggled with trust at one time in our life. We have all been burned by people we thought we could trust. We have also not been trustworthy for other people. Honestly, I find myself in a place of not trusting people right now. I am sure there are people who do not trust me. I don’t have a confident expectation, reliance , or surety in people.
I can say I do ‘trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on myown understanding; in all my ways acknowledge Him, and he will make my paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6. I have had to rely on the Lord because I do not understand so many things that go on in life. Psalm 9:10 states, ” Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” I have spent enough time getting to ‘know’ the Lord and His ways that I can trust Him. The word ‘name’ in this context means essence, nature, and character.
But is this enough? Is it enough to trust in the Lord? Do we need to get into a place where we trust other people? Yes, yes and yes. If we do not fully put our trust in the Lord we can not fully trust people. God is ultimately the one who ‘covers’ our backside when things go wrong. The very foundation of my life depends on my trust in the Lord and my knowing and experinceing who He is in a very real and practical way. But how do I translate my trust in the Lord to be able to trust other people? This is where I tend to get ‘stuck’ and find myself right now.
What exactly do I not trust about people? Right now I think it boils down to people being ‘keepers of their word’, not betraying me when I have entrusted my heart to them and not being taken advantage of. When someone says they are going to do something–I want them to do it. Not just talk about it or say all the right things–but do it. I want people to hold in confidence the things I confide in them about. I don’t want them going to others and saying, “Oh, Annette is dealing with such and such” without getting my permission. I guess it’s the persumption that I’m okay with others sharing my stuff with others just because I tend to be transparent in the things I talk about that erks me. Don’t know if that made sense or not but…
Anyway, I still have a lot to stew about on this subject, but at least it’s a start. There will probably more to come on this subject.
A Net of Hope 