Lately, I have been looking at the word trust, mostly for humans, within the bible. There was an experience that I had about a week ago where I was being told to trust God. I was surrounded by people and yet, I was being told to trust God. I trust God with all of my heart...Proverbs 3:5-6.* My question for myself was why couldn't I trust when I trusted God completely and I trusted the people enough. The only verse I could find about trusting man was Jeremiah 17:5.* I had a conversation a couple of nights about this as well. The lady I was talking with said that she does not believe that we are supposed to trust in all humans, but there are some people that we need to trust because we lean on one another in this world. I agree with her to an extent. Trust does not come easily to me, but I still believe that everyone deserves respect. Whether they lose it or not is up to them, but every person deserves a chance. The way it sounded, she was saying that people have to earn whatever respect or trust you give to them. I disagree. Now, that was somewhat off topic, but it ties in. So, I was stuck with these two verses which were saying "Do not trust in man, but trust in God completely." So are there people that you need to trust, yes. Are there people you should not trust, yes. Should you trust only in God? I believe not, however I believe that you have to trust in God to know who you can trust on the Earth.
*Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
Jeremiah 17:5 "This is what the Lord says: 'Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord.' "
Nice Blog Lex! You are a very gifted writer! Jesus told his followers "As I have loved you, so you should love one another..." Later Paul said that trust is one of the defining factors of love (1 Cor. 13). Therefore, as the body of Christ we are to trust the network of believers God places around us. That's not to say we should "blindly" trust. Only God is perfectly trustworthy not to let us down or offend. But trust is deeply essential to spiritual growth. Without trust in one another, we cannot grow as God intended. However, trust should be coupled with two important factors, in my opinion. The first is discernment. We need to be cautious without being fearful as we build trust with others over time. Discernment minimizes the chances that we will be violated by an unsafe person. The other element is grace. Even in the best of human relationships, forgiveness is needed. We have to have grace upon those around us in the same way that we desire it. We WILL let others down, and we WILL be let down. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.... :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jeremy, he said it perfectly!
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