Trust

Trust is understood, as any major factor in life is likely to be interpreted, from different points of view. Out of trust I form my relationships, making them acceptable in their limitations and benefits.  I trust God to the point that anything occurring in my life is interpreted by me, as the context for my life to direct me in the growth of my spiritual experience.  If I deviate from what he instructs me to be and do, I trust him to shift the influence factors of my life to bring me into line.  He trusts me to be of this frame of mind and involves himself accordingly.  In this he does not overlook my freedom and individuality that he gives to all persons.  I ask him to be the controller of my freedom, my person in thought and conduct so to make me, not what I might have chosen to be and do, but what he would have me be and do.  My life is returned to the author to make of it what he meant for it to be.  I trust him to fulfill that trust, and prove that trust in me by my evasion of complaints in the course of my life.  If I feel complaints I want to be instructed through casting them in prayer, asking forgiveness for any fault in me that may have generated the complaints, and trust him for prayer consequences.  In this trust pattern, life is given a magnificent hue relating to joy forevermore.  Without that pattern, life is sometimes a drudge, dragging along and taking privileges that do not belong to me – such as judging others.  Trust leaves judgment to God.  Violations also shadow my obligation to become a model to others about what life ought to be in living out its affirmations.

It is not likely that we will get a quick and clear answer if we ask a person to define trust.  My use of trust is an important factor in determining my understanding of reality.  I trusted my mother in all matters related to me, even when I resisted her role as teacher or nurturer of her son.  I trusted my wife for the many decades we shared life together.  I trust my children and extended family in our relationships, whether we are present or absent from each other.  Is that trust ever violated?  Of course it is, because of human frailty but the blame falls on the frailty, not the trust.  In such an event of violation the tendency is factored into the trust, so now I can trust these persons to act in a certain way in relationships – even if it is the wrong way.  The problem is made theirs, not mine.  If the person is selfish, I trust them to act in selfish ways, and proceed accordingly.  If generous, I trust them to act in generous ways.  My response ought to be to make up for lack of generosity if the other person lacks it and that without judgmental attitude. 

We ought to use trust in negative contexts.  Trusting a person to be traitorous because of my knowledge of him, I ought to guide my thought and conduct to appropriate response, leaving judgment to God.  This is partly related to the complexity of human formation.  Jesus trusted Judas to act as Judas acted.  He did not trust Peter to act at the campfire as he acted when he encountered the soldier at the arrest scene.  Later the matter was settled in the penitence of Peter, forgiveness of contradictory conduct, and repair to respectful trust in Peter.  When counselees inform me that a friend has acted in a negative way, so they will return in negative response, I know they do not understand what personal orientations ought to be.  If someone is judgmental, suspicious, stern in a relationship, we should not be judgmental, suspicious, and stern in response.  I remind persons complaining of such conduct that if they were offered the same experiences in the formation of life as the troubled friend, we would likely respond as the friend does.  Our goal should now be a model of grace, of expectation, of patience, of persuasion, of affirmation, of faith that persons can change – can see themselves as others see them, and as God sees them.  The words for trust in Scripture include these factors, depending upon the application.  For example, if the trust is full and strong one word is used.  If there is less confidence in the trust, another word is used.  Biblical meaning of trust, related to God, is that the person of faith puts spiritual well-being in Jesus Christ – and leaves it there.  The Christian’s concern is to take that gift of trust (found in the theological term of justification), and do what can be done to move life toward the maturity implied in the trust (vital to faith).  Faith in God is weaker, less fulfilling, when it does not include dynamic trust.  If total, this trust is not captured fully in a good motto: In God We Trust.  It rests in the belief that our lives may be rested in God’s wise control.