Is Trust Really an Issue?

Let me ask you this; how many times a day do you hear people asking or compelling you to trust them? I hear it all the time. People use the phrase "Trust me" to dispell any hint of doubt and convince you of their intentions. Even commercials market their brand with a seal of security by tagging "The name you can TRUST!" at the end of their advertisement. Politicians' votes are completely based on trust. Their job (in essence) is to make you trust them. From whatever angle, everyone seems to be vying for your trust. And anyone who has lived long enough knows that while everyone wants you to trust them, most people aren't deserving of the level of trust they ask for.

This begs the question, "Who can you trust?" Everyone seems bent on their own agenda and they just need your trusting cooperation to bring their ultimate plans to fruition. These people seem less like friends and more like maniacally evil scientists who have just found the last portion of a secret and deadly formula. "MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! With YOUR trust I will RULE THE WORLD!!!" ::Continue evil laughter::

The real issue about trust is that we become so inundated with the reality of human reality and the human mindset that we project that reality and experience onto God. Our interractions with each other color our perceptions about who God is. Realizing that, it's no mystery why some people have huge issues when it comes to trusting God. It's perfectly understandable given that mindset. I mean, why would you trust someone you can't see, don't know, and can't fully understand what it is they want? How do you know you're not getting hoodwinked into a situation that is going to embarrass you and leave you wishing you'd never gotten involved?

The answer lies in understanding that God's nature is not even close to the same as human's.

We must first understand that God's character supercedes any perception we may have. We build an approximation of His character based on similar traits found among fellow human beings. We see God as truthful through an extended lense from our experience with truthful people. God's true character is something much greater than that.

God's moral character is perfect. Not just perfect as how we perceive perfection, but truly perfect. He IS Justice, peace, patience, love, and above all, Holy. Because of WHO God is, there is Truth. There is an objective standard that is not based upon the simple perceptions that man can offer, rather Truth is based in the LORD.

Because God is his own standard, we can trust Him. He is unchangeable and not susceptable to a flighty attitude or changing his mind on a whim. He is dependable. There are some who challenge this by saying they never know what God will do. I understand that to be a problem of not knowing God, not that God is completely unpredictable and random.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are excellent examples of trusting God. Even when death faced them straight on, they refused to bow to a false idol. "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:17 NIV)

Can you see the amazing level of trust there? God WILL save us. He IS able. And then the kicker, "Even if he does NOT." WOW! This is an amazing amount of trust to fully contemplate that even if things don't turn out the way THEY expect it to that they will still trust God completely with what HE wants to do. In the end God came through for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Their trust was rightly placed. Even if they hadn't been saved, their trust was in the right place. It is their example that we should follow when it comes to trusting God.

Life is hard. Everyone around us wants to earn our trust for the sole purpose of taking advantage of it. Our learned response is to become untrusting and lose sight of what's real and true. The reality is that God is Truth; He is trustworthy. He has proven himself through scripture, throughout history and even today. In light of that Truth, it is our responsibility to trust him... fully! Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.