Do You Trust Me?

 
I have found that a vital part of our humanity that we have lost almost completely in our culture and the world, as we know it now, is trust. I think most people would say they can barely trust anyone anymore. I fully believe that there is truth, and we know it deep inside of us, but as Erwin McManus writes, “…truth exists only if there is someone who is trustworthy. The truth is an extension of someone who can be trusted.” I have found this to be so very true in every part of my life; someone may be one-hundred percent true in what they are saying, but if I cannot trust them for whatever reason, past lies or painful memories, than their truth means nothing; I will see it as foolishness, lunacy, or at the least, false. This takes me back to the last sentence in McManus’ quote that I left out before where he says, “The truth exists because God is trustworthy.” As I worked this last year with many elementary students, I worked specifically with one, so we became very close. We would have amazing highs and lows in our work together, but when push came to shove on any issues, I would always ask him, “Do you trust me?” It was funny to see him get to the point that he fully trusted me and would spout off out of anger, “NO!” Normally a second or two later (sometimes a little longer), responding, “Yes, of course I trust you, Mr. G.” It was this beautiful place that we had come to where through patience and long bearing (on both ends), he finally trusted that even if he didn’t understand or had to work harder than he ever had before and put in more effort than he thought he could, he trusted that I wasn’t leading him astray. The growth and learning that came from his ability to trust me was astronomical.  It was so great to see this in my work with this student because it gave me complete understanding in this area of how God is with us. He waits patiently; He continues to stand next to us during our fits of rage or our tears of despair and disappointment, and smiles big and says, “Do you trust me?” We talk about how faith is difficult and hard to understand, and even hard to live out, but if we really understand that God is who He says he is, we must only respond with, “Yes, of course I trust you.” I had a good friend who said, “God is love, right? So, I like to replace ‘love’ in 1 Corinthians 13 with ‘Jesus.’ It just makes sense, doesn’t it?” If we do this, we come to this amazing truth that Jesus is patient, kind, not envious, He doesn’t brag, He’s not puffed up. He’s not rude or self-serving, easily angered or resentful. He is not glad about injustice, but He rejoices with the truth. He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Trust doesn’t come easily because it can so easily be given away, but I once again borrow Erwin’s words and say, “The truth exists because God is trustworthy.”