Trust (Part II)

“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.  Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” Psalm 90:1, 2 NKJV

Trust implies relationship.  It is a condition enjoyed by people who rely on each other for mutual benefit.  Is there someone you rely on?  Have they ever let you down?  Have you ever let them down?  The reality that we are forced to deal with as humans is that we don’t always come through for those who place their trust in us.  We forget to keep our promises.  We get caught up in the demands of our responsibilities and deadlines.  We run out of time.  And sometimes we just don’t feel like doing it, whatever it is.

Webster defines trust as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something”.  Since we have established that we cannot completely trust ourselves because we will fail each other from time to time, who then can we trust?  

The power of “Trust” resides in the object of our trust.  If I put my trust in an all-powerful God, it gives me a can do attitude because he can do anything.  The New Testament makes it even clearer, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 NKJV  Trusting in God gives me the power to get out of bed on days when things are not going well.  Trust in God gives me the courage to attempt big things that seem completely out of my reach because I know they are not out of God’s reach.  Trust in God gives me the confidence that things will work out somehow even when my situation or my relationships don’t always. Trusting in Divine power doesn’t mean things will never go wrong but it does mean that when they do, I can have hope that they will work out. 

As we celebrate Black History Month, we remember the experience of a people sustained by the power of trusting in God.  The power of this trust gave millions of African slaves the ability to hope and work for a better day.  For while they were torn form homeland and family, labored under the lash, were tortured and tried, endured “Jim Crow”, segregation and humiliation, they never gave up hope that they would one day be free.  That hope, fueled by trust in God gave us the legacy of a genre of hope filled music known as Negro Spirituals.   Today we live in that better day but may the power of trust in God drive us on to even better days.

Be a blessing.

Mark A. Stoddart, M.Div.
Administrative Director for Spiritual Wellness
Shawnee Mission Medical Center