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just trust me


just trust me.  that's a statement that rarely seems to conjure up much confidence.  if you have to tell me that i need to trust you, then you've probably already given me sufficient reason to doubt you.  in fact, trust seems to be in short supply these days.  some of that is just human nature: we trust implicitly and instinctively when we are babies and children, and then, as we grow up and discover that others sometimes let us down, we learn to rely on ourselves.  but some of the lack of trust is cultural: america has always valued independence and self-reliance.  pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is a national value that has almost nothing to do with trust.  finally, it seems that we live in an age when trust is at an all time low.  we've been disappointed by our heroes.  our political leaders are often frauds, our religious leaders are liars, and our sports heroes are cheats.  power, sex, and money have made fools of them all, and somewhere along the line we have lost our taste for trusting in anything more than "it is what it is." 

which causes me, as a pastor, to ask: what effect does all this have on our desire and ability to trust God?

what do you think?  do you trust God?  why?  how?  what about us as a nation?  it's written on our money, but i have a feeling there's a long list of things we trust before we really trust God as a nation.  is trust just a helpless kind of resignation that "everything will turn out ok in the end?" or is something more active?  is it "letting go and letting God?" or is it some kind of partnership?  

i'm preaching about trusting God on sunday and i'm curious about your thoughts on this.  with a tiny baby in our house, i have a renewed picture of trust: an uninhibited willingness to rely fully on those who love you to meet your every need.  it makes me wonder if this is something like what Jesus had in mind when he said that the Kingdom of God belongs to children.  maybe, because they trust so completely in the love of their parents, they already know the way into the front gate of the Kingdom.  maybe we would do well to lean into love as fully, not just printing it on our money, or using it as an excuse to justify our apathy or laziness, but really living it.  

thoughts? 


Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
When it comes to God and Trust, I fall short in having complete Trust with God. My thinking is there is a fine line where you put your trust that everything you pursue the Lord has your best interest in mind for you or should I be thinkin what I consider is my best interest or what I can controll....maybe the let go and let God is not totally a completed issue for me. Need more leaning into.... Very hard too have trust when you find yourself in a divorce or the one you love the most is sick. Our journeys thru life sometimes leave us with much hurt and dis-trust.
And than on the other hand when you put trust in a friend or parents and realize they have always been there for you no matter what path you take....is that friend or parents someone God has inspired trust for you?
All I know is that everyday you get up and be the best you can be with an open heart and love and lean in to trust:)
11:17 AM
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