i will be editing and revising the last post for peacemaker.com. look for a more focused commentary and less of a devotional writing. still getting used to this journalistic type writing.

Trust...

an older woman from my church congregation invited me to coffee a few weeks ago. i accepted her invitation with outward enthusiasm but inward caution. you see, i was one of the nominees for three open elder positions at my church and i couldn't help but assume that her sudden interest in us getting together was motivated by this. turns out i was right. one of the first things she said to me was that she asked me to coffee because she didn't trust that i was ready for the responsibility of being an elder. she didn't think i was capable of handling the stress and the weight of the decisions looming in our church's future. when i asked her why she thought this way, she answered simply, "why, because i don't know you!"

this got me thinking...about trust. the Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary definition of trust is (noun) 1 a: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something b: one in which confidence is placed." now, rightly i couldn't expect a woman who doesn't know me to have assured reliance in me or expect her to know me enough in an one hour coffee session to place her confidence in me. but with a continued relationship, i hope that we can build a mutual trust that will move our relationship forward.

i often like to transfer these simple ideas about relationships between people to our relationship with God. we are called to trust God right? well how many times have you looked at something and essentially said to God, "well, i'm just not sure if you can handle this. my life is just so complicated you see, and, well, i'll just deal with it myself." speaking for myself, i do this constantly. and it struck me over the weekend, that i keep trying and trying to trust God, but i still struggle and struggle with it because i don't know Him. sure i "know" him, but how much time have i spent reading scriptures to see His character, to see how much He loves His people and takes care of them. and by reading scripture, i mean specifically the old testament.

so often we get stuck in our post-modern, meta-cognitive, over-analyzing way of thinking about "religion" and "God." we think and question and talk to each other (again, speaking for myself here). these are not bad things, but we must remember that one of the reasons we have the Bible is to learn. and the more we learn about God, the more we will be able to trust Him.

now, the woman at my church might learn more about me and still not trust me. i'm human and, despite what you might think, i'm not perfect. so that assured reliance may never exist. but God is perfect. and He is faithful. and he shows us again and again in scripture. so go read and learn why you can trust God. He is good!