“He who covers a transgression seeks love…” Proverbs 17:9
Trust is reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, and surety of a person. To submit to an authority in our life, we must trust. As human beings, we usually find it easy to trust until we experience disappointment by a trusted someone. I think we were created with the functionality to believe. Doubt is a dysfunction that goes against our God-originated design. Before a betrayal of our expectation occurs, there was no pain or heartache to initiate distrust. There wasn’t failure to cause us to discredit our confidence. There was no manipulation to generate suspicion about intent. Why wouldn’t we trust?
However, in a world that is twisted from sin, this is how it usually goes: once our trust has been shattered, we feel heartache and experience an inward violation against our soul. We fear being hurt or deceived again, so our natural reaction is to take control. To protect ourselves, our fear now causes us to require people to prove themselves as worthy of our trust. If trust is relying upon someone, then our solution is to discern if they are indeed reliable. We learn that trust can be selective, choosing to trust one person and not another, or one group and not another. Some choose to withhold trust from anyone and everyone. Who can we trust?
God is reliable. He is perfect. He has both the ability and the desire to accomplish His promises. We can put our stock in Him. Even if things are not going our way, if we know Gods’ love for us, we can trust Him in spite of the circumstances. People, however, are not perfect. They aren’t always reliable. They make mistakes. They give into their own appetites and desires. They tend to want to be in control, to be self-sufficient, to be self-indulgent. It’s a cycle of mistrust, pain, fear, and control. How can we trust each other? Should we trust each other? Can trust ever be rebuilt once it has been violated?
I believe we should trust those that God leads us to confide in. I don’t think God wants any of us to isolate ourselves from everyone as if to live this life alone. I believe we should trust, taking the risk of injury, knowing that we can lean on God to heal us if we get hurt. I believe that God will give discernment on who to trust or not trust and how far a person should be trusted. It is a matter of being led by the Holy Spirit. I also believe that rebuilding trust is also possible. It takes faith in God and faith in the power of the cross. It takes forgiveness. It requires bringing down walls of protection; but the rewards of relationship are worth any risk we take.
Application: A submission problem is often a trust problem. If the word submission makes you squirm, consider that there may be an area where you need to receive God’s love and restoration.