How Important Is Trust to You?

Considering all the people you know, whom do you trust? What does trust means to you? Someone humorously said, “Trust is giving your debit card along with the pin number to someone you believe would never rip you off.”

Trust is confidence that the ties that bind could never be easily severed. Trust is longed for because it represents a treasure of great value and worth. Accountability cannot be separated from trust, for trust is the strongest motivation for being responsible.

In the Parable of the Pearl of Great Value, Jesus relates how a merchant found the perfect pearl he had pursued for years. He sold his possessions and bought the pearl. This is analogous to taking hold of the Kingdom Of Heaven offered to you at great sacrifice by God. Trust is grasping what may never come your way again. 

Trust compels you to tenaciously seize the Kingdom of God, for it is of great value.

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Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ”He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 

~Psalm 91:1-2 New International Version 

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How Crucial Is Trust to Every Aspect of Life?

Erik Erikson, the American child psychologist, listed trust as the primary task of infancy. Trust is the foundation on which all healthy development depends. Confidence, feelings of security, your identity and success directly parallel trust.

Imagine an infant born to a couple who are absolutely delighted that they could be so blessed by God. Throughout infancy this baby is loved and cherished, showered with affection, and all physical needs are met with loving care. The sound of the parent's voice resonates love and acceptance.

It isn’t difficult to imagine how trust develops under these conditions or how mistrust evolves when these attributes are absent. As an adult, God’s word encourages believers to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, for he provides confidence to face whatever life demands. Life can be managed successfully by trusting in the Lord with all your heart. 

Let America's motto become your personal motto. 

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Come near to God and he will come near to you. … Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will lift you up. ~James 4:8,10 New International Version

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How Do We Become What God Intended?

An important enhancement for feeling secure is accepting God’s purpose for your life. I’ve talked to adults of all ages who humorously say, “I do not know what I want to do when I grow up.” The issue is failing to discover a unique purpose for living.

Daily life can be compared to Jesus’ Parable of the Sower who scattered seed in different types of soil. The soil’s productivity is decided by the nutrients that feed the plants. Our heart and soul can be stifled by failing to be what God intended.

You are accountable to God for what you permit to invade your life. God’s purpose for you is manageable as you adjust to what he places into your care. So be ready when you’re challenged to see if you will remain faithful to God’s purpose for you. His grace and mercy will hold you firm regardless of the challenge. By entrusting your life into the care of Jesus Christ, your peace and purpose are secure.

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You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 

~Psalm 139:1-4 New International Version 

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Have You Thanked God Today for What He Has Provided?

So much of what is referred to as being successful highlights a celebrated period of productivity. This juncture in life is analogous to the farmer whose crop produced such an abundant harvest, new barns had to be built to store it.

What do you do with ideas that have future potentiality? In this parable from Luke 12:16, unexpected success appears to have created a mindset of freedom from responsibility backed by a lifetime of future celebrations. The man somehow forgot that life expectancy is unpredictable.

This recipient of God’s blessing neglected to offer thanksgiving to God for his abundant provision. God implants ideas in your mind for your benefit and for his kingdom here on earth. How these ideas are nurtured and cultivated determine God’s blessings.

Being a good manager of what is entrusted into your care demonstrates personal accountability.

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Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he [Jesus] who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 

~Hebrews 10:23-24 New International Version 

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What Does It Take to Prevent Wasting Your Life?

I recently visited with a friend who worked for years without taking a vacation because providing for his family seemed more important than taking time off for leisure and recreation. Now that he’s older he regrets having missed what can never be regained.

He failed to realize that having fun and making great memories with his family were also important. It doesn’t take a vast creative mind to develop a particular way of thinking and remain there indefinitely.

Jesus told the Parable of the Sower to convey the idea that in life there will be opportunities to use your intelligence and innate skills for choosing wisely. So much of life can be wasted on things that have no lasting value, like seeds planted in soil that has no depth or where plants are overtaken by thorns that suffocate and strangle them. A life anchored in Jesus Christ has eternal security and life in abundance.

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Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

~Psalm 37:4 New International Version 

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Is There a Compelling Motive for Suppressing Atypical Ideas?

Someone noted that if each person would take a moment to give consideration to an atypical idea that spontaneously became conscious, it was possible that good, wonderful results could be the prize.

It is important to analyze thought patterns to determine if they are good or evil, so a commitment to “do no harm” should constantly dominate. Abraham Lincoln wrote, “Our best judgment is constantly demanded to separate good from evil.” 

The next step in bringing your creative insight to fruition is to nurture it like a seed planted in good soil and properly watered. An idea Abraham Lincoln pondered for years was the Emancipation Proclamation Act, but getting it through Congress with war raging took creativity, courage, and faith. Your ideas blessed by God could be analogous to Jesus’ “Parable of the Mustard Seed”. Although just a thought, if loaded with potentiality, God alone knows the future.

           

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For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. 

~Ecclesiastes 12:14 New International Version 

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What Is the Mandate God Assigns to Each Believer?

The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung believed some people were able to know things not naturally learned. These people may realize they possess insight designed to benefit God’s plan and purpose for them as well as for others.

What greater motive for creativity and accountability could there be, realizing you are privileged to be doing what honors and pleases the Lord God? Jesus referred to this as laying up incorruptible treasures in heaven.

Jesus gave us a related truth in the “Parable of the Mustard Seed”. The wonder and power in a tiny mustard seed is similar to the power of faith and trust God assigns to believers in Christ Jesus. Jesus confirms in John 16:13 he would send the Holy Spirit to guide believers into all truth he had taught. 

That mandate is to learn whatever is within the scope of your ability to assimilate and then be accountable to God for that information.    

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Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove to be faithful. 

~1 Corinthians 4:2 New International Version

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