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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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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Work Choices: Are You Satisfied? - Part 1

So many people detest their work and yearn for an opportunity to make changes. Others shift the emphasis from work to leisure because work fails to  provide satisfaction. Some individuals in their mid-life years seek change by taking dangerous risks because of disappointment and burn-out with their work.

In Luke 12:16-21 Jesus conveys a story about a farmer who became wealthy, but because of a misguided attitude toward work and leisure, he failed to reap the harvest of his labor. Work and leisure fail to bring satisfaction and meaning when God is excluded from our choices. God's desire is to be included so we can feel blessed and enriched by him.

Permit yourself to see work as God's gift and as an avenue for expressing your love to Christ Jesus. He not only saves us from our sins and but saves us from negative attitudes that ruin our joy and happiness. Ecclesiastes 2:26 is instructive. "To the one who pleases God, he gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness." Seek to please God with all your heart.