Trust Is More Than An Attitude

Trust is a difficult thing for me. The meaning of trust (my own personal dictionary reference) is to place my confidence in something and/or someone. Sounds simple but let me say for the record, it most certainly is not!

Experiences in life have greatly contributed to my issues with trust in relationships. I am always recalling the afternoon my grandpa, sitting on his porch with a cup of coffee and wearing his standard overalls, gave me a great pearl of wisdom. He was probably about 70 by then and was talking to me from experiences he had when he said " if you have one or two true friends throughout your whole life, you should consider yourself blessed. Most of the time, people befriend others because they anticipate some sort of personal gain from the relationship."

WOW....that's right on the mark Grandpa. And, thanks for telling me this because I now value the few real friends I have so much and I love them like family. They enhance my life and they know who they are. And, those who aren't friends also know because they are always self-revealing wolves in sheep's clothing and when I am finished with that cheap ball of wax, it's not hard to notice. (I'm digging the old sayings today.)

In Proverbs chapter 3, the concept of truth is applied to action as well as attitude. It's not enough to feel trustworthy - in fact, be trustworthy. In other words, be the kind of person who can be trusted and you will find favor with God and you will find that friend or two who brings joy to your heart and your life - that friend you can trust and who can trust you too. To put total trust in someone is probably near impossible for all of us but we can safely follow the advice Solomon gives here:

Verse 5 & 6 says to trust in the Lord with all your heard and lean not into your own understanding and in all ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths.