Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
Just a few weeks ago after shoulder surgery, my legs started hurting. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. My body is used to movement. Being down for my shoulder started taking its toll on the rest of my body. It was a kind of catch 22, I needed to keep my shoulder immobile, but by doing so, the rest of my body began to suffer. After discussing it with my physical therapist, she simply said, “Can you be trusted to go to the gym?”
Her concern was that I would overdo it and inadvertently hurt my shoulder. I can admit her concern might hold some weight. Okay, a whole lot of weight. Not to my surprise, Amy completely agreed and sided with my P.T.’s assessment. So I have been forced to ask myself, “Can I be trusted to be a good boy at the gym?”
In other words, will I limit my workout so I don’t hurt myself during recovery?
The answer, probably not. If I’m being completely honest with myself, definitely not. My only answer to this question had to be, “I’ll try.”
As I continue to think about this concern over my shoulder, it does open up a much more profound question. Within our human nature, can we be trusted? From a Christian mindset, can we be trusted to do the right thing, the Godly thing?
That answer has to be definitely not. On our own, our sin nature seems to always win out. For most Christians, it is not to the extent of murder, adultery, embezzlement or any of the other big sins. All too often though, we can justify our own actions through the lens of what we deem as extreme sins. “It’s not like I murdered anyone.” And yet, Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount bring clarity between intention in our heart and commission when it comes to sin. As a result, we must all admit, no, on my own I cannot be trusted.
If you have read this far, you are probably ready for some good news. It’s actually some of the best news out there.
God can be trusted!
In all things, God remains righteous, therefore no deceit exists within the Lord. Because of His very nature, we can unconditionally place our trust with our Creator, Savior and Lord.
I know for me personally, this truly is great news. Because it seems the world presses in on me from every direction. There are ample opportunities every single day to do the wrong thing. Things that ultimately will hurt and bring harm to me. So I must come to the liberating reality that on my own, I cannot be trusted, but I never have to be on my own.
Not only is unconditional trust in God available to every born-again believer, every born-again believer needs to surrender the trust they place in themselves and live with the trust we can only find in Christ. That’s not always an easy thing to do because of past experiences when our trust has been violated by someone. Similar to the love we experience from God, the trust we can experience is just as pure and genuine. Despite past experiences, God wants to do something great for us, but we have to place our full trust in Him.
Peter is a great example when it comes to trust. Throughout the Gospels and Acts we see two very different Peters. One who trusts in himself, sinking in the ocean, cutting off an ear and denying his Savior. Then we see the other Peter, proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God, preaching to thousands at Pentecost and boldly proclaiming the Gospel message in the face of persecution. The difference in where Peter put his trust.
Jason Metz, lead Pastor
