“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
You know how it is when someone says, “Trust me…” You immediately grab your wallet and look for some convenient way to get as far away from that person as is humanly possible. That is because we have a very serious issue with trust due to the abuses of our fellow humans. It seems as if anyone who gets into a position of leadership or prominence ends up violating that trust in pretty short order, and it leaves us all a little jaded. A recent article in the Reader’s Digest listed the “One hundred most trusted people in America”. Things like this are always a very interesting window into the soul of our society. Tops on the list was the actor Tom Hanks. I have never met the man, and I am sure he is a fine fellow. But he is anactor. In fact, the top four were Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Denzel Washington, and Meryl Streep – all actors. Many more from the film and television industry made the list. Follow me here. The most trusted people in America are those who pretend to be someone they are not and earn multi-mega millions of dollars doing so. We place the most amount of trust in people who are someone totally different than what they portray to the world. Billy Graham was number 67 on the list – behind that goof ball weirdo Adam Sandler of all people at 62! There were 20 news journalists (some from both sides of the political spectrum) whose main job is to look nice on camera and read to us what they think we need to know. There were only 3 on the list that were openly professing believers in Jesus Christ (that I know of – not questioning anyone’s faith): Tony Dungy at 21, Tim Tebow at 40, and Billy Graham at 67. There were no pastors on the list, and obviously, Jesus didn’t get a sniff. (Yeah, I know, Jesus was not an American). Who we trust says a lot about who we are.
The verse above says we are to trust in the Lord and he will direct our paths. The new versions of the Bible say that he will make our paths straight. That is not accurate. God sometimes directs our paths through events and trials of life that are not always straight. One of my son’s best friends passed away from cancer last night. He was only 27 years old. I did his wedding only a couple of years ago. He leaves behind a grieving widow alone to raise their young son who will never really know his dad. That is not a “straight” path. They both know the Lord, so one day their paths will meet again in the glory of eternity. So even though what is befalling that young family right now is not “fair”, and not a “straight” path, they can still trust that God has them in his hands. Trust goes much further than belief. Over 95% of the population “believes in God”, but not nearly that many actually trust that Jesus paid a sufficient sacrifice on the cross to pay for their sins. Of those who have exercised their trust in the Saviour, very few actually know how to trust him in the daily events of life, especially when those paths take a very nasty turn. Trust means that we put “all our eggs in one basket”. The reason we are counseled not to do that is to guard against all our “eggs” breaking if the basket falls. My basket can’t fall. Sorry to hear about yours. I can never tell anyone what “twists and turns” their life’s path may take. I would have never guessed when I was meeting with this young couple in preparation for their wedding that we would be here this soon. But I can with all confidence say, “But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.” (Psalm 31:14-16) My “most trusted person” is the Lord of glory. Is he yours?
