Who Can We Trust?

'That person can't be trusted.'

Have you ever heard that phrase? I think you likely have. We learn it early on. It is a phrase people think more often then they speak it. One of the beautiful things I think about when I dream about Heaven is that in Heaven no one will say that phrase. No one will even think that phrase about each other.

Here on Earth we say it and think it. Relationships are broken by it. Self images are distorted by it.

"To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled." - Titus 1:15 ESV

Constant distrust will defile a person but trusting untrustworthy people is disastrous. Who do I trust and how do I trust to remain in purity?

"Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man." - John 2:23-25 ESV

Here Jesus was surrounded by a group of people that spoke well of Him yet He knew that the Father was the one He could trust.

Did He trust anyone else? It is clear from the Gospels that He did trust people on a very practical level. He delegated responsibilities to the disciples and had trusted friends. He just knew the difference between trusting His Father and trusting fallen people.

He always had someone in the room He could trust and that kept Him pure. His Father was always there with Him.

People trust other people with the wrong things. No woman should trust a man with her body until after marriage. She is setting herself up for failure. It is a gamble with very bad odds at best. On the other hand a man should not take what He knows He can't be trusted with either.

Delegation is important. There is trust involved in delegation. It must be done in wisdom. It must be done period or a person will become an island. The wisdom is in knowing what to delegate and when to delegate.

"One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." - Luke 16:10-13 ESV

When someone watches a leader trust God in their delegation it is amazing what can happen.

"And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.' " - Mark 16:15-18 ESV

It amazes me that God trusts us with something so important. With that trust comes a unique kind of power.

When we have someone in the room that we can trust and delegate it also has power. We have stewardship and authority comes with that responsibility. In right order those things are in proportion to one another.

Trust must be our focus and not distrust. God is the right one to trust and from that trust in Him there are times to invest trust others. It may start with something small but that small thing that magnifies grace may just turn a untrustworthy person into someone who relies upon God for their strength.

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