Trust is an important thing. It always has been and always will be as long as humans walk the earth. Trusting someone whether that be your spouse, a family member, a friend, a work colleague, the media, the government, or fellow faith believers affects many aspects of our lives.

Does trust exist amongst other species? Well, it appears so, when you look at a pack of wolves hunting together. Each individual wolf knows its job both collectively and individually. In gorillas, you see the trust other apes put in their leader to protect them and manage things. Look at your pet dog or cat, and how they trust us implicitly. In return we trust them and this is a beautiful example of Godly love between humans and animals.

Trust is the key that builds us as a species as we interact with each other. Trust and working together have defined our species and our success as a species. Trust is a great and wondrous thing when it is fully realized and great things can come from that. History is full of success stories where trust between individuals, groups, etc, has led to great things. Look at Christs’s followers, for example. Their trust in Christ and in each other led to the biggest faith on the planet today – Christianity.

Yes, there were mistrust/distrust issues too. Look at Peter denying he would deny knowing Christ. Or Judas betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. However, it was all in God’s plan for our species’ salvation and for a way to interact with our Creator once more.

So how does distrust or mistrust come about? Let’s say someone promises us something and for some reason, they let us down. Letting us down may not necessarily be a bad thing from the other side’s perspective. It may be at the end of the day that this person couldn’t deliver on what they promised you. Of course, they may feel bad about letting you down, but the more they have promised you, the more you will feel let down.

There are things that promise you the world and deliberately mislead you. In a relationship, job, adverts, promises from the government, and so on. When you realize it was all false, you are left with feelings of anger, being used, and feelings of emptiness. This may lead us to not trust anyone or anything again. Of course, Jesus said, “we must be as innocent as doves, but as wise as serpents”. So we must use our discernment, experience, and even prayer, for trust issues. By tarring everyone and everything with the same brush of distrust/mistrust (because of our bad experiences) you may miss out on valuable experiences, chances, etc.

Satan, of course, is the villain of the piece when it comes to trusting. He is the master of subterfuge and deceit, just as he was with Eve and then Adam (who followed Eve’s example) in the fall of our species. He even tried to get Jesus to trust him, offering him all the world’s riches if he would bow down and worship him. Jesus as God incarnate banished Lucifer away from him so that he could carry on delivering salvation for all time.

We live in a time where trust is hard to find and there is an atmosphere of fear. However, as Christians, we have a spiritual and physical call to arms by God.

God, ultimately through his Son Jesus Christ, is the hub of all trust in this life and the next. You can count on God as he will never let you down. God does not promise that bad situations will be taken away from us. Sometimes these trials may be learning experiences he wants us to experience and learn from. However, what he does say is that we can totally trust him to endure with us in those times.

To this end, I will point you to helpful scripture:

Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding”.

Psalm 37:5: “Commit your way to the Lord, trust him, and he will act”.

Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”.

God bless you.

Nick x.