Trust.

I've been thinking about trust today. What it is, what it isn't, why we trust, whom we trust...

Trust has always been difficult for me. Not just trust in God, either. I don't really trust people very much.

I've written, before, about my past, but not in much detail. I can't say how much detail I will ever share with anyone about the things that I try to forget... but what I am ready to share, I will share. There is a lot of hurt there, though, and it is hurt that was caused by the thoughtlessness - and, in some cases, malice - of others.

And so, I do not trust very easily.

I think those "trust fall" exercises people do are kind of silly. I know that falling backwards into someone's arms and having them catch you is an indication of how much you can trust them, but I have to wonder how much of an indication it is that you, yourself, are somewhat stupid. What if they had to do something else because - oh, I don't know - someone was choking, and nobody else knew the Heimlich manoeuvre?

Falling blindly into anything is not my idea of fun, and it doesn't indicate to me that the person doing the falling actually has any intelligence.

And falling is incredibly frightening.

I know that this may come as a shock to some of you, but I've been doing some falling this week. It's been fast, it's been exhilirating, it's been unreal.

But I've been falling headfirst, with my eyes wide open, not backwards, not with my eyes closed.

Of course, even with "informed falling" there is the risk of being hurt.

And that is where trust comes in.

I have to trust that, if I get to the bottom of the cliff I just stepped off of and find only jagged rocks, I will also find my Jesus, waiting for me with open arms. I have to trust that those rocks, though they may bruise me and break me, are in my best interest. Because I know that God has only my best interests in mind.

But...

...what, exactly, is trust? How do we define it? How do we know when we truly trust another person? How do we know when we truly trust God?

As before, let's look to dictionary.com for an answer:

trust P Pronunciation Key (trst)
n.()

1. Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing.
2. Custody; care.
3. Something committed into the care of another; charge.
4. 1. The condition and resulting obligation of having confidence placed in one: violated a public trust.
   2. One in which confidence is placed.
5. Reliance on something in the future; hope.
6. Reliance on the intention and ability of a purchaser to pay in the future; credit.
7. Law.
   1. A legal title to property held by one party for the benefit of another.
   2. The confidence reposed in a trustee when giving the trustee legal title to property to administer for another, together with the trustee's obligation regarding that property and the beneficiary.
   3. The property so held.
8. A combination of firms or corporations for the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices throughout a business or an industry.

v. trust·ed, trust·ing, trusts
v. intr.

1. To have or place reliance; depend: Trust in the Lord. Trust to destiny.
2. To be confident; hope.
3. To sell on credit.

v. tr.

1. To have or place confidence in; depend on.
2. To expect with assurance; assume: I trust that you will be on time.
3. To believe: I trust what you say.
4. To place in the care of another; entrust.
5. To grant discretion to confidently: Can I trust them with the boat?
6. To extend credit to.

Idiom:
in trust

In the possession or care of a trustee.

---

[Middle English truste, perhaps from Old Norse traust, confidence. See deru- in Indo-European Roots.]

---

truster n.

Synonyms: trust, faith, confidence, reliance, dependence
These nouns denote a feeling of certainty that a person or thing will not fail. Trust implies depth and assurance of feeling that is often based on inconclusive evidence: The mayor vowed to justify the trust the electorate had placed in him. Faith connotes unquestioning, often emotionally charged belief: “Often enough our faith beforehand in an uncertified result is the only thing that makes the result come true” (William James). Confidence, frequently implies stronger grounds for assurance: “Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom: youth is the season of credulity” (William Pitt). Reliance connotes a confident and trustful commitment to another: “What reliance could they place on the protection of a prince so recently their enemy?” (William Hickling Prescott). Dependence suggests reliance on another to whom one is often subordinate: “When I had once called him in, I could not subsist without Dependence on him” (Richard Steele). See also synonyms at care See also synonyms at rely

[Download Now or Buy the Book]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

If I trust a person, that means that I rely on them. I have confidence that they will do as they say, that they will not hurt me (on purpose). I believe that they will always work for my good.

Trusting someone means that you put yourself in the situation of depending on them for something. Perhaps it is a testament to the incredible nature of humanity that we are able to trust anyone for anything, given the independent streak that God placed within us all.

So when I say that I trust someone, I am saying that I depend on them. That I believe that they will look after me, defend me, care for me, etc. And when I say that I trust God, I am saying that I believe that He will look after me, defend me, care for me, etc. I depend on Him.

You cannot trust someone if you do not love them, though it is possible to love someone and not trust them. And you oughtn't trust those who do not love you, for that is how you become a shattered person.

Of all that is in this world and the next...

...God is most worthy of trust.

Because He loves best and most.