Can You Be Trusted?

They say that trust is something you have to earn. And if you think about it, you know it is true. If you have ever trusted someone who has let you down, or who has hurt you, then you know that trust is not to be given lightly. To trust someone means that we must give our heart and mind to someone else. When that trust is damaged, so are we.
My wife Tami and I happen to be fans of the show "Dancing with the Stars." I am amazed at the trust level the women have to have in the men they dance with; this is especially true when it comes to the professional women dancers trusting the men stars. If a throw or catch is missed, the dancers can get really hurt. Through hours of rehearsal and practicing a trust level is developed. They can know the catch will be made, because they have developed the trust. At this point in the dance, if the catch is missed, it would be a fluke, because it has been made over and over again in practice.
This is true in life as well. We develop the trust of others by practicing being trustworthy. We usually trust people with minor things (like meeting us somewhere for lunch or general information about our lives). As we see people trustworthy in the small things, we begin to decide to trust them with bigger things (like our more private thoughts and feelings to being a close friend).
As a pastor I know that my congregation members trust me with much. They trust me in how I love them. They trust me when they confess things with them. They trust me to teach them the truth. They trust me to lead them in the right direction. I value this trust, and know that to dishonor this trust would not only be hurtful to them, but in what they believe about God.
Even more, when we come to trust God, it is because we have seen God's faithfulness in our lives. To say that we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior is at first just words. The real belief comes when we see God being who we believe God to be. When God answers our prayers, our trust is increased. When we experience God's presence in our lives, or feel His presence in worship, our trust is increased. The more we trust, the more we open our hearts and minds to God, and the more we will see of God, which will continue to cause us to trust all the more.
I hope that you can trust your heart to God, and that you find it desirable to be trustworthy. May God bless you in this.