Trust Is A Two-Way Street, Maintain Your Side

You can trust God, but can God trust you?

I read that recently, and it shook me. I had never thought of it quite that way because I’ve only been looking from my perspective. I 100 percent know He can be trusted. I’ve experienced it over and over. I’ve written it many times because I want to tell people that He is faithful. That is a big deal.

However, I hadn’t really stopped to think about the other side, and I should have. That’s probably a bigger deal. I’m a little ashamed of myself for not seeing it this way before. I’ve often thought that it’s not that I don’t trust God, it’s that I don’t trust Robyn. I know how often I’ve made mistakes, chosen poorly, had doubts, said or did something I shouldn’t have.

Can God trust me? Am I faithful? Let me pause here to say that trust and faith are often used interchangeably but there are differences. Faith is you believing I can shoot an arrow through an apple because you know I’ve practiced. Trust is letting me put the apple on your head because you’ve seen me do it. Biblically speaking I believe they are remarkably similar. Feel free to research them on your own.

Trust, according to Merriam-Webster, is “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.” Assured reliance. We want that in our relationships. We want someone to show up when they say they are going to. We want friends to keep their commitments. We want our spouses to keep their vows. We want our banks to protect our money and governments to do the right thing. If we can’t trust the other entity in a relationship, we don’t have much. We’re going to struggle and it’s not likely to last. This trust is earned through continued faithful actions.

Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” This is part of the parable of the unjust steward. It makes me wonder if I’m holding up my end of the deal.

Faith is one thing that impresses God. Faith is what earned praise from Jesus. Faith is what gets credited as righteousness (see the story of Abraham). I can say that I have faith in God, but if I’m not consistently doing what I believe He’s asking me to do then I’m not trustworthy. It takes more than lip service. James 2:14-26 talks about how faith without works is dead.

It’s not enough for us to just talk or write about faith. We must live it out and earn God’s trust. We want to be faithful stewards who can be justified by God and trusted with more. My job is to please Him. I love it when something I write connects with people, when God speaks to someone through my words, and when people enjoy something I’ve written. Any writer being vulnerable enough to put their words into the world wants approval and positive affirmation that they helped or moved someone. Whatever we’re doing, we want approval. However, it’s God’s approval that we should most want. Ultimately, it’s only God’s that matters.

Friends, whatever God is asking you to do, do it. Whatever He has given you to use, use it. Do it faithfully and consistently. Be trustworthy with the smallest of tasks. Be someone God can trust. When we become a person God can trust, He will do just that. Trust builds relationships. He will trust us with more and our relationship with Him grows.

We’re going to be held accountable one day for the skills He gave us, the dreams He put in our hearts, and the commands He expects us to obey. We’re not going to have to answer to each other or to our spouse, parents, or boss. We’re going to answer to God. Can He trust you?