The Gift of Trust

I have been the happy recipient of the unexpected gift of trust.  It profoundly affected me.  Trust is something the world figures must be earned, but the impact of trust is greatest when it is all of grace.  Years ago I had an experience confirming this I will never forget.  The battery on my wife's car had gone flat, so during my lunch break I took it over to Viking Battery in Santee, California.  I knew the shop carried the type of battery I wanted.  When I walked into the tiny shop with a handful of batteries on display and a dog lazing on the dirty floor, it was far from the polished displays of conventional retail stores.

A friendly man (who I assumed to be the owner), supplied the battery I was looking for as I handed over my old one.  But as I pulled out my credit card to pay, he surprised me:  "Sorry, we don't accept credit cards here.  Only checks or cash."  I was flummoxed.  Having left my checkbook at home, I found myself in a bind.  Laura had already been without her car for the day and I didn't have time to return to pay.  To stretch the battery replacement to another day was a problem.  "I trust you," the man said.  "Tell you what:  take the new battery home and just send me a check in the mail when you can."  "Do you want me to leave my details or give you a business card?" I asked incredulously, wondering how this was a reasonable way to do business.  "No need," he said.  "I trust you."  I was dumbfounded.  The man didn't even know me, but he trusted me enough to make good on payment.  I thanked the man and left with my new battery.

I have never forgotten the man's gesture of goodwill and trust.  I did pay for the battery of course, and included a letter thanking him for trusting me.  Perhaps it was easier for the man to trust me because he did not know me.  Had I robbed him once he might have carried resentment and suspicion.  "Once bitten twice shy," the saying goes.  As a Christian, I am learning to extend grace like this man displayed - not trusting in the "good of humanity," but by actively trusting God. When I choose to entrust my circumstances and life to God, trusting other people can be an extension of my faith in God.  If we create a condition where trust can only be earned, we run the risk of creating an arbitrary, legalistic standard which is not obtainable by any means.  When I consider that God entrusted the keeping of earth to men, the scope of this phenomenal responsibility shocks me.  The fact God has entrusted a wife and children to me, given me ministry as a Christian and entrusted resources completely at my disposal is all of grace.  I never earned the right to have valuable souls entrusted to me, just like I did not deserve to walk out of the store with a new battery without paying.

Friends, I urge you to trust God.  Entrust you life and future into His capable hands.  He is able to protect, provide, and support you in every way.  May our lives be a beacon of God's grace, loving others and walking in obedience to the Spirit of God.  He is the One who binds our wounds and broken hearts so we can trust Him more.  You have received the gift of trust from God, though you did not ask for it nor deserve it.  Praise the LORD for His wondrous gifts and for His unspeakable grace.  Never forget that God is trustworthy!  Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."  Trusting people may not always be profitable for business, but when it is borne of faith in God it is good.