READ: PROVERBS 3: 5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. (V. 5)
I vaguely remember a television show from my early teens entitled, “Who do you Trust?” The object of the game show was to discern a truth about a guest by asking questions that would help determine fact from fiction. In essence, the contestants had to determine which guest was being trustworthy about their lives. During my law enforcement career, my colleagues and I spent hours doing the same exercise in the real world. The problem was our decisions had real world consequences rather than prize money associated with our efforts. One misstep in a judgement of trustworthiness could cost you, a fellow officer, or a member of the public their lives; result in serious injury; or ruin hours of pain staking investigative work. Quite often determinations of trustworthiness had to be made in seconds rather than in minutes, hours or days.
Additionally, in the law enforcement profession, building trust with your community was a vital lynchpin in fulfilling your sworn obligation to protect and serve. Imagine, if only for a moment, living in a community where the police would use their incredible power to exploit rather than protect. Badges of trust would quickly become badges of shame producing fear, chaos, anger, confrontation, disorder and eventually anarchy. Any police officer worth their salt knows beyond the shadow of any doubt, that the bond of trust bestowed upon them by their respective communities can never be compromised nor broken.
Like the overwhelming majority of officers who stive to maintain the sacred bond of community trust, we must endeavor to completely trust God in all aspects of our lives. Yes, we should rely upon our God given ability to reason, but we need to rely on His word when making the vital decisions of life. We must also be alert to and take advantage of the leading of the Holy Spirit, wise counselors and mentors God places directly in our decision-making path. Our self-wisdom is flawed at best, but when we submit everything to the scrutiny and light of God, we become his trustworthy servants and our actions will match His will for our lives.
My neighbor and Christian Brother, Frank Andreus died of cancer, a few years ago, after a prayerful decision to discontinue treatments. His son related at his Memorial Service that just moments before drawing his last breath, Frank told his assembled family to look him in the eyes and said, “TRUST IN THE LORD—TRUST IN THE LORD.” Frank had the right answer to the question, “Who do you trust?”
PAUSE FOR REFLECTION AND PRAYER
Who do you really trust? In my humble opinion there is only one source for absolute trust in your life and his name easily flowed from the lips of my friend Frank just before taking the hand of Christ.
Jesus, help me put my trust in your words, saving grace, mercy and love.