Celebrating Relationships

TRUST

Trust is another one of those things that is believed to be true because it's something that cannot be seen. Like LOVE, we and others, only see the effects of love. Mike made a statement that, "Trust is the working part of building relationships." The more you think about that statement, the more you have to believe it. We have different levels of trust; we trust that the chair we are about to sit in will keep us from falling on our rear,

we trust that the Laws of Gravity will remain in effect and keep us grounded so we don't fly off the Earth.

Then there's our trust in Jesus, whom we trust and believe died for us as a sacrificial Lamb. Lisa and I were talking about the example of Abraham and Isaac. Lisa said that she hated this example because there is NO WAY that she would be willing to sacrifice her one and only son. I tend to agree. If you look close at this story, no where do you read about Sarah. I think God purposefully doesn't mention the mom. This seems to be the ultimate sacrifice, which is the point of the story. I don't think that I'm trusting or mature enough to make this kind of sacrifice. I would not have been a willing participant in an event like this. Aren't you glad that the fate of the modern world doesn't depend on me? I AM!

Anyway back to trust. I once heard a story about a scientific exploration of a group of Botanist that were searching for a rare flower that only bloomed once every 500 years and only grew on the sides of the Andean Mountains. As fate or luck would have it, the team of scientist received word of a sighting of the rare flower. They hurried to the sight and low and behold they had finally found it. The only problem was that it was on the side of the mountain on a steep cliff and they had no clue how they were going to get it. A small boy, from a nearby village said he would go down and retrieve the flower. When the scientist agreed to the boys terms he turned and ran toward his village.When he returned, he had a small frail looking old man with him. The scientist questioned him on why he brought the old man back? The little boy replied."This is my father. He is the only one that I trust to hold the rope for me as I climb down."

Trust is something that we see the effects of, even though we can't actually see it. Belief is the first step, trust is the next step.

The other statement that stood out to me went something like this, "When we trust other people we open ourselves up, we make ourselves vulnerable." This is another one of those statements that makes you say "HMMM" and yes, after thinking about it. You have to agree. Along with being vulnerable there are benefits as Mike stated.

Thinking about Lisa's and my testimony, it was only through relationships that we even "gave Jesus a chance." By someone just loving us and not judging our actions, but also loving us as a child of God. To the world this makes no sense, but to a "REAL CHRISTIAN" THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO VIEW PEOPLE. I said this only out of knowledge, not a working knowledge, I haven't gotten there yet. It is said that when we give of ourselves, there is no other time in which we are more like God. I tend to compare all relationships to marriage; Before a man and a woman get married they spend time together and get to know one another. I believe this is true with all relationships. Time must be invested if they are to work, if the "MASKS" are to be removed, before the "WOW" moments are to come, before we are too "COMPLETE OURSELVES AS HUMAN BEINGS."Will we take the challenge and open ourselves up? We will, if and only if we want our relationships with each other and God to grow and prosper. It takes two for a relationship to grow.

Will you make the first move?

God did for us, follow his lead.

This is TRUST.

Mickey Mills