Trust

What do you do with new information?  How should you respond when your values and priorities are questioned?  Do you know what happens to new information when it is presented for consideration?  The answer in every case is a resounding “it depends”.  When I think of my “it depends” answers there is a common thread extending across each answer.  Do I trust the person on the other side of the question?
 
To say that trust is an important issue is a gentle understatement.  Obviously trust is at the core of every relationship and experience.  Clearly many have been abused, exploited, and cheated with broken trust.  There are an equal number of cases where because of confusion, sincere but misguided values and priorities, or gaps in communication, bad things occurred.  In each case trust plays a major role.  Trust is as fragile as it is strong, as resilient as it is precarious, as free as it is priceless.  Trust embodies descriptors rarely used in the same breath, yet it is all those things and more.
 
When I look back in my life there are many instances where trust has been given to me where there was scant evidence to support the decision.  I wonder how those involved came to their choice and action.  Like many teenager I would forget at times, lose my sense of direction and exploit the trust given in faith.  Yet as I honored my accountability I found there were those still trusting in tough love.  As a young manager the level of trust placed in me often exceeded my experience.  Often this act of faith spurred my growth but along the way there were those on the edges of this choice who paid the ultimate price.
 
When Jesus shared something new the response by some was clear and confrontational.  “The Pharisees objected, ‘All we have is your word on this.  We need more than this to go on.’”  (John 8.13) 
 
Life is all about trust; earned, experienced, and given.  Today the Spirit will be in your life.  Trust will determine what happens next.