PEA RIDGE — Of all the qualities that serve to build strong relationships, whether we speak of our relationship to God through Jesus Christ, or of our relationship with our spouse, a friend or between parent and child, I know of none more fundamental, more fascinating or more amazing, than trust.
To be trusted is, I believe, one of life’s highest honors. To be found trustworthy is an affirmation of the highest order.
Last Sunday, I did a brief Sunday School devotional on Jesus’ calling of Peter and Andrew, as they worked their boat and fishing nets. His words were, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Matt.
4:19-20)
In many ways, it is fascinating and amazing that they could, without hesitation, leave the livelihood to which they were accustomed, and on which they relied, to becomefollowers of Jesus in a new venture very unfamiliar to them. They ventured to trust Jesus, even though they would have no way of anticipating what challenges and difficulties might lie ahead, and even though they could not know just how to conduct themselves in all the situations they might confront.
But, even though I see the venturing of trust and faith in this way to be an amazing thing to do, across my years in Christian ministry it has been gratifying to see so many people, both men and women, who have responded to the calling of Jesus, becoming followers of the Lord, ambassadors of Christ, sharing the word of the Lord who inspires them, and who in doing so, draw many others into that venture of trust and faith in Jesus. Likewise, it is gratifying to see that those who venture trust and faith in Jesus for their journey of life continueto find him trustworthy over the long haul. Christ is found to be true and worthy of our trust and confidence. To walk with Jesus is to know the best there is.
Mark 9:14-29, tells the account of a stricken young boy whom the disciples had difficulty in healing. The father brought the boy to Jesus.
When the boy’s father was encouraged to believe that Jesus could heal him, he said, “I believe. Help thou my unbelief!” This is to me a tremendously encouraging verse of Scripture. Many of us find that trusting doesn’t come easy for us. Some of us are naturally very cautious and hesitant to trust. That we can come to venture trust, and can experience the values of a trusting relationship, is to us like a miracle happening, and we knowthat we have received spiritual help in making that venture of trust and faith. Jesus helps us grow in faith as we venture to trust him.
So many areas of our lives call for the venturing of trust.
Forming a friendship with someone involves such a venture. One begins with no guarantee, but begins to interact with the other person to find not only some common interests as a basis of bonding, but also to venture reliance on each other, and to develop confidence in each other.
Trusting someone exposes us to the possibility of being hurt.Trust betrayed is enormously painful. But the value of being able to trust and to be trusted is a great blessing in life.
To marry one’s spouse is to enter on a venture of trust together. It is sad to see so many relationships between man and woman today that are so tentative, so lacking in trust and confidence in one another, attempting to form a bond on the basis of emotion and physical appeal, but always reserving a gulf of distrust both in oneself and in the other.
Interestingly, we can not even vote in an election without entering upon a venture of trust. The right to vote is one of the basic freedoms of a citizen. It is amazing and dismaying that many decide not even to participate, apparently not trusting anyone. The negativity of political rhetoric in recent years is likewise dismaying, in that it leaves people suspicious of any elected official, ready to believe the worstabout him, especially if he has been in office for awhile. Many will disagree with me here, but I believe that this negativity in the minds of the people leads to besmirching the character of good people, discourages able people from stepping forward to offer leadership, and undermines the quality of our participation in our democratic form of self-government.
At the heart of most of the things we do to reach for a better life together is the quest to establish trust, to attain trustworthiness and responsibility, to venture trust, and to discover creative ways of working together for the good of all God’s people.
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Editor’s note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at joe369@centurytel.net, or call 621-1621.
Church, Pages 2 on 05/09/2012