I trusted, even when I said:
"I am sorely afflicted,"
and when I said in my alarm:
"No man can be trusted."
Today our faith in other people seems to be dropping to an all-time low. Politicians and their constituents don't trust each other. Employees and employers don't trust each other. The police and the people in the neighborhoods they patrol don't trust each other. The clergy and the people they have promised to serve don't trust each other. People of different races, religions, and sexual orientations don't trust each other. Even couples whom we think are in love when they choose to marry still sign pre-nuptial agreements in case someone's love is not trustworthy. So, in a fallen world, whom can we possibly trust? And - how can we trust?
Today, our families' lives are so complicated that our hearts are constantly stretched and strained over so many loved ones' problems and hurts. So in an uncertain world when we don't know what's going to happen next, what blow will fall next, whom can we possibly trust? And - how can we trust?
Our spiritual faith reminds us that only God is completely trustworthy. Because only God loves every human being fully, unselfishly, without reservation.
But - when we can't trust people, how can we trust God?
If one - just one - child has ever taken your hand in complete trust, then you know how to trust God: with the complete, simple trust of a child for its Father. The best Father. The perfect Father. The One Who also mothers us.
And, if you've ever had a friend whom you can count on, even when the going gets rough, then you know how to trust Jesus, God's Son, who calls all of us his friends, his brothers and sisters, even to the point that he died for us.
And there's Someone Who defends you, even when you want to give up on yourself. Someone Who swears that you're worth it all, even when She knows all your secret lies and imperfections, or your addictions, or your raging loneliness and insecurity that you hide so you can be accepted, or your over-the-top, out-of-control anxieties. You can trust the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, the Spirit of Sophia, Wisdom, the One Who loves us and defends us even from our own accusations.
Our God is the only One Whom we can trust to love us and act in our best interests even when we can't, we won't, or we're afraid to.
Our God loves everyone in our life with the same fiery, unquenchable love, and safely holds them, even when we can't see Him doing this.
Our God is both with us, inside us, and beyond us, with thoughts so far beyond our thoughts that all we can do is reach out to Him in the darkness of unknowing, saying "I trust You because I know You love me."
Our God is the only One Who can stand by our bedside at night and comfort us when we cry and rage at Him about the death of our husband or child.
Our God is the only One Who can free us from the smothering chains of our insecurities and our addictions when we finally surrender to His power.
Our God is the only One Who can free us from our suicidal thoughts when we're veterans, or survivors of rape, and images of violence, mutilation, or death haunt us, almost consume us.
Our God is the only One Who can free us from suicidal thoughts when we have a gay, lesbian, or bisexual orientation, and we're profoundly lonely because many don't understand how we think or how we feel.
Our God is the only One Who can empower those of us who are women by saying to us "Remember, you are made in My Image and Likeness; stand up for your rights," when we suffer from unjust discrimination.
Our God is the only One Who can free us from poisonous hatred for the spouse who has cheated on us, and from unhealthy self-blame and self-hatred when someone abandons us and makes us feel guilty by blaming us for what they've done.
Our God is the only One Who commands us to not only ask for His forgiveness and the forgiveness of those we've harmed, but Who also commands us to forgive ourselves - all so we will regain the health of our souls.
Our God is the only One Who can comfort and strengthen us when we fear that our bodies are falling apart.
Our God is our All in All; our God is the only One Who can say to every person in the world with complete authority "You exist because I love you, and I created you to have an important mission in this world. Rise from your self-imposed paralysis and walk!"
"Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
You have loosened my bonds." (Psalm 116)
Our God can loosen us from all the toxic mental and emotional bonds that keep us prisoners - if we only take the risk to trust.
How can we NOT trust the One Who promises to free us from everything inside ourselves that assaults us and holds us back from becoming all that we can become?
When we trust God, God frees us from our REAL enemy.
Because our real enemy isn't government or society. Our real enemy isn't terrorism. Our real enemy isn't everyone who puts us down.
Our real enemy is any part of our psyche and soul that is damaged and works against us. And this damaged part of ourselves, while it can be destructive, isn't really even an enemy. It's a perpetual child who needs healing in order to grow up and flourish.
This damaged child tells us that we're no good or that we can't possibly accomplish this or that we're really not worthy to hope for that.
This damaged child tells us that love isn't real, and that we should spend our energy collecting things instead of loving God, Nature, and people.
This damaged child tells us that our bodies are our only selves, and that when our bodies fail, there's no life or worth left.
This damaged child tells us we should play it safe and listen to our fears and make protecting ourselves our main priority.
God, Who lives within us and is our deepest truest Self, tells us to know our worth, to love ourselves by forgetting ourselves, reaching out to others and working for unity.
To know that we have worth even if our only activity is lying in bed and forgetting our pain and praying for others.
To know others' worth and to look for kind, affirming words to use with others rather than words which condemn and divide;
To trust others by blessing them with smiles, even when they look and act different from us;
To trust ourselves enough to stand up and stand out when what we stand for is the Truth of God's merciful love for all people.
Because God is FOR us so that we can grow up and into people who are FOR others. So we can trust God enough that we learn to trust ourselves. If we trust God, and trust ourselves, we can trust that the little seed of love in our hearts can flourish into a mighty oak of love to shelter the world with its branches. We can trust that this mighty oak of love lives in our souls, which will survive the death of our failing bodies.
And our trusting hearts will then overflow with thanksgiving for our trustworthy God Who gives Himself to us, gives ourselves back to us, and gives us a world full of people to love to gladden our hearts! A gladness which will give us eternal songs to sing to God and everyone else at an eternal feast in heaven.
"How can I repay the Lord for His goodness to me!" (Psalm 116)