Today’s Challenge of Finding Someone We Can Trust

After a number of years, the state of Tennessee has redesigned its license plates. A person can still buy so-called “vanity” auto tags to personalize them, or support their favorite cause or team. But the state’s new official plates are dark blue, along with its nickname, a tourism website address – and one notable option.

 

When purchasing new plates, car owners have a choice – they can select ones that bear the message, “In God We Trust,” or tags that omit that phrase. Recently, someone I know was buying new plates for her family’s vehicles and when asked, “Do you want ones that say, ‘In God We Trust?’ she immediately replied, “Who else can we trust?”

My friend made a reasonable observation. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find someone, or any entity, in whom we can confidently place our trust. Politicians have long been considered suspect when it comes to being trusted – and I’m not pointing at any particular party. When I read where the Word of God says, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10), I’ve sometimes wondered if the Lord has politicians at the top of the list.

 

But diminishing levels of trust in our society – and the world – extend far beyond the once-hallowed halls of government. The news media have seen a dramatic decrease in their perceived trustworthiness as “advocacy journalism” has become entrenched, making it increasingly hard to sort out facts from biased commentary and opinion. 

 

We often hear the mantra, “Follow the science,” but ever-changing and sometimes conflicting pronouncements have caused many to scratch their heads in confusion and doubt. We hear about a strong distrust of law enforcement in some quarters, and even in the realms of education, there’s been growing concern over whether ideological agendas are overshadowing the “three R’s,” the traditional disciplines of “readin’, writin’ and ‘rithmetic.”

 

The business world has had far too many examples of corruption and greed, thus losing the confidence of the public. Sadly, even within the Church, its integrity has fallen under question more times than we would like to admit. No matter where we look, trust seems a virtue in very short supply these days.

 

During my childhood, I sometimes watched a popular game show called “Who Do You Trust?”, that ran from 1956 to 1963. Johnny Carson was an early host before he rose to become a late-night talk show legend. The game show’s title asks a relevant question for today: Who do you trust?

 

The reality is that in our very imperfect humanness, we’ve all betrayed the trust of someone at least once. Probably a lot more than that. We’d like to think that we can trust our family members, close friends, our employers and church leaders. But even the best of us will fail on occasion in that respect. So, we should ask again – who do you trust?

 

Personally, I’ve discovered that there’s only one Person I can trust without reservation – the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, the One who gave His life for me, paying a price I could never pay, so that I might become reconciled to Himself. As we read the Scriptures, they talk a lot about how we can trust God with complete confidence.

 

I’ve mentioned my life verses before, Proverbs 3:5-6, and trust is central to their brief message: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” To me, it’s like that team-building exercise they do at business retreats, where individuals willingly drop into the waiting arms of their colleagues, trusting they won’t let them fall. Except trusting in the Lord is infinitely more profound, because we're believing Him to guide the entire course of our lives.

 

Another proverb addresses our tendency to place our trust in other people, then become upset when they let us down. It speaks of a grim reality: “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe” (Proverbs 29:23). While we may seek the approval and acceptance of other folks, only God is worthy of our unreserved trust.

 

Although addressed specifically to the people of Israel, a psalm powerfully expresses a promise that applies to each of us who is a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ: “O house of Israel, trust in the Lord – he is their help and shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord – he is their help and shield. You who fear him, trust in the Lord – he is their help and shield” (Psalm 115:9-11).

 

If you do a comprehensive search of the word “trust” in a Bible concordance, you will find it being used hundreds of times. But I particularly like another passage that speaks of it, both in terms of an assurance and a warning: “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God” (Isaiah 50:10).

Who do you trust? Can you agree with the psalmist who wrote, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 50:7)? That psalmist was King David of Israel, and despite his great power, authority and wealth, life’s experiences had taught him that there was just One in whom he could truly, unwaveringly trust.