When the Chips Are Down, Who Do You Trust?

Do you remember Johnny Carson? He’s best known for having set the standard for late-night talk show hosts over his three decades as star of The Tonight Show. Even to this day, his talent and excellence make contemporary late-night hosts seem like rank amateurs.

 

However, before Carson’s emergence on The Tonight Show, for about five years he emceed a daytime quiz show called “Who Do You Trust?” (Grammatically dogmatic English teachers contended it should have been called, “Whom Do You Trust?”) The quiz show has long since faded into TV archives, but its thematic question remains relevant today: Who do you trust?

 

Sadly, we find ourselves living in an age when it seems there are fewer and fewer people and entities that we truly can trust. 

 

For a vast assortment of reasons, trust levels have decreased – at least in the eyes of some – In one or more of the following professions that once enjoyed almost implicit trust: law enforcement officers; scientists; doctors and nurses; educators; business leaders; the clergy; the media; manufacturers. This barely scratches the surface of all those who have had members that betrayed public trust.

 

It’s become a cliché to claim that no politician is worthy of trust. Some are (at least we'd like to think so), but we’ve become all too accustomed to hearing about those who aren’t. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” we’re told in Romans 3:23, but as moral and ethical standards have declined in our society, that’s become more evident than ever.

 

When all else failed, we’ve usually felt we could trust the family dog. Sadly, there have been occasions when even that proved untrue. The same can be said of spouses – and parents.

 

So, the question remains, who do you trust? Or more accurately, who can you trust?

 

For me, I’ve concluded there’s only one answer. And it’s not myself, because I’ve failed my wife and children – even myself – more times than I can count.

 

Rather, my answer is found in two Old Testament verses that many years ago I adopted as my “life verse,” Proverbs 3:5-6. It says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

 

It’s less than 30 words long, but it captures a wealth of meaning and wisdom that I continue to mine. Of course, my trust in the Lord was not automatic. Just as with any relationship, my trust and confidence in Him has grown over time. It’s one thing to read this passage and given it mental assent. It quite another to actually embrace its assurance and live accordingly.

 

I could write entire books about the many ways God has proved Himself unfailingly trustworthy. Suffice it to say He’s never failed me, and I know He never will. When the Lord says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” – in Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5, and many other places – He means what He says.

 

If you go to a Bible concordance or do an online search, you’ll find dozens of passages that encourage us to trust in the Lord. Given the reality that everyone and everything else in this world will fail us, proving unworthy of our trust at one time or another, He’s the one we can trust without fear of betrayal.

 

Another of my favorite passages, Psalm 37:3-4, declares, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” I’ve found this to be true again and again. 

 

God hasn’t always given me everything I wanted, but He’s always provided everything I needed. And over time I’ve discovered that the desires of my heart have changed to become more aligned with what He desires for me – my Father truly does know best.

My hope and prayer for everyone reading this is that if you haven’t already learned this for yourself, you soon will. We live in a world when it would be easy to cynically conclude, “I don’t trust anybody.” But God is the one exception. As Isaiah 26:4 declares, “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.” In that promise we can indeed have rock-solid faith.