How many of us would trust someone
with our most prized possession? Who would you trust with your life? Trust is
often misunderstood and misrepresented, and its definition can vary depending
on who we are speaking to, or who is using it. Trust gives the utmost confidence
and allows us to confide unconditionally in someone else. That is supposing we
cast aside our inhibitions. I can recall when I was a senior in high school and
had a healthy head of hair, three (3) maybe four (4) inches in length. A good
friend, whose name remains protected under the circumstance, Wimberly Kite,
convinced me that she knew how to cut hair. All I needed was a trim, just the
bad edges. I did not ask for her qualifications, her word was enough. As I sat,
I did not think anything of it, until the clumps of hair began to fall to the floor.
I knew I should have gone straight home. I did not have the heart or courage to
tell her, she messed me up (very badly). Reality set in upon arriving home, as
my aunt laughed me to scorn, and called me “plug”, as I was noticeably missing
large patches of hair. My grandfather had a rusty set of Oster clippers, and I
could not find the oil, I immediately went to work. Soon after, between the
intermittent pause of buzzing the once movable blades were now locked
permanently in place from the friction caused by the heat. My hair was hair was
ruined, because of misplaced trust. Soon thereafter, I threw caution to the
wind and decided it was better just to cut it all off. To answer the
inquisitive nature of your question, Yes I was completely bald, realizing the
shame and humiliation Samson must have suffered at the hands of Delilah. Trust
is indeed fragile. That is why even today, I never sleep in the barber chair.
Listening intently as the clippers make each pass. Of course, I am weary when
it comes to barbers, but that is how we all are when someone has injured the
sacredness of our trust.
Why is trust so difficult? Scripture
reminds, over and again to trust God, but put no confidence in the flesh
(neither ours nor someone else’s, as they are sure to disappoint).
Today’s episode is titled.
Trust God
Psalm 146:3-6
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortal men, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they
return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his
God, 6 the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in
them-- the LORD, who remains faithful forever.
Trusting God is one of those truths we think we understand until we
are called upon to do it. We then discover that there is more to it than we
realized.
Our trust, like Fort Knox, is exhaustedly
guarded, a reflection of our frailties and insecurities, as we tirelessly build
fortified walls and fences about our lives, as a means to prohibit others from
seeing what’s on the other side. Our trust is plagued with questions, what
do they want; why are they talking to me now, forever cloaked in suspicion.
However our fellowship with God should not be such. He insists that we
surrender. He compels us to follow.
