Yesterday, in our marriage class, we discovered trust is the basis for any solid relationship. When you are young and infatuated, you will pursue that relationship with an excess of unearned trust. In other words, we interpret that budding relationship through “rose-colored glasses.” That infatuation will last for a while; however, we eventually begin to see our partners for who they are: flawed and human.
That is the interesting thing about relationships. Whether we recognize it or not, we are continually comparing the people in our lives to the standard of whether they will or have betrayed our trust in the past. Suppose someone has continuously let you down. You are more reluctant to believe they won’t betray your confidence in the future. When someone breaks our trust, it may seem insignificant; however, day after day, those minor disappointments add up, and we hesitate to allow others unfettered access to our hearts and lives.
Because we are human, we will fail; that is a given reality: we are not perfect. Therefore, we must augment our failures with repentance and make amends for our mistakes in our relationships. If I told Amanda I would take out the trash and then forget to do this, it would violate the trust she placed in me. To counteract this lapse in character, I need to apologize, and then the next time, I need to follow through on what I say. Although this may be a simple and straightforward example, it is one that we should be aware of. Even the little things add up over time, and we should constantly be willing to bolster the areas where we have fallen short.
This is far different than the relationship that we have with God. In human relationships, we know that it is two flawed people living in association with each other- we operate on the assumption that over time, both of us will fail, and we account for those errors. The Bible presents us with a God demonstrated as a Rock that cannot be moved, and while everything else will crumble around us, including our most intimate of relationships, He never will. Therefore, Jesus gives us these comforting words.
Matthew 7:24-29 – “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and [yet] it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and it fell–and its collapse was great.” 28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”
There is only One on which we can base our entire lives. Everything else will fail us at some point. People, Possessions, and Power are all untrustworthy. We might try to prop them up as if they have any potential to rescue or save us, but we ultimately know the reality. They will let us down, break our trust, and ruin our lives. However, God never will leave us, not forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8, Hebrews 13:5). His word is a Rock that can sustain us even in the harshest storms. God never has failed, and He never will. And therefore, we can build our lives around Him and His Word. We can also say in confidence that we have God we can trust.