I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky. Psalm 89:2, GNT

 

Anyone in the land who asks for a blessing will ask to be blessed by the Faithful God. Whoever takes an oath will swear by the name of the Faithful God. The troubles of the past will be gone and forgotten." Isaiah 65:16, GNT

 

God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9, GNT

 

When I really want to relax, I read Wild West stories by Louis L’Amour. In almost all of these stories, you read about trust between ordinary people. Written contracts were seldom used. People trusted each other to the point that the shaking of hands was enough to confirm relatively big agreements. I don’t know if this was true in all instances or just part of the story, but there must be some truth in what he wrote. Unfortunately, in our modern society, this kind of thing is the exception rather than the rule.

 

It would have been wonderful if we could trust everybody we met, especially those close to us. Recently, I learned that I should be careful who I trust. When I was still involved with pastoral psychology, one of the most common themes of lament I came across was: "If I could just have trusted my colleague, partner, father, mother or child." When trust has been broken too many times, one tends to become wary of a person.

 

To be able to trust God is therefore one of the most important things in life. I have met many people who have lost their faith in God, maybe because of the death of a loved one or the loss of a job or whatever other trauma that befell them. In such circumstances, people question whether God is always trustworthy or if he sometimes leaves you in the lurch. Many ask “Can I really trust him in everything?”

 

There is only one answer to this question. Look at how God deals with people in the Bible. In all three verses for today, his faithfulness is characterised by love and permanence. It is best illustrated by the fact that he kept his promise to deliver us from sin and made it possible for us to “have fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.” Yes, you can trust God.

 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we give thanks to you because you are never unfaithful. You have always done what you promised to do and we know that we can rely on you completely. Amen.