Trust is defined as the firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability and strength of someone or something. Trust is a simple, five-letter word. Yet behind this word are other words that have years of experience in supporting its meaning.
Reliability, for example. A reliable person will have to have proven themselves to be there on a consistent basis each time you call upon them. When they show up, they are consistent in their actions; you would never question what you would expect from them. You know that one call and they are there for you: never late, always attentive and always with time for you.
Truth. Truth itself must be proven over time. For what is truth but an opinion of how things really are? But today, people choose to believe what is true or not, so for a person’s opinion to be found true, there have to be experiences that will support or deny this truth. As these experiences accumulate, they begin to support your belief in what is at hand as being the truth. Truth has to be tested over time and multiple times before it is firmly believed as being absolute truth.
Ability. Ability is an encompassing word. It can be singular in nature, such the ability to do a certain task, or it can be broad in that one can do many tasks. The key is that we associate a level of competency to the word ability for it to have any purposeful meaning. We can say that a person could do that task, but we are at the exact same time filtering that comment by expectations of that person’s strength, education, social skills, influence, status, and wealth. For a person to have the ability to do all things, he would need to be proficient in every category. For someone to have a greater ability than all people, he would have to have set the standards himself. Ability must be tested against all its opponents to determine at what level the ability can be accomplished.
Strength. Strength must be tested against opposing forces to be fully assessed. It can be a counterweight to be lifted, a worthy opponent to fend off, a task that takes extreme perseverance, a crisis that takes exceptional fortitude, or restraint to withhold the use of power, emotion and compassion when necessary. Strength is always being tested against time, for time will eventually weaken strength. Time will add or subtract the validity of strength. To be strong for a moment pales against being strong over great lengths of time.
“Do you trust me?” To answer that question, you must reflect on the person’s reliability, truth, ability, and strength. For simple matters, trust can be minimized and even risked. For meaningful life questions, trust must be thoroughly assessed. There is, at the center of trusting someone, the moment you exchange a piece of yourself for that of another. You give that part of yourself over to the person to do what they claim they can do.
God says to trust Him with all your heart, mind, and soul. Leaders ask their followers to trust them; to lead them on the journey.
Each day we are faced with hundreds of trust opportunities. Some are very small, and some can alter our lives. No one escapes the question.
Who will you trust today?
Just a Thought…
