Trust is the Hardest Thing

Two ferries in a harbour, both full of people and set to blow to smithereens, and the Joker’s behind it! He gives both vessels the choice; who goes first? Both have a simple remote control to blow the other vessel up before midnight. ‘Social exercise’ indeed! For those who haven’t yet seen the Batman movie, The Dark Night, I won’t spoil it--but say this sequence demonstrates how hard trust is.

This simple game involves the pinnacle of trust--who will take the cowardly option to save themselves over trusting the other party? If you were on one ferry, could you trust the hundreds on the other ferry to not influence one person enough to press the button on the remote control? How much do you trust them and they you?

And it works this way in life. No partnership can survive adequately let alone thrive without trust, which is merely the extension of grace (a Christ concept)--the complete benefit of one’s doubt is invested in the other person without condition.

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That’s why trust is all about love. We can’t trust without demonstrating love by letting go of our own way.

Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, The Message, quotes what love is:

“Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn’t strut,

Doesn’t have a swelled head,

Doesn’t force itself on others,

Isn’t always “me first,”

Doesn’t fly off the handle,

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn’t revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.”

–1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (Msg)

Think about it, love implicitly involves trust.

The paradox with the love of trust is freedom; fewer cares and worries and more faith to go around, shoring up relationships and the esteem of other people. Trust is a necessity in life--to make it operate properly.

It’s a very hard thing to trust at times; that’s where the will (of the mind) comes in. Sometimes we just need to make a decision in blind (but well intentioned) faith, prepared for the worst but somehow expecting the best.

Our will is the key to trust. If our will joins God’s, we cannot help but trust, because he is with us and we know he requires us to trust; knowing that makes it easier to bite the bullet.

Copyright © 2009, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.