THE TRUST BRIDGE

Some things in life require investment. On the other hand, there are blessings like God’s grace that can only be a gift. You can’t earn it or deserve it, but we all desperately need His grace. At the same time, relationships require trust to function well; without it, they can’t grow in quality or value. They stay shallow.  
 
An extreme example of that is when a person has a relationship with God, and it remains shallow. But how could that be? No matter how great the investment of the one individual is, it cannot compensate for the lack of investment of the other. Think of it: Jesus gave His life for you on the cross, but if you don’t trust in Him, He can’t save you.  He can’t complete the transfer of His grace to you.  
 
Listen to what happens when you trust in God.  Psalm 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.”  When you invest trust in God, it’s like indulging in His goodness.  You are blessed!  This isn’t automatic, though or just a light thing.  You have to apply yourself and make it an intentional pursuit.  It requires knowing God, and therefore, knowing His word by studying it.  You can’t say you trust someone and not know them.  
 
Our people relationships require a similar type of intentionality.  Of course, no one can, or should have the level of trust we give to God.  Still, trust is a critically important ‘bridge’ that we must build brick by brick with human relationships.  Even parents with their children need to be aware of how much trust they afford to each child.  You can love all four children equally but have an awareness of the different levels of trust you give to the individual.  You hopefully don’t trust the use of the family car to your twelve-year-old, but possibly do trust your eighteen-year-old daughter.  This is healthy.  You actually discriminate within your relationships based on the quality of the trust ‘bridge’.  
 
Too many people ignore the weight limit sign on the side of the trust bridge before bringing life across. Some conversations should not happen until the integrity of that bridge has reached a certain load limit. You don’t have the sex talk with your five-year-old, and it’s not because he can’t trust you. You can’t trust him with those facts yet. You may have a friendship that is growing with someone, but you have a personal responsibility to gauge the integrity of that bridge between you.  It has everything to do with the level of trust.  Do not let the ‘load’ exceed the trust level.
 
God will entrust more responsibility to us as we prove faithful.  Jesus was sharing a parable describing His Kingdom and said this in Matthew 25:21, “You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much.”  Spiritual socialism mistakenly, and dangerously suggests that we all should get the same thing.  Jesus said the opposite.  In Matthew 9:29 Jesus said, “According to your faith and trust be it done to you.”
 
So how do we build this trust bridge?  Listening is powerful.  Listening to God builds trust in God. Did you know that waiters that listen and repeat the order back to their customer typically get up to 70% more in tips?  To build that trust quotient with the right people make an extra effort to get to know one another.  It is a proven fact that people will do things willingly when they have a positive rapport with you.  When it’s appropriate, exchanging personal information, biographical information helps the other person to get to know you better.  This is building rapport and even helps with negotiation.  People want to be known but also want to know you.  You can help others build a picture of you through communication as simple as email or a phone call.
 
How can you invest your time today to build trust?  The other person needs to be heard and feel like they’ve got something personal from you.  Even God needs your ear, and something from your heart.  Be intentional about building trust, and who you should have that bridge with.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you honestly assess the weight load limit of trust in a relationship.  There may be serious issues but at the same time you can be clear about the positive intent you have.  Guard each rapport by always gauging the level of trust.  Assume good of the other person, hear their heart, be honest but never overload the bridge weight limit.  Keep building trust where you have God’s green light.   

Pray the Word:

Father, I trust in You with all of my heart and refuse to lean on my own understanding. Instead, I acknowledge You in all my ways knowing You direct my paths.  I choose to taste and see how good You are Lord, so I trust in You.  I am blessed because I trust in You.  Help me Holy Spirit to accurately gauge my individual relationships so I can honor You with all my communication and agreements.  I see that I’ve put pressure on people and blamed them for failures that I really set them up for.  I repent of that.  Help me to be quick to hear, and slow to speak.  Help me to really listen to what’s being said.  Thank you, Father God, for sending Jesus and so loving me.  Amen.  
 
P.S.  You’re on a highway of God’s wisdom as you define and refine your trust bridges.  I’ve seen too many people suffer terribly because they trusted where they shouldn’t and didn’t trust in Whom they should.  We love you and are praying for you.  Reach out on our website livingroomchurch.org and give us some communication from your heart. Share this with a friend and ask them what they think about the whole matter of trust. It could be a turning point in your relationships.  God bless you!