Trust. What does this word mean to you? Do you give your trust easily? Or does it take a lot of time and effort for you to even start thinking about trusting someone new? When we think about the ones we trust the most, think about what has led you to give it. Usually it has something to do with time. You’ve known them since childhood or their friendship has weathered the test of time. Or maybe they’ve proven that they are reliable again and again and will be there when we need them. For those that do have our trust, we could probably all agree that these people are the ones we would be okay sharing our important information or vulnerable feelings with. We trust these people to safeguard our secrets and the things we hold closest to the heart.
At times, though, trust comes with disappointment. It all too often gets broken and we’re left with regret for sharing something so valuable to us. So, to prevent this potential hurt, we usually only share our most sensitive and precious information with those who we know we can always rely on.
This matter of trust is the same for God. Do you think God is able to trust everyone? If He has precious information and a precious plan to set forth, who can He trust to deliver it safely and carry it out? Let’s find out more about whom God trusts and how we can become someone He trusts.
GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE
Have you ever wondered why God has “chosen people?” It could seem like He plays favorites or thinks some people are more special than others. But let’s look at it in a different way. Let’s consider not about the quality of the people themselves, but what God wants to entrust to them.
We know that in the Old Testament, God chose the Israelites. His purpose for choosing them was to make them into His holy nation. He educated them on how to be holy so that they could become His priests that could then go out to teach the rest of the world about Him.
“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Exodus 19:5-6
Although God first made His plans known to the Israelites, His ultimate goal was for others to listen and believe when they heard the message.
How God Works
Yet, we may wonder why God is being exclusive if He wants to save everybody? But let’s also think about how the message of the kingdom of heaven must have a starting point. From this starting point, God’s promise and plan would then be preached to others. Through these chosen people, other nations could come to know God.
In the same way, at the beginning of any new business or venture, it begins with one person. That person then shares their vision with a few of their close friends or partners. And from there they work to build something bigger that eventually reaches more and more people.
We see this pattern and logic within Christianity too. Can’t we trace the origins of the gospel back to one single person? Jesus first preached the gospel of the kingdom of heaven and shared it with his 12 disciples. The 12 disciples then spread the gospel and created the early Christian churches. And from there, if we just take a look around, the gospel of Christ has spread so far and wide that it even reached our own ears.
But it had to start from somewhere. That is why God starts with a few chosen people, and then expands from there.
WHY DOESN’T GOD TRUST EVERYONE?
Just like how we’re careful with whom we choose as our confidants, God, too, wants to make sure He gives His most valuable and precious plans to reliable hands. If you take a look at the Old Testament, you can see that the Israelites proved themselves untrustworthy time and time again. This is because they constantly betrayed God and worshiped other man-made gods.
“This is what the Lord says: “What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.”
Jeremiah 2:5
If you were the CEO of a company and your core, most trusted group continually betrays you by going to other competitors, would you continue to use and trust them? Most of us would rightfully refuse. And in the end, God also stopped trusting the Israelites. He instead made a plan to send His Son as the Messiah, to deliver his precious plan to the world.
Can God Trust Me?
While those things happened in the past, we can still learn many lessons from the Israelites. We need to examine our own lives of faith and consider if we are people who could be considered trustworthy by God. What does it take to be that kind of person? By doing what the Israelites did not do. Staying close to God, rejecting other idols or distractions that would lead us away from Him.
How much time do you spend with God on a daily basis? Is your relationship close? Or is it more like a “we check in every few weeks or when things get hard” kind of deal. And then let’s consider if we would even trust ourselves if we were in God’s position. Am I someone that God can trust with His plan to save humanity? Am I that devoted and in tune with Him? Or do I not even know that He had this plan to begin with? When we start asking ourselves these tough questions, it helps us to recognize our reality. From there we can resolve to become more like the believers we want to be: trusted and acknowledged by God.
God wants to have a close relationship with every single one of us. He wants to give salvation and eternal life to all of His creation. But we have to want Him back. We have to make the effort to get to know God, to prove that we’re in it for the long haul and that ultimately, become those whom God can trust not to walk away from Him.
Written by Your Soul and Heaven
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