Friday, May 8, 2020

Trust

 
Friday, May 8, 2020

Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me, for I find protection in you alone.  I entrust my spirit into your hand.  Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God.  Psalm 31:4-5

If there’s one thing about a word written in sand on a beach, come the next tide, those letters will have given way to a clean slate.  When trust is swept away, the slate is anything but clean.  Whatever relationship is left when trust has been violated and trampled upon, it will be muddy and tenuous at best. 
The uncertainty of whether trust can ever be restored is something that must have eaten the inner fabric of apostle Peter’s stomach lining.  In the early darkness of Friday morning outside Pilate’s house, Peter had denied being Jesus’ friend and follower; to underscore his trust-breaking lie, he even cursed that he’d ever known the man.  When the rooster sounded after Peter’s third denial, reminding the apostle Jesus had known his friend would betray him, Peter disappeared into the darkness weeping bitterly for his unfaithfulness.  He had broken trust with the best friend, best man he’d ever known.[1] 
Knowing our inner nature sometimes makes it hard to trust.  We know what we’re capable of, and project that unfaithfulness on others.  Yet, in today’s Scripture, the Psalmist offered the spirit of his life, all his hopes, dreams, the calendar for today, and his labor for tomorrow, into the hand of this unseen God…and then, perhaps, with the hesitation of a man who knows how fickle men can be, declared God to be faithful, a loving God of forgiveness, faithfully extending his loving care to anyone’s penitent heart, despite the nature of a sinful man who didn’t deserve being forgiven.
Scripture tells us that later, after the resurrection, when Jesus met his disciples on the beach for breakfast, Jesus made certain that Peter understood just how resilient the trust was between them.  Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter really did love him.  It must’ve been agonizing for the fisherman to have to face the memory of his past betrayal while Jesus was on trial.  And, to do so now, with any meaningful declaration of love for Jesus, had to feel like a really disingenuous apology.  But Jesus followed the Q&A with an invitation that was an iron-clad, sealed-with-blood reminder that Jesus would trust Peter; He simply said follow me.[2]
And, history reminds us, Peter did!
For You Today
Whatever trust you may have broken with God, or with any other human being, the same hand of forgiveness that was extended to Peter is willing to accept your heart’s repentance; He forgives. 
It’s that simple; we repent, and the assurance of our heart is He trusts us.



You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!
Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For other posts on Psalm 31 see Ambush and My Cliff to Climb

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