We Can Still Trust the Lord  

Recently I drove past someone strolling along the sidewalk wearing a shirt with a message in big letters emblazoned on it. It read, “Trust no one.” It reminded me of an early episode of The Andy Griffith Show in which the Mayberry police force were on the lookout for an escaped prisoner. Deputy Barney Fife was given the task of conducting a roadblock as part of their operation. He didn’t let anyone pass by without making them get out of their vehicle and be searched, even if he personally knew them. He even frisked the town’s mayor. The comedic highlight of his actions was when it showed him searching a woman with her hands spread on her car. She turned around and exclaimed in a sad voice, “But Barney, I’m your mother!”

While Barney Fife’s unwillingness to trust anyone, even his own mother, was humorous, I thought the commentary on that shirt I saw was a sad but understandable sentiment in the world we find ourselves living in today. So many people have had their trust betrayed by others – whether by government leaders, religious leaders, law enforcement, others in positions of authority, the news media, family members, or close friends. Sometimes it does seem as if you just can’t trust anyone anymore. It hurts when you put your trust in someone only to find that the person has lied to you or ends up mistreating you or in some other way turns his back on you.

Jesus warned His followers of such times, especially in relation to the opposition and persecution they would face because of their faith in Him. He foretold that “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death” (Luke 21:16). Yes, even some moms won’t be able to be trusted.

I hope you have at least a few people in your life whom you know you can trust. It is difficult to be in a position where you feel you can’t trust anyone. Hopefully a mom or dad or spouse or close friend or fellow believer are still trusted confidants in our lives.

However, regardless of who else we can or can’t trust in our day, we can be assured that we can always trust the Lord. That incident with Barney Fife was so funny because you normally think if you can trust anyone, it would be your own mother. That may not always be the case, but generally speaking a mom would be considered the last person to betray her child. However, there is Someone we can trust to an even greater extent. Jesus loves us even more than our mothers do. Jesus suffered and died on the cross for our sake. As He expressed it, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Jesus did that for us.

We may be living in a day when it is hard to trust anyone. Nevertheless, we can continue to trust the Lord. He has promised to be with us and never to forsake us. We can trust Him to do so no matter what challenges come our way. He is not going to run out on us. He will continue to be on the side of those who are following Him. He will fight for us. He will watch over us. He will protect us. He will faithfully guide us through all the obstacles in life to bring us to our heavenly home one day. He will do everything He has promised to do.

It is true that we may have to be careful about whom we trust these days, but never doubt the fact that you can keep trusting Jesus.