“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people.” Psalm 118:8
This is one of my favorite verses, it comes to mind often when dealing with people. There are many different translations. KJV says, “It is better to trust in the Lord…”. It is so true, it is in God we must trust, not man.
I played a golf tournament yesterday with a lovely group of ladies. One of them was a retired banker. We were joking at one point about the motto of her old softball team:
“In God we trust, all others we audit.”
I think it’s a great paraphrase of Psalm 118:8, which by the way is the center verse of the Bible. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. In the very heart of God’s word, He tells us to trust Him. That seems about right.
The truth is, we do need to audit people. We can’t put all of our trust in humans. For one thing, it’s not fair to put that much pressure on a person. Secondly, no one can live up to that expectation, not even me. Only God can be completely trusted.
Trust is such a fragile thing and can be so easily fractured. Sadly, once broken, it is hard to repair. When someone lies to me, it breaks my heart in ways that nothing else is capable of doing.
I wonder why they felt the need to lie? What is it about me that makes them not feel comfortable telling me the truth? It makes me feel that I have failed them as a friend. It’s something I don’t understand.
Ironically, often times we lie because we think we’re protecting the person. Inevitably though, it hurts worse than if the truth had been told in the first place.
Thankfully, we aren’t called to trust people. We are called to love them. You can love people you don’t trust. They may not be your closest confidante, but you can still love them.
Jesus knew better than to trust people:
“But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature.” John 2:24
But He does love us, and we’re to love others:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34
It’s true, it’s hard to have a close relationship with someone you can’t trust. Even truer is the statement, we’re to love them anyway.
I’m grateful that Jesus has set the example. He’s a hard act to follow, but it is definitely worth the effort!
In God We Trust
