Afraid to Trust

by Aleta Kay



You’ve been hurt so many times in your life you’ve lost count. People you thought you could trust let you down. You let your guard down again, and you got burned. You have decided the only person you can trust is yourself.

Okay. Good. You’ve been living by this principle for a while now and it seems to be working. You tell yourself you’re tough. You can handle anything. You’re doing great. You can put in as many hours as anyone else. Your kids don’t seem any the worse off for your lack of presence. They have friends and other people they spend time with. Their grades are good and they aren’t getting in trouble. They like the money you bring home and they get most of the stuff they want. That’s good–right? That means it’s working–right?

But there’s that little nagging thought that maybe you’ve sacrificed something important to keep that wall in place. You’re beginning to admit that you might be getting tired of working so hard. You’re hearing rumors that maybe your children are doing things you aren’t aware of. You tell yourself the rumors can’t be true if their grades are good. Surely they’re getting those grades honestly. Your life is in perfect order. You’ve told yourself nothing can go wrong.

Then one day the bottom falls out. Someone at work has beat you out of that promotion. The company is downsizing and you’re making too much money for them to keep you. They’re going to replace you with someone younger and less costly. They’ll pay them half of your salary. On top of that, you’re getting some resentment from your children that you are beginning to take an interest in their lives. And they are going to other adult figures whose values are different from yours to get their answers to life.

What can you do? Jer 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” The idea here is to keep seeking and asking. Weep over the situation and plead with God to turn the situation around. The purpose is not for yourself, or even for your children. The purpose should be to bring honor and glory to God that the world may see what a great and powerful God he is.