Learning To Trust In A Skeptical World

In recent weeks I have been pondering a very important question: "What is the common denominator for understanding healthy relationships? We could postulate many words (e.g., friendship, tolerance, respect, appreciation, etc.). I then contemplated, what happens if trust is absent in a relationship? While love is important in the equation of healthy relationships, people can love another person and watch the relationship disintegrate because of the lack of trust.

Alan Sieler says that "Trust is the glue which holds relationships together." This is particularly true when considering our relationship to God. Life is made up of too many unknowns. In the realm of spirituality there is more that we do not know than we know. Therefore, how do we move forward when we can't see beyond our nose?

I also wonder if there isn't a correlation between our ability, inability in a lot of situations, to trust people and trusting God. It has been my experience that those who have been wounded in relationships have difficulty trusting other people and especially God.

I believe one of the greatest issues facing our world today, to include the church, is the fact that trust has all but disappeared in relationships. I believe the book of Micah shows us the tragedy of a society where trust is absent; however, the book also shows us how to regain that which is lost.

What misery is mine!

I am like one who gathers summer fruit

at the gleaning of the vineyard;

there is no cluster of grapes to eat,

none of the early figs that I crave. Micah 7:1

One of the great cries of the heart is for healthy relationships. Micha uses the analogy going to the vineyard to illustrate his sense of Alienation. He goes to the vineyard and the orchard, hoping he might find some fresh fruit--he finds none. To his dismay he could not find one godly person that he felt he could trust.

Was this true? Or was it also a reflection of Micah's struggle to trust? Yes, at this time the religious condition of the Israelites was at a low ebb. Micah preached during the reign of three kings, Jotham (750-735 BC), Ahaz (735-715 BC) and Hezekiah (715-686). There are obvious parallels between the condition of the nation then and America today.

First, he lived in a time of prosperity.

Second, the rich were emulating the life-styles of their pagan friends. They were absorbing the smaller farms and the unemployed were drifting into the cities. Migration to the cities was causing many social problems.

Third, from Micah’s perception, the Israelites had turned away from trusting and worshipping Yahweh. They had turned to the practice of worshipping Baal. Four festivals were held each year. In these celebrations people were exploited for personal gain (e.g. ceremonial prostitution, drunkenness, incest, homosexuality and violent assaults). Again, I believe the setting for Micah’s writing parallels the spiritual condition of America. Listen to the lyrics of popular songs. Pay attention to the manner in which many TV shows and movies show the abusive side of relationships. Observe the manner in which people treat each other and the environment.

Examples of exploitation: Witness the manner in which media and academia would have us cast doubt about our ability to trust God and His love letter to us.

• Exploitation of natural resources. When listening to friends from Louisiana I hear the names of old sawmill communities (e.g., Slagle, Alco, Fisher, Kurthwood, Flora, etc.). Numerous lumber companies set up logging mills and decimated the virgin pine and large hardwood trees. When they left, they left barren land and communities struggling to survive.

• Families struggling due to low paying jobs. I don’t object to wealthy people; however, when their wealth comes at the expense of the poor, I believe it displeases God. Micah wrote,

Doom to those who plot evil,

who go to bed dreaming up crimes!

As soon as it’s morning,

they’re off, full of energy, doing what they’ve planned.

They covet fields and grab them,

find homes and take them.

They bully the neighbor and his family,

see people only for what they can get out of them.

GOD has had enough. Micah 2:1-5

• Children who face a multiplicity of forms of abuse; often abandoned or neglected due to parents more focused on the desires than the care of their children. The number of children aborted each year is staggering, all because of a selfish desire to avoid inconvenience of personal pursuits.

• Political exploitation, politicians usurping the power of the people and abusing taxes paid by hard working people.

• Human trafficking: The Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women website posted the following information:

o According to US facts, an estimated 200,000 US citizens are in forced labor, including sexual exploration at any given time, as a result of human trafficking.