I come from a family of eternal optimists, atleast on my mom's side. It doesn't matter what the situation, it seems we are always reasoning from a place of hope and positivity. I guess that can be a good thing, mostly when it doesn't blindside you. It's good to look for the good and not dwell on all the negative things out there. In fact, as a Christ-follower, I think it's actually biblical....Hmmmm.
But in addition to being an eternal optimist, over time I've learned to be a realist when it comes to people. I'm not bitter about that. To act as a realist with people is to practice accepting a situation as it is and then be prepared to deal with it accordingly, still believing the best, still reasoning from a place of hope and positivity. I haven't always been a realist. This is something that's developed over time and I've found that it's actually served to strengthen my capacity to love and extend grace in situations and through disappointments that otherwise I would not have been able to handle.
Trust is a fragile thing, especially when it comes to our relationships. We were created to live in that dynamic, fragile tension of human existence and trust is a part of that. Where I used to trust people and their ability to do what they say or be who I thought they were, I can now trust that no matter what an individual says or does, God can work things into anyone whose willing. For me, the subtle difference is I'm trusting God in the midst of human existence. What I mean is that people can and will let you down but we all do it, because it's part of that element called humanity. So I've learned to trust God to get to the heart of the matter and be in the mix.
A few mornings ago I was reading in Jeremiah 17:5-13 in The Message/Remix version of the Bible. James calls this my rapper version of the Bible. I love the way it reads.
"cursed is the strong one who depends on mere humans, who thinks he can make it on muscle alone and sets God aside as dead weight. He's like a tumbleweed on the prairie, out of touch with the good earth. He lives rootless and aimless in the land where nothing grows. But blessed is the man who trusts you, God, the woman who sticks with God. They're like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the river. Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season. The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be. All who leave you end up as fools, deserters with nothing to show for their lives, who walk off from God, fountain of living waters and wind up dead."
There is a tension between trusting people and ultimately trusting God, realizing that every day we build relationships with people but to put all our confidence and dependence in those human relationships, will ultimately keep us out of touch with the reality of the human condition. No person can fulfill everything we want or need. On the other hand, our human relationships are often used in our life for good things. Ultimately the thing that makes our relationships great is when we've allowed the creator in the mix, dealing with our hearts in truth and in reality. If and through all your relationships, your ultimate source of rooting is in Christ, I believe you will grow and so will those relationships that are also rooted there!
Our hearts are deceitful even in the best of our relationships.
He helps us keep it real. And that's the tension of trust for me.
8 hours ago
