Don’t Trust Me…

I sat on the floor this morning with our 8 month-old, 40 pound, golden retriever puppy on my lap, knowing it was just a matter of time before my anxiety was legitimized. I held her paw in my hand, and she affectionately licked me on the nose. I smiled thinly and continued clipping her nails, holding my breath with each passing moment, waiting for the inevitable time when I cut too close to the invisible “quick” of her nail and I hurt her.

The end result of course, is she will no longer trust me with this task.

She shouldn’t trust me now, but she doesn’t know that yet.

My kids don’t know that while Jim and I have read a ton on parenting and marriage, and seek counsel from wiser than us in the been-there-done-that crowd when we’re over our heads, they probably shouldn’t really trust us as much as they do. And we don’t always respond properly. Sometimes we hurt them, too, even though we don’t want to.

Deeply ingrained within us is a desire to trust. It’s why we keep coming back to the people that hurt us, and as children especially, it’s why we give more than second chances.

He made us with that desire to seek Him.

But we mistakenly put our trust in people and things of this world, when the Audience of One is truly the only One worthy of our trust.

Bottom line: Extend grace. Even when we have the best of intentions, we aren’t worthy of trust, and neither are those around us. But like the Bible says in Proverbs 4:23, “guard your heart.” We too often hand our hearts over to others (spouses – parents – friends – children), expecting them to make us happy, feel good about ourselves, or fulfill our dreams, when that’s the Maker’s job – oh, and He only does that when our will aligns with His – because it’s HIS show, He’s the Director.

This life is all about His glory, not ours.

We forget that.

A very good friend of mine told me this week that part of my organizational challenge rests in the fact that I’m a little lazy when it comes to paperwork. And I wasn’t hurt by that statement, because I know this person loves me enough to tell me the truth. So while I trust this individual as much as I can trust any friend, I still trust God more.

And I believe God uses the people in our lives to speak Truth to help us change.

So the real bottom line is to pray for deep connection with God, such that we can discern Truth from lies.

You’ll excuse me now, as I have some filing to do. 🙂

Dare you today to read Proverbs 13 in its entirety, asking Him what you need to do differently.

Double dog dare you to ask Him to align your will with His, and then help you grow! J

Triple dog dare you to share, comment, or subscribe, joining us on this journey!

Love to you,

~Nina