Ps 146:3

Trust is a funny thing. Its definition is straightforward enough: “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” But just because we firmly believe something, that does not mean we are correct; just because I think someone is trustworthy, that does not make them trustworthy.

How do we know, how do we learn how to tell who can be trusted? We trust many things, even though we know they are not always reliable. We trust the weather report, even though we know the predictions are sometimes completely incorrect (and yes, sometimes completely correct). But when we want to know the weather, we confidently turn to the Weather Channel, or NOAA, or our local news, and act in reliance on that. As parents, we trust our teenagers, even as we laugh at the old joke “How can you tell if your teenagers are lying? Their lips are moving.” We know our children neither always lie to us nor always tell us the truth, but, in general, we put our trust in them. We trust that the prices that ring up at the checkout are correct; we trust that the waitress gave us the decaf coffee we ordered; we trust that the other traffic will obey the rules of the road.

We trust in God, or Yahweh, or Allah. We trust that we know the difference between good and evil; right and wrong. We trust that we know how to make the right decisions; to trust the right people; to make the right choices.

In the end, we trust ourselves. Sometimes, that may mean we stand alone. But when we can truly say that our trust has been well-placed, we can know we are on the right path.