Editor’s Note:  Our weekly guest spot is our effort to help our reading community connect with each other.  “Being Isaac” is in response to our growing number of male readers. We think it’s important that there’s a male reply to our female’s call to live in passionate pursuit of Christ. Thanks StephenWhoElse for another great post delving into understanding who can we trust? The answer is in the post 🙂 Enjoy readers! 🙂  

For without consulting me,
    you have gone down to Egypt for help.
You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection.
    You have tried to hide in his shade.
But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated,
    and by depending on him, you will be disgraced – Isaiah 30:2-3

We know all about trust. We teach it to our kids – so we ought to know better don’t we? I wanted to see if this was true – that we are qualified to teach our children who to trust, so I tried to compile the lists below:

List #1 – People we instinctively trust because they are closest to us!

• grandparents
• father / mother
• brothers / sisters
• cousins
• aunts and uncles
• pastors / church elders

List #2 – People we kind of trust, because our normal way of life depends on us trusting them

• police
• firemen
• doctors
• teachers
• grocer
• barber
• the guy at the checkout
• waiters
• and virtually anyone who serves you

List #3 – People who require you to take a gigantic leap of faith and the parting of the Red Sea before you are willing to trust them

• consultants
• door-to-door salesmen
• telesales people
• politicians
• The Nigerian who offered to share his US$10 million inheritance with you
• dentists

Ok maybe not dentists, I’m just biased against them. (“This won’t hurt sir.”  ”Really? Grea…Aaargh!”)

So here’s the point – in every list, I’m 100% sure you can find exceptions to it. There are parents who have abused children. Church leaders who have embezzled money. Policemen who took bribes. Waiters who clone credit cards belonging to customers.  On the other hand, there are trustworthy and honest politicians and sincere sales people. The Nigerian scammer I’m pretty sure cannot be trusted.

So who can we trust?  (I’m sure you saw this coming) God of course!

God didn’t say that we are to trust no one – but we need to trust Him first. The ancient Israelites, fearing an invasion from their enemies, sought protection from Egypt instead of trusting in the Lord. This was wrong on so many accounts

• God already promised protection: “Like birds hovering overhead, the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem;
  he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.” (Isaiah 31:5) Going to the Egyptians for help is snubbing God’s offer of protection.
• The Egyptians have no motivation to help – they are rich and powerful enough without the alliance with Israel.
• and the worst of all, they seem to have forgotten that God delivered them out of slavery from the Egyptians! Going back to Egypt for help is akin to returning to their old ways. What an insult!

There are a few things we need to do

• We need the wisdom of God to discern if someone can be trusted. Pray and listen before committing.
• We ourselves need to be trustworthy, as it is written in Matthew 5:37 “Let your Yes be simply Yes, and your No be simply No; anything more than that comes from the evil one.”
• Teach our children to trust God – not simply by telling them, but by living a life that testifies to this truth:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6

Trusting in God is not just for obedience’s sake. We have His guarantee that His love will surround those who trust Him. (Psalm 32:10)

And you can trust me on this! 

StephenWhoElse is a Sunday School Teacher and in his spare time he has a secular and less interesting job. He endeavors to write only what He reveals to him and gives all glory to God! See the original post at http://10seventeen.wordpress.com/2013/09/27/who-can-you-trust/