Tucked in the middle of two tragic turned triumphant situations we find another golden nugget. A man with a withered hand and another possessed with the devil (blind and dumb) serve as the backdrop for unveiling truth. Nestled smack between two miracles are short words of revelation: “And in his name shall the Gentiles trust” (Matthew 12:21).
This aptly echoes the Psalmist, “We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions. Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalms 20:5-7).
“Trust” is a wonderful word. If I trust you I am attesting I am confident about your integrity, strength, and/or ability. Trust doesn’t come easily. When lost, it is difficult—nigh to impossible—to regain. Trust is made up of interaction (getting to truly know someone) and an established track record. It is destroyed daily in small ways. A little lie, failing to follow through on something promised, or a confidence broken. Failure to walk the talk and to do what one says both rank up there on the list of trust destroyers. Truth and trust are interrelated; always have been; always will.
Stephen M. R. Covey in The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything explains violating character behavior is the quickest way to decrease trust. Demonstrating competence behavior is the quickest way to increase it. Trust is a function of both character (who you are) and competence (what you produce; strengths, capabilities, and skills).
Trust is notably the foundation of all positive relationships: self, with others, and with God. It is one of the strongest bonds possible. The irony is it is also one of the most fragile. It can be easily broken like a glass vase crashing to the floor in a thousand pieces; impossible to glue back together. Someone has rightly said, “trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.” Help us, Lord—to trust and to be trustworthy. After all, the old word “faithful” is the same as our modern word “trustworthy.”
Face it; we are (many times) cynical. It comes natural as a baby to be trusting. As we grow it seems we morph into doubters. It happens many times with good reasons. Customers don’t trust businesses. Employees don’t trust leaders. Who trusts government? Politicians rank up there with telemarketers and used car salesmen as the most untrusted professions around.
Bernie May in Learning to Trust There repeats an old story of a father who took his young son out and stood him on the railing of the back porch. He then went down, stood on the lawn, and encouraged him to jump into his arms. “I’ll catch you,” the father said. After a lot of persuading, the little boy finally made the jump. When he did, the father stepped back and let the boy fall to the ground. He then picked his son up, dusted him off, and dried his tears.
“Let that be a lesson,” he said firmly. “Don’t ever trust anyone” (1985, 4). How tragic! Unbelievable! That’s right, it is unbelievable. In a trustless world there are still those you can trust regardless of the lesson the father tried to teach his son. There is a name we can trust. We place our confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ.
“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes” (Psalms 118:8-9).
“Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield. The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us” (Psalms 115:11-12).
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25).
“They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever” (Psalms 125:1).
“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works” (Hebrews 10:23-24, NLT).
“…You are faithful and righteous” (Psalms 143:1, NLT). “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24, NKJV). “He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13, NKJV). “God is faithful, by whom you were called” (1 Corinthians 1:9). ‘Faithful’ is an old word meaning the same as ‘trustworthy.’
“But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command” (2 Thessalonians 3:3-4, ESV).
Jesus is the “Alpha and Omega.” Listen to how the Living Bible puts it. “I am the A and the Z, the Beginning and the Ending of all things,” says God, who is the Lord, the All Powerful One who is, and was, and is coming again!” (Revelation 1:8, TLB). He is the beginning and ending, and is there in between. He is the all—powerful—one. He is omnipotent. He is one! Hope you noticed the past, present, and future tenses utilized in this verse. He is. He was. He is to come.
- None like Him (Deuteronomy 32:39).
- No God like Him (Isaiah 46:9).
- No God beside Him (2 Samuel 7:22).
- No God above Him nor is there any beneath (Joshua 2:11).
- None before Him and none after Him (Isaiah 43:10).
- None other than Him (Mark 12:32).
- The Lord He is God and there is none else (1 Kings 8:60).
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You” (Psalms 139:7-12, NKJV).
So, if you are wondering where God is, in your situation, remember:
- He’s God in my past protecting me.
- He’s God in my present leading me.
- He’s God in my future, waiting on me, yet He’s never moved.
- He created all things and He owns everything yet He purchased you and me.
(Kent Crockett, in I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint, During the 1930s, 250 men were holding the ropes to a dirigible (an airship similar to a blimp) to keep it from floating away. Suddenly a gust of wind caught one end of the dirigible, lifting it high off the ground. Some of the men immediately let go of their ropes and fell safely to the ground. Others panicked, clinging firmly to the end of their ropes as the nose of the dirigible arose to greater heights. Several men who couldn’t keep holding on fell and were seriously injured. One man, however, continued to dangle high in the air for forty-five minutes until he was rescued. Reporters later asked him how he was able to hold on to the rope for so long. “I didn’t hold on to the rope,” he replied. “I just tied it around my waist, and the rope held on to me.” Instead of trying to hold on to God, let God hold on to you (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2004, 138).
James Poitras 