Trust and Mistrust
Chapter 13
Good Monday Morning to this week 13 of 2022
Trust is quite an interesting thing. On the one hand, it is something very individual; my trust in life, my trust in others. In regard to those that are particularly important to me, the mistrust is especially strong after the abuse of trust has been experienced. We don’t only trust individually, therefore trust has social, political or even spiritual components.
Both trust and distrust are self-reinforcing: If I trust, more and more trust is created; if I mistrust, the skepticism I show others tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy and creates new mistrust. If I think “this person doesn’t like me” and confront him accordingly in an unfriendly manner, he will confirm my judgment.
In communication we currently have a problem of trust. What source can we trust, who is feeding the information we read or even pass on? Can we trust what we are seeing or reading?
In the development of a child; The trust versus mistrust stage is the first stage of psychosocial development. This stage begins at birth and lasts until your child is around 18 months old. it is one of the most important periods of your child’s life, as it shapes their view of the world as well as their overall personality.
Trust:
Believing in caregivers, trusting that the world is safe, knowing that needs will be met
Mistrust
Distrusting caregivers, fearing the world, unsure that needs will be met
Isaiah 31 shows us the challenge of Egypt and Assyrians while placing the Messianic kingdom alongside the downfall of Assyria
Doom to those who go off to Egypt thinking that horses can help them, impressed by military mathematics, awed by sheer numbers of chariots and riders. And to The Holy of Israel, not even a glance, not so much as a prayer to God. Still, he must be reckoned with, a most wise God who knows what he’s doing. He can call down catastrophe. He’s a God who does what he says. He intervenes in the work of those who do wrong, stands up against interfering evildoers. Egyptians are mortal, not God and their horses are flesh, not Spirit.
Isaiah. 31:1 is the fifth of six “woes” that Isaiah pronounces in this section of his book. Israel would experience woe, writes Isaiah, not just because they looked to Egypt for help, but because they “did not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord”. Indeed, it is not inherently wrong to prudently prepare for trials. However, it is sinful to not recognize, as Solomon wrote, “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord” (Prov. 21:31). This is helpful advice coming from Solomon, who himself had erred in accumulating many, many horses from Egypt, contrary to God’s instructions at Deut. 17:16, “But the king shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’”
In Isaiah 31:4–5; God promises to defend His people with the idea that they would repent of their sins and rely solely on Him for deliverance. God’s care for and over His people can be seen in the two illustrations Isaiah uses, that is, a lion and a bird. First, Isaiah notes that God’s care for Israel is like a young lion circling its prey who will not be distracted or deterred by shepherds summoned against it. Second, Isaiah writes that God’s concern for His own people is like that of a mother bird hovering over her fledglings.
Trust needs courage! Because trust is even something that will change. Yes, it adapts dynamically – depending on whether the trust placed in others is confirmed or disappointed. There is always the possibility that trust will be violated; that is a risk, and that is why trust requires courage.
Faith at its heart is about trust. It’s one thing to believe in God; it’s quite something else to trust him. R. Perry
A tremendous amount of trust and faith is required to go through a spiritual crisis. L Penner
Trust is the tie that binds any and all relationships with God, our spouses, our friends, and our community. B. Williams
One day I believe we will understand, but in the meantime, we have to trust and have faith in the fact that God knows what he is going to do. Hope
Wishing you a blessed week full of trust, hope and faith!
Philemon