Many years ago, another expat and I were attempting to set up landlines in our apts. (yes, landlines!) This required filling out stacks of papers and bringing a local person with their national ID as a guarantee. “Foreigners cannot not be trusted to pay their bill.” Our friend knew us but to her family this was a huge risk. After a long day of many forms and the repeated telling of our request, we sat down for tea. In one of those to-be-repeated ESL stories, our sweet friend sighed, “I don’t know what to do want. I’ve filled out all the blankets.” We finally got our phones based on the government’s trust in one of their citizens whose signature made her responsible for our debts. 

In that same era a student offered the use of his father’s office for me to make a call to the US. “You will have privacy and, oh, don’t worry about the cost.” When I shook my head, he reassured me, “The company will cover it. Trust me. No one will ever know.” 

Some of my friends were playing football on our campus one nippy fall day. As they got warmer, they took off they jackets and threw them on some nearby benches. When the game was over, they returned to find their coats gone. Later they were told how silly they were to trust that their clothes would be safe. “You have nice stuff and students are poor.”

Our God tells us to trust Him. It has nothing to do with culture or being trustworthy. He is clear about what not to trust in – riches, other humans, anything created.  

Our trust in Him is based on who He is – unlike an unfounded claim to power or a desire to impress. He is the source of everything and knows everything.

There is no situation where it is ignorant or silly to trust Him. On the contrary. The sovereign, all-loving, omniscient “…God’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.” 

“Those who know your name put their trust in you.”