Trust is an important human trait which is so basic that it is developed as early as our babyhood stage. The Psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, observed that we learned the value of Trust as early as the age of 1. This is confirmed by other great names in psychology such as Erik Erikson and John Bowlby to name a few. Trust is a central element in human behaviour that most of our succeeding life experiences depend on it.
We cannot control everything in this world. A huge part of our life relies on trust. Trusting people and even trusting the world around us. I want to go out to buy some dinner and I cannot afford to keep worrying whether an object from the condos above will fall and hit me. I cannot afford to keep worrying whether I will be mugged or whether I’ll get into an accident on my way to get my dinner. In this reality, there are simply no guarantees. We need to exercise trust if we are to function healthily in this world.
Even so, TRUST is a paramount ingredient to our happiness. People who find it difficult to trust others and the world spend the better part of their time worrying. Worrying that danger will come, worrying that things will go wrong, and all the likes. They also worry about the people around them, they constantly worry about betrayal, about being cheated on; people who lack trust are doomed to worry about everything! Where then can they get the energy to enjoy and appreciate the present experience?
To trust is simply to assume the good out of people, places, and events. As mentioned from above, we ought to have learned this during babyhood. This is one reason and interpretation of what The Lord Jesus Christ said:
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3
Observe children play and see how much trust they have on the people around them; the toys, the park, and the environment as a whole. Children just play without asking: ‘who is this person?’ ‘What are you giving me?’ With this, children can easily let go of their guards and fully enjoy the playing experience. Of course, with this, I have to stress that I am speaking of children in the general sense. I am not here to offend or to deliberately exclude children who developed the sense mistrust and the attitude of over-vigilance to their environment because of abuse. Children simply trust the world around them and this is how The Lord Jesus wants us to relate to Him.
Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:29
True happiness can only come once we have learned to lay our guards down and fully enjoy the present experience. This can only be possible when we can trust the world around us. The difficulty here is that we have trouble trusting the world; and this distrust, we also learned at an early age. We trusted our parents but we got spanked, we trusted a friend but we got betrayed, we trusted a partner but we got hurt; through all these learning experiences, how can we then say: just trust the world and be happy?
I have to emphasize, The Lord didn’t say trust in the world. Jesus’ guarantee only applies when we, as innocent and unsuspecting children, place our trust in Him. That we know that He is good. We know that He is love. We know that He is God.
We are here to place our trust in Jesus Christ and move on with our lives. Among all the people, things, and places we can rely on, it is only the name of Jesus Christ in whom there is no disappointment.
For a lot of us, we had to go through a better part of life experiencing hurts, disappointments, pain, and even betrayals. It is time we place our trust on the one Man who will lay down His life for us if He has to. Someone who will never break His promises and Someone who will never fail. Once we have placed our trust on Jesus Christ, trusting the world once again becomes possible, our worries will become powerless, and we open ourselves to the true experience and happiness that life has to offer.
If the foundation of Happiness is Trust,
The foundation of Trust lies
in the Person of Jesus Christ.