TRUST





Trust is not an end. I think trust is more like a journey or a


continuum. It is a scale rather than a goal. I've certainly had to


deal with learning to trust God, and I can draw from that experience.


I found that trust is like a seed-bearing plant. You start with some


amount of seed in every new relationship. That amount of seed depends


on your past experiences. You may only have one or two seeds to work


with, and you may have a thousand. We each take some number of seeds


(from zero to ??) and plant them in the other person, perhaps by


telling them about ourselves or by allowing them into our lives. This


is when we take a risk with that person. As time goes on we harvest


those plants that have grown in the relationship, and find that we


have a little more trust with that person. We may invest more seeds


-- take a bigger risk -- or we may simply allow the harvest to be


sufficient for now.





I believe this analogy holds true in many areas of trust. We may find


that our stockpile of trust has run out and we cannot trust anyone.


In those cases we need to have someone such as a therapist give us


some seeds to play with in their garden. When we learn how to work


the soil and the seeds, we can take our experience and a few of those


seeds and work other soil (other people).





We may find that our stockpile of trust has been damaged by another


person's actions. Perhaps this is like a fire burning through a field


and damaging or destroying a barn storing our seeds. We have very few


seeds we can plant in that field, and we're pretty cautious about


planting seeds in a field where we've had such a disaster. We may --


eventually -- begin planting a FEW seeds again, just to test the


field. As time goes on, we may learn how much we can plant in that


field. Perhaps none, perhaps just a few, and perhaps the entire crop.


Fire can clear the ground and make a field completely ready for


planting, and fire can destroy the farmer.





As I get to know God and take some risks with him, I find that I can


trust him more. The same holds true in other relationships. I think


the analogy is sound.





Above article by Steve G. (sarr_host@hotmail.com)