Who Do You Trust?

 

Dear Old Friend,

Do you remember a game show which was on when we were growing up, called “Who Do You Trust”? It was hosted by Johnny Carson before he became the Tonight Show icon.  I don’t actually remember anything about the game itself, but I do remember there was a grammar controversy regarding the title, since “proper” English would be “Whom Do You Trust”.  What reminded me of that show title this week was the search for a used car.

As you know, from my seemingly endless parade of old cars, my husband and I don’t believe in making car payments, so when one car bites the dust, which mine did prematurely in my recent accident, we look for a replacement car we can purchase with what cash we have on hand.  In this case, the insurance company was providing that cash, or at least most of it.  My husband is always the primary hunter and gatherer of cars.  He stalks his prey online and becomes almost obsessed with the pursuit. 

We both decided that our first choice would be a lower mileage version of the car which had just met an untimely demise.  I won’t get into makes and models in my letter, because that isn’t really the point.  What became the point was trying to figure out who/whom we could trust.  Who would be less likely to deceive us? Was it better to trust a private seller, an auto auction or a dealership?  My husband’s search began with private sellers, strayed into auctions, and finally ended with a dealership.  The worry all along the way, of whether or not we were being duped as we had been a few times in the past, nearly did him in.

Knowing that you were praying for God to lead us to the right car meant a lot to me!  I can happily report to you that I now have a car, which my husband proudly tracked down and procured for me. It has a few flaws on the outside, but the interior looks great and the engine looks pristine.  Its ride is smoother and more quiet than any car I can remember driving.  As of this letter, we feel like it was a good choice!

Throughout the process some verses, which had absolutely astonished me the first time I read them, kept coming back to me.  I couldn’t quite remember where they were and had to search, but I found them tonight in John 2:24-25.  The prelude to these two verses tells us that while Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, people started to take notice of him because of his miracles.  Here are the verses which struck me: “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”

Jesus knew better than to put his confidence in people, because he knew what we were like inside.  No one needed to tell him that people couldn’t be trusted; because that was the very reason he had to come to earth.  Paul’s compilation of Old Testament scriptures detailing God’s own thoughts on what was "in man", found in Romans chapter 3, verses 10-18, is painful and humiliating to read:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Jesus knew who we were; there wasn’t one truly trustworthy bone in any of our bodies; no, not one; and we were powerless to do a thing about it.  So, he came, as the only totally trustworthy human who ever walked on this planet; and, while we still can’t safely trust each other, to those who believed in him, he gave his perfect record; and assured us that we can absolutely trust him with any and everything in our lives.

Even cars!

Love Always,

Bonnie