on trust. . .

As cliche as it might be, I do try to choose a word for every year. For 2020, it was “joy,” which, in the midst of all the chaos, was helpful. The word served as a reminder to “consider it all joy. . .” even if I didn’t always see it in the day to day.

For 2021, my word is trust, which I have to say is a bit intimidating. I have always been more of a control person than a trust person, so to meditate and focus and come back to this word over and over again feels pretty unexpected.

The first surprise for the word is that, when i turned to my concordance, trust was not listed in any verses in the New Testament – except for one verse in Hebrews – where the author is quoting the Old Testament. So many songs about trust, sermons about trust, lectures about trust in the world, and Jesus never talked about it specifically.

I know some of this is going to be a matter of translation, and I have started looking at the words translated as trust (or not translated as trust) to try to understand a little bit better. This article is an interesting take on it, and goes into the Greek and Hebrew a bit. . .so it is in some places, but not consistently translated as the word trust. How does trust morph in the realization of Jesus? Is it more faith or belief, taking on a different depth in the promise fulfilled?

I am actually pretty excited about focusing on one thing for the year. . .it seems to be popping up in all corners since I decided to focus on it. If you are reading this and have any thoughts, songs, books, poems, or articles to send me, that would be amazing.

My favorite verse so far doesn’t even have the word in it (well in this translation), but the concept. It is from Isaiah 30, which says “your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on Me.” (the message). Definitely intimidating for my personality, but comforting in the same way. 2020 brought into stark relief how little I am in control of anything at all, so here’s to settling down in complete dependence on Someone who loves me completely and perfectly.

Oh, and I also love this song. . .if you haven’t heard it (it just made it to our side of the world). I think I shocked David when I made my first play list ever on Apple Music for this year. . .