...from the Goliaths in our lives
Trust: to have faith; place reliance; have confidence. -- Webster's dictionary
For some reason I have been thinking a lot about "trust" these past few days. Really, where would we be without it? Sadly, there are those who would take advantage of trust, or break trust, but we cannot let unscrupulous and insensitive forces destroy something that is so important to our very existence.
Trust must prevail in a society in order for it to overcome massive obstacles and unexpected challenges that threaten to rob us of hope and joy in our lives. We are born into a world where trust permeates at every level. Trust, and a belief that we are safe, forms the basis for all relationship; the basis of love. We do not come into this world immune to the changes of human life, but we are given the grace and ability to trust that enables us to find comfort and courage necessary to endure.
There is some serious insight to be gleaned from the rather controversial and violent story of David and Goliath that can help us when we encounter problems of gigantic proportions. My rather simplistic view is that first we need to identify the "Goliaths" in our lives. Frequently, we have difficulty identifying the real issue and when we become frustrated for any reason, there is fallout all around us. Our personalities change. We alienate and victimize others. If we are sick, it is very easy for us to become depressed and we withdraw.
Certain health issues sap our ability to fight back and there is a tendency to simply surrender. Prognosis can overwhelm us and we choose to be deflated and defeated. Like the nine-foot giant, our big problems stand out and are not all that difficult to single out and recognize. By asking ourselves how we can uncover our limiting beliefs, identify our Goliaths, clean them out and replace them with empowering ideas from a perspective of trust, we more often than not get the satisfying results we are looking for.
Again, it all comes down to trust, no matter what others may consider to be the best way out of the difficulty. When the adolescent shepherd boy David went out to fight Goliath, it was not the standard resources that he trusted in -- it was not armor or the strength of the entire Israelite army -- but it was his God. If David had bought into the standard thinking, he would have most assuredly been killed. He thought outside the box, however. He trusted that God would be his strength and he slew the towering and intimidating Goliath with a well-placed stone from his slingshot.
Trust: to have faith; place reliance; have confidence. -- Webster's dictionary
For some reason I have been thinking a lot about "trust" these past few days. Really, where would we be without it? Sadly, there are those who would take advantage of trust, or break trust, but we cannot let unscrupulous and insensitive forces destroy something that is so important to our very existence.
Trust must prevail in a society in order for it to overcome massive obstacles and unexpected challenges that threaten to rob us of hope and joy in our lives. We are born into a world where trust permeates at every level. Trust, and a belief that we are safe, forms the basis for all relationship; the basis of love. We do not come into this world immune to the changes of human life, but we are given the grace and ability to trust that enables us to find comfort and courage necessary to endure.
There is some serious insight to be gleaned from the rather controversial and violent story of David and Goliath that can help us when we encounter problems of gigantic proportions. My rather simplistic view is that first we need to identify the "Goliaths" in our lives. Frequently, we have difficulty identifying the real issue and when we become frustrated for any reason, there is fallout all around us. Our personalities change. We alienate and victimize others. If we are sick, it is very easy for us to become depressed and we withdraw.
Certain health issues sap our ability to fight back and there is a tendency to simply surrender. Prognosis can overwhelm us and we choose to be deflated and defeated. Like the nine-foot giant, our big problems stand out and are not all that difficult to single out and recognize. By asking ourselves how we can uncover our limiting beliefs, identify our Goliaths, clean them out and replace them with empowering ideas from a perspective of trust, we more often than not get the satisfying results we are looking for.
Again, it all comes down to trust, no matter what others may consider to be the best way out of the difficulty. When the adolescent shepherd boy David went out to fight Goliath, it was not the standard resources that he trusted in -- it was not armor or the strength of the entire Israelite army -- but it was his God. If David had bought into the standard thinking, he would have most assuredly been killed. He thought outside the box, however. He trusted that God would be his strength and he slew the towering and intimidating Goliath with a well-placed stone from his slingshot.
Most of us would really like to have the courage of David and his trust in God, but we have difficulty bringing ourselves around to entering the field of battle. What is stopping us, however, from mustering up our best impersonation of the young courageous David and proclaiming to our Goliaths: "You will not get the best of me. I have faith and trust on my side to overcome you. I will be free to live another day and to fight many more of life's battles."
When we allow ourselves to enter the world of trust we can open up to possibilities that we never knew existed. Trust helps shift attention to eliciting solutions and allows us to get into the "victorious" mindset, what ever that means to us individually. In surrendering our resources and trust to a Divine power, we make the wonderful discovery that our particular Goliath is really quite small after all.
Distrust needlessly cost him his life
Not many people enjoy going to a doctor, but according to the Reuters News Agency some time ago, one London accountant took it to the extreme. The 63 year old man knew he needed bladder surgery but he could not overcome his fear of doctors and hospitals. He lacked the necessary trust, so he self-reliantly did what he thought he had to do. He tried to perform the surgery on himself.
Tragically he developed an infection from his attempt at self-surgery and later died. The coroner was quoted as saying: "Unfortunately, his drastic remedy went terribly wrong. A simple procedure by any qualified surgeon would have corrected the problem." Distrust cost the man his life...Sadly and foolishly, at his own hand.
When we allow ourselves to enter the world of trust we can open up to possibilities that we never knew existed. Trust helps shift attention to eliciting solutions and allows us to get into the "victorious" mindset, what ever that means to us individually. In surrendering our resources and trust to a Divine power, we make the wonderful discovery that our particular Goliath is really quite small after all.
Distrust needlessly cost him his life
Not many people enjoy going to a doctor, but according to the Reuters News Agency some time ago, one London accountant took it to the extreme. The 63 year old man knew he needed bladder surgery but he could not overcome his fear of doctors and hospitals. He lacked the necessary trust, so he self-reliantly did what he thought he had to do. He tried to perform the surgery on himself.
Tragically he developed an infection from his attempt at self-surgery and later died. The coroner was quoted as saying: "Unfortunately, his drastic remedy went terribly wrong. A simple procedure by any qualified surgeon would have corrected the problem." Distrust cost the man his life...Sadly and foolishly, at his own hand.
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