Trustworthy. One powerful word made of two words which are also very powerful by themselves. Trust is an assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. We like dealing with people we can trust because of their character, joining teams with people we can trust because of their abilities, working with people we can trust because of their strength, and talking with people we can trust because of their truth. We like to be the kind of people who can be trusted, too.
Worthy is having sufficient worth or importance. Sufficient. A word which, all by itself, says that something has been evaluated and passed the test. Nothing is left wanting. Nothing falls short of the standard. When combined with the word "trust" it delivers a powerful message. It challenges the listener to measure a person's character, ability, strength, and truth to find them worthy--or unworthy.
In this devotional, Morley doesn't use the word "trustworthy," though. He uses the word "trustability." It connotes some level of trust, but always on a scale where it is being evaluated and considered. The test has not been satisfied, or at least the test is not yet complete. In talking about men and our nature, he recalls a scripture passage where Christ would not entrust himself to us because he knew our nature. He knew what was in us. He knew that we are not trustworthy.
Do we know what is in us? Do we consider ourselves trustworthy, having passed the test? Or do we continue to evaluate our trustability, striving on to complete the test so that one day we can be found worthy of trust? Morley's devotional suggests that we should take care always to remember our fallibility. Consider how God views our trustworthiness through the eyes of Christ. God loves us so much that he became flesh and lived among us. He loves us so much that he came to conquer death, fully aware that he would have to suffer disgrace and death before the final, terrible battle could even begin. It is love beyond our comprehension. Even so, it is not a blind love. As much as God loves us, he still knows that we fall short of deserving his trust. What a miracle of love this is! We are not worthy of God's trust, and yet he covers us in grace and love and life. Hallelujah! May we always remember what is in us, that we fall short. May we also bear in mind God's great love for us and strive to the highest level of trustability--that level where one day God can look on us and say that we are indeed trustworthy.
Dear Lord, I know that I am not worthy. I am not worthy of your love or your grace or your trust. I know that what is in me falls short of your standard. Thank you, God, that you still love me--that you love me enough to face death and bring life. Give me a heart that seeks to be trusted by you, and let my actions follow that heart. Amen.
Grace and peace--
CARadke