Part of growing up is realizing we don’t live in Mayberry – not everyone can be trusted, and we’re forever vulnerable to the heartache and pain caused by others. While it’s easy to grow cynical and call it maturity, we must consider the deeper truth of life, and learn to trust in its ultimate reality.
Perhaps we’re just being naïve and gullible when we’re so quick to trust in our youth. And certainly there’s wisdom in realizing that life is filled with much suffering and many disappointments. But often without realizing it we’re wrestling with deeper questions as well.
After so many people have let us down, who can be trusted? And is it better to assume others cannot be trusted and to adopt a posture of quiet suspicion in every relationship?
The underlying assumption in this line of questioning is that there’s not an ultimate reality that can be trusted. There’s no true Goodness or Beauty to trust, only those pretending for their own selfish agendas. In short, it’s assumed sin is the truest part of our story. And, to be sure, this worldview will lead to a hard heart that must keep others at a distance.
While sin has entered the world and has distorted every aspect of our life and relationships, this is not the ultimate reality of our story. God is the Ultimate Reality, and he is good and beautiful. We must contend with the truth of sin, while rejecting the lie that it’s the truest part of God’s story.
As such, we don’t have to put our head in the sand and pretend we’re in Mayberry. We can courageously face the suffering and grief of this life. But we face it as those with hope – knowing God’s light and goodness is an ultimate reality we can trust.
In the end, don’t let a healthy skepticism become a cold and cynical heart. Be wise to the truth of sin without forgetting the deeper truth that God, who is love and light, remains the Ultimate Reality we can trust.
