Revolutionary Trust

When the Pope visited Fidel Castro's Cuba, it captured the attention of the entire world. Here was one of the world's last totally Communist countries - an officially atheist state - welcoming the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. I hate to use the word in this context, but the visit appeared to be revolutionary. In a front-page story, USA Today told about a man bicycling into Revolution Square in Havana the week before the Pope's arrival. He was quoted as saying, "I'm amazed! Look at Jesus!" The reason - a giant picture of Jesus had suddenly appeared on a wall in Revolution Square, the heart of Cuban Communism. And over the picture of Jesus were inscribed these incredible words - "Jesus Christ, I trust You." "I trust you."

Those may be hard words for you to say to anybody - because your trust has been betrayed too many times. The list of people you can really trust may be a very short one - and maybe there's not even a list. Trust takes a beating when someone who's supposed to love you betrays you or hurts you or lets you down. Maybe that's happened to you. But your heart needs an anchor - a relationship where you really are safe.

Well, our word for today from the Word of God, Romans 8:32, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" God is simply saying here, "I gave the most precious thing I have for you - my own Son. Jesus died on that brutal cross to pay for all the sinning you have ever done. If I have given my Son for you, is there anything I wouldn't do for you?" The issue isn't trusting Christians or Christianity - it's trusting CHRIST. It's all about Jesus. Your search for someone you can totally trust ends at the foot of Jesus' cross. Just stand there - look at Him hanging there for you . . . and then answer the question, "Can I trust Jesus?"

Years ago there was a day when I made my choice - I put Jesus in the center of activity in my heart and said, "After loving me this much, Jesus Christ, I trust You." And trust is the key to beginning a personal love relationship with Jesus. It's taking down whatever other things have dominated your heart and putting Jesus there - as they did that day in Revolution Square in Havana. They may not have put Jesus there to stay - but opening your heart to Him means you are now under new management. You have trusted your life and your pain and your eternity into the hands of Jesus - hands that still carry the marks of the nails - scars that remove all doubt of whether He will ever let you down. He can't. He paid too much for you. Jesus had been missing in the heart of an island nation for too long. He's been missing in your heart for too long, too. But that could change today - right now. If you will finally commit yourself to the One who loves you most. Tell Him you want to belong to Him . . . that you are trusting Him and what He did on the cross for you. The real revolution in your life begins the day you make Jesus #1 in your heart. You are on the edge of a peace and calm inside - and a deep sense of being really loved - that you've never known before. Jesus is there. Say it to Him - "Jesus Christ, I trust You."

Written by Ron Hutchcraft.
Based on his popular "A Word With You" broadcast
(Available in transcripts or RealAudio format.)

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"Wounds of distrust hurt me most painfully" -revelation of our Lord to St. Faustina Kowalska
(Devotion to the Divine Mercy)