Principles and Values
“Trust in the Lord for ever for in Jehovah, the Lord, is everlasting strength’ (Isaiah 26:4).
Trust is an important element in human development. According to Erik Erikson, the basic sense of trust is formed during the first few years of life, based on the positive experiences between children and their caregivers. During this period in childhood, if children receive proper nutrition, affection, and protection, they will grow up with the self-confidence needed to help them develop well. But what happens if they don’t receive proper care? Will they be «condemned» to feelings of insecurity, fear, uncertainty or mistrust?Stanislaw Tomkiewicz was a child who survived the Warsaw ghetto (Poland) as a teenager and was deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (Germany). After his release, he studied medicine and psychiatry to later focus on child and adolescent psychotherapy. He flatly refutes the concept of vulnerability that traditionally comes with precarious and traumatic life experiences and emphasizes every human being’s ability to be resilient. Furthermore, positive psychology highlights that we have the ability to adapt and find meaning and experience growth even in the most terribly and traumatic experiences.
These situations don’t necessarily take God into consideration. Can you imagine to what extent human beings could develop if that were the case? Trusting God is the basis for the development of the strengths that give meaning and value to our life. Trusting God precedes faith and fosters virtues like kindness, love, politeness, patience, and self-control that ultimately result in a complete transformation of the character.
This was the case of Jesus’s disciples. Each one of them had different flaws and evil tendencies that were either inherited or nurtured. Thomas, for example, was shy and fearful and Philip was impulsive; James and John were ambitious and outspoken (The Desire of Ages, ch. 30, p. 296). Nevertheless, they put their trust in Christ and they started to minister to others. It was then that God transformed their character and prepared them for His work.
When we trust God and place ourselves in His care, we can face and overcomes the countless and diverse difficulties of daily life. Though at times it isn’t easy to trust God, the Lord is ready to help us and simultaneously work on our character, providing us with the necessary experience to help others. «Trust in the Lord forever, for in Jehovah, the Lord, is everlasting strength» Isa. 26:4); «O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!» (Ps. 84: 12)
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Taken from: Daily Devotions for Adults 2020
“A Cheerful Heart Is Good Medicine”
From: Julian Melgoza-Laura Fidanza
Colaboradores:Ricardo Vela & Emmanuel Tapia
