Time + Truth = Trust

One of the things I have to manage in my jewelry business at The Karat Patch is security. I must provide security not only for all the jewelry in the store, but also for any jewelry that people may have left for repair. I provide that security whether the store is closed or open, i.e. 24/7. I have found (especially lately) that people are more inquisitive about whether or not we provide such security. My guess is that in these uncertain times, when everyone seems to have lost something...money in a 401K, their job, their car, what-have-you...that the thing they have lost most is their trust. They can't trust their investments, they can't trust in the job security of their company and so on. So I understand when people are a bit more curious about the security of their jewelry...they don't want to lose that too. The trouble is, I can't really tell them or show them just how secure things are without compromising that security in one form or another. The best I can do is to look them in the eye and say "your things are secure" with the full confidence that I have told them the truth. After a customer visits enough times, and my truth is proven, then trust is achieved. Time + Truth = Trust.

Time + Truth = Trust. I thought about that little formula and how it applies to the occasion of a person accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. Some people can hear the Gospel once and believe. Other people need to hear it many times. It’s been said that most folks hear the Gospel an average of seven times before they accept Jesus Christ as Savior.

Sometimes we are sowers and sometimes we are reapers. I might be the sower that presents the Gospel to someone six times and they don’t believe, but you present it that seventh time and they do believe. I sowed – you reaped. Some folks just need to hear the same truth several (or more) times before they trust what they have been told. Time + Truth = Trust.

But whether we sow or reap, we both work for the same master. When the harvest comes everyone rejoices…the sower, the reaper, and the master (John 4:36). One thing is certain; there must be trust. When we sow, we must trust that the seed is good and will bring forth fruit (Isaiah 55:11). When we reap we must trust that the master will keep the harvest secure (John 17:12). And the master must trust that we will do this work for Him to which we have been commissioned (Matthew 28:19-20).
Time + Truth = Trust. Trust then produces security, and security produces peace. And there’s nothing like being at peace.

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