As a coiled rope secures a boat using the iron ring embedded in the quayside it is taking the strain imposed by the rise and fall of the tides and giving peace of mind to the owner. Here is something that can be trusted. The breaking point of the rope is sufficient for the task and even when taut it can withstand the stress and tension: it won’t give way and fail.

Safe and secure; I wonder how many of us feel like that in these trying times? Looking at the knotted rope I am led to wonder what certainties anchor us to our solid ground and that precious sense of being OK?

My faith, and specifically my absolute trust in God’s love to hold me close, no matter what the strain, tension and peril I experience, is the rock-solid certainty to which I trust my life. This fact conveys a felt peace, a tangible intimacy, which is utterly priceless and totally precious. Come what may I know that I am secure in this truth, for experience tells me that my trust in God is not misplaced or mistaken. In my struggle I am not alone, nor am I bereft of hope. Always and everywhere I am held.

Seeing the rope tied through the mooring ring, this was the meaning that came straight into my consciousness, with the usual attendant conviction that I should share it. Surely it is this unbreakable and unshakeable sense of trust in God that is a primary defining characteristic of our faith. A trust that has the strength to hold all manner of questions and uncertainties which naturally arise when pondering the mystery of God as revealed in Jesus. We trust in the one whom we know holds us lovingly in life and death.

I believe that this ultimate trust underpins all testimony and is the solid ground on which we stand when we speak of God with others. Such trust is the pearl of great price that we wish others to know and cherish for themselves.

Of course the language of trust, especially concerning how government’s govern, is one of the most vexed issues facing us today. When trust is eroded the compact between those who govern and those governed is in danger of breaking down. When lies become normative trust becomes such a scarce and precious commodity. So to own and deploy the language of trust when we speak about our faith in God really stands out. It draws a stark contrast between those in secular power and the divine presence of God who is love.

Maybe the language of trust should be central to how we understand evangelism in a world in which trust is so lacking.