In the Main Hall on Day 2 of TeenStreet, the key speakers introduced participants to the virtue of Trust. And more than that, that trust is founded on love.
It’s Day 2, and the morning’s teaching session looked at trust. Ron started off by sharing how he’d put his trust in his air mattress…and then it didn’t work. We’re often let down by the people we trust, but there is one who will never let us down.
Much like Rachel gave a simple definition for wisdom yesterday, Ron gave an applicable definition of trust for everyone. “Trust is a firm belief in someone’s truth or ability.” Keeping this definition in mind, we looked at Proverbs 3:5: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart…" (NIV)
Ron explained that the ‘heart’ is the centre of your being, so ‘trusting in the Lord with all your heart’ means to trust God with everything.
Game Time required blind trust. Literally. One member of each of the three teams (Greece, Denmark and Korean-American) was blindfolded yet had to make their way to the finish line without knocking over any of the cups of water scattered across the floor. Their teammates had to give the blindfolded person directions to manoeuvre the path to victory. This time, Korea-America was the first team to finish.
“Love is the foundation of trust,” Rich told the group. “In John 3:16, it says: ‘For God so loved the world…’ His love for us is the reason He sent Jesus to us.” Rich used the example of a valuable lesson he learnt from ‘Coach,’ his childhood best friend’s dad.
“Coach told me that you will never fall in love with someone as quickly as you do with your first child. It’s an instant, ready-to-die-for-you kind of love. That’s the kind of love that God has for us. When we begin to understand what love means, we can begin to trust.”
Doran, leader of OM in Germany, made a special guest appearance for an interview as well. He shared his personal story of attending TeenStreet 16 years ago and having his life changed. In response to learning that God gave everything for him, he decided to give everything back to God. This included spending three years serving on the Logos Hope.
“Trust means being in relationship, so it’s most important that I live in a way that pleases Him. Trusting isn’t about the big decisions. It’s about the small decisions each of us makes every day. Trust in His ways for your life, for in them you will find the meaning you were made for,” said Doran.
We should be able to trust Him with every corner of our lives because the foundation is love.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1 (KJV)
What the teens thought
“I learnt that love is the foundation for trusting someone. In order to trust someone, you need love too. I haven’t thought of that aspect before. I used to think that people have to prove to me that they can be trusted, but it’s not about that. It’s about love.” – Møyfrid (17, Sweden)
“The teaching was amazing because we learnt a lot about God. We can go deeper in our relationship with God. I liked the interview with [Doran, the leader of OM in Germany] in particular.” – Ellie (16, Sweden)
“The teaching was really great. It was simple but great. I really liked that Rich said the same things over and over again and made it simple to understand.” – Anton (16, Finland)