The Trust Protocol By Mac RichardSample

Day Four: The Greatest Battles

Scripture: Galatians 6:9

Once you begin practicing the Trust Protocol, you’re going to notice that the more trust you build, the more influence you have. When people learn they can trust you, they will seek you out as a source of help, wisdom, and encouragement. It is at exactly this point that everything is in jeopardy.

Some of the most profound spiritual challenges we ever face are our failures in handling temptations, struggles, and difficulties. God frequently uses these challenges to lead us back to where our hearts and minds should always be: on our knees, worshiping, pursuing, and loving him. Counter-intuitively, then, success and winning set the stage for an even more difficult battle, for it’s in victory, success, and prosperity that our spiritual health and vitality are truly seen. When we win, do we worship God or congratulate ourselves? 

When our influence, input, or work is in demand, the greatest battles will be waged. They occur in secret, subterranean chambers of our hearts because it’s there that we decide why we’re doing what we’re doing. What we’re doing may not change on the surface. Deciding why we’re doing those things will make all the difference in the world. At this point, we have to ask: Am I doing this to build my ego, my wealth, or my status? Or am I doing this to serve, equip, empower, and encourage others to be and do what God has created them to be and do? 

Even when you win the battle and you do the right things for the right reasons, some people will declare you the loser of that battle. There will be those who don’t have the same influence you have, and because of their insecurities and jealousies, they will trash your motives, your work, and your service to other people. 

Try not to get distracted. The Trust Protocol is a long journey that demands focus, strength, and stamina. If you get down in the mud each time someone starts slinging it, you’re going to wear yourself out fighting skirmishes that don’t matter.

Never spend a minute of time defending your motives. Spend hours testing them against Scripture, in prayer, and with godly counsel, but don’t worry about defending them. Your friends don’t need you to, and your enemies won’t believe you. 

When has someone questioned your motives for something you did to benefit someone else? How did you respond?