My Word -Fiducia

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, 

for I have put my trust in you. 

Show me the way I should go,

for to you I entrust my life. 

- Psalm 143:8

Maybe you’re a woman in search of her word. - Eat, Pray, Love

In the movie Eat, Pray, Love the Italians play a game with Liz (aka Julia Roberts) where they name a city and say a word that goes with it. This quickly transitions into talk about people’s words -the idea that everyone has a word in life, one that envelops their essence, meaning, or purpose. After saying her word is “writer,” the friends argue around the dinner table that writing is merely something Liz does, not who she is. Thus, it is declared that Liz is in search of her word. And it is not until much later in the movie, that she realizes what this word might be.

For those of you who are now curious, Liz says her word is “attraversiamo” which is Italian for “Let’s cross over.” Hearing this, got me wondering about what my word might be. Though I don’t know much about the Italian language, I do know it sounds cooler than English, so I did some research and came up with this: “fiducia.” It’s an Italian word for trust, dependence, or reliance, having the same root word as the verb “to owe”, because I want my word in life to mean “I put my trust in you.”

I don’t know why, but I’ve always struggled with trusting. I’ve been given so many amazing people in my life to encourage me to trust, that it hardly makes sense that I would have trouble. But I do. If I’m completely honest, I’m always afraid that people will somehow betray me -that they’ll leave. And that translates into fear of an even greater proportion -that one day God will leave me. That one day His love will no longer be everlasting, His forgiveness will no longer be free, and His plan for my life will no longer be one of hope and a future.

Yet God has been faithful when I have not.

Through many opportunities in life to trust, trust, and trust some more I’ve learned how to put my trust in the right things, the right people, and specifically, the One being who will never betray me. And I’ve learned that this act of depending on something outside one’s self; of owing someone; of confessing, completely surrendering, and believing wholeheartedly is more than worth it.

It’s so worth it, that even just the word trust is important enough to base my life around.

Fiducia is my word. What’s yours?