Battling with cynicism

Trust is a sometimes difficult thing as you grow older. I think that comes from living long enough to see too much, how the world...and people can be. To me there's nothing worse than being lied to, lied about, manipulated, or used in some way. Other than the negative emotions such things evoke, in time, it destroys the ability to trust...and cynicism begins to set in. It becomes difficult at best to believe what anyone says...trust the motives behind what's said, or believe that anyone has a genuine desire to do good to you. I don't think anyone truly enjoys feeling that way, but unfortunately life's experiences sometimes force it upon you...like it or not. It's a terrible thing to feel that you can't trust another human being...and as a Christian, these experiences force me to try and figure how the admonition to "believe all things" fits in...and of course, forgiveness. When someone lies to you repeatedly, manipulates and uses you for their own selfish purposes, and that, without conscience or repentance, how do you manage to forgive?....or continue to "believe all things"? Well immediately this comes to mind..."with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." The ability to forgive does not, and indeed cannot come from within ourselves. Nor can the ability to continue to believe all things in the midst of all the deception we are all capable of. Only God can work that in us. But I guess beyond the ability to forgive, or to continue to believe all things, it's the letting go of all the negative emotions that come with these situations, and the desire to understand the motives, that is the most difficult to achieve. The truth of the matter is we can't understand our own motives for what we do, much less the motives of another...and to continue to try and grasp and understand the motivation behind the lying and manipulation of others puts us on an endless merry-go-round, with no final destination or stopping point in sight...much like the preacher of Ecclesiastes states, it's a "chasing of the wind". Lying and manipulation are extremely hateful things...they are a vicious assault on the person-hood of another...causing an array of hurtful and damaging emotions. I can't think of anything that so de-values another person as that. The only comfort we can take in such situations, is that our Lord can sympathize with us...for He suffered at the hands of wicked people far more than we ever could in this life, or even imagine. People betrayed Him, lied about Him, attempted to manipulate him, wanted Him only for what they could gain from Him, and deserted Him...and few...very few, truly love Him. We deserve all we suffer and a lot more...He did not. So I will take comfort in the balm of Gilead, and find the strength to forgive and continue to believe all things in Him through whom all things are possible