As I sat rocking her, my granddaughter, Amelia, jerked suddenly, enough to wake herself from a sound sleep. As I tried to soothe her, an image from the past appeared vividly in my mind. My husband and I were at summer camp with our kids and the teens from our church. Our group was divided into teams of adults and students from the various churches attending that particular week. Somehow, my husband, Paul and I managed to be on the same team and I was so very grateful as I stood on the platform nearly four feet above the ground. My back to the group, I stood with my arms crossed over my chest. I was expected to trust the interlocked arms of half a dozen people to catch me when I willingly fell. Keep your back straight. Resist the urge to sit. We will catch you. We will not let you fall. Little comfort coming from the mouth of a total stranger.
I did fall and they did catch me on that summer day, but I haven’t participated in that sort of activity since. My closest experience was agreeing to whitewater kayaking lessons with my son and daughter. The instructor told me to deliberately flip myself upside down in the water to practice my wet exit. This required pulling hard on a tab in front of me to release the spray skirt I was wearing from the mouth of the kayak while holding my breath and wiggling out of the snug space before breaking the surface to catch my breath. Something imbedded in my brain’s wiring resisted the idea, making it nigh impossible to do. I managed it several times with success but afterward, my daughter agreed that she too had struggled to deliberately tip herself in spite of the presence of the instructor and his assurances that he would intervene if needed. My son, on the other hand, had no problem upending himself! What created a deep-seated panic in me provided an incredible adrenaline rush for him, but that is a story for another day.
How well do you handle stressful situations where you feel you have no control? I struggle with this on a daily basis. I expect too much of myself while hesitating to ask for help because needing help makes me feel both weak and inadequate. I tell the Lord how I feel and I ask for His help each time, confident that He hears and has the power to work all things together for good, (Romans 8:28) but resting in that knowledge, even when I’ve done all I can do, is challenging for me. The Bible says that God has planted eternity in the human heart, (Ecclesiastes 3:11) giving us an awareness of Himself and His image in us, but His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours, (Isaiah 55:9) we can’t possibly fathom the height, depth, and breadth of God in a hundred lifetimes. (Ephesians 3:18)
“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.
We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.
These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”
2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.1.3-4.NLT
We have studied human anatomy and psychology and have come a long way in our understanding, but there are always going to be things past finding out. God is God and we are not. The more I know Him in intimate relationship through daily interaction with His Word and in prayer and obedience, the more I am able to trust Him instinctively, without thought or hesitation. This complete reliance on Him is what He desires for me and for you, my friend. It is meant to be a gift of grace which lends peace to our restless hearts and minds as we trust in Him.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.
His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/php.4.6-7.NLT
When Jesus taught His first followers to pray, He instructed them to ask for daily bread. (Matthew 6:11) As Jesus began his public ministry, He was lead into the wilderness by the Spirit of God to be tested. (Matthew 4:1) During those forty days and beyond, as long as He wore earthly flesh, He relied on His Father to sustain Him day by day just as we do.
“Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”
Hebrews 5:8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.5.8.NLT
“(Jesus)This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
Hebrews 4:15-16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.4.15-16.NLT
Trusting God is not resignation. Faith is active and on-going. Scripture provides many beautiful examples of faith walking. When the prophet, Elijah, came under the widow’s care during famine, the oil and flour in her jars that barely provided a last meal for two miraculously became enough day after day for three years. (I Kings 17:16) Joseph was allowed to suffer before coming to a place in time where God gave him wisdom to predict famine and authority to gather stores to feed an entire nation for seven years. (Genesis 41:54) God later freed the descendants of Joseph and his brothers from slavery in Egypt and fed them with manna in the wilderness for forty years. (Exodus 16:35)
God’s provision is always going to be perfectly timed and more than sufficient for my need. I can trust Him completely. So when I sense the struggle begin, I remember that my help comes from the Lord, Creator of heaven and earth. (Psalm 12:2) I close my eyes, whisper a prayer, and let go!
“May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.”
2 Peter 1:2 NLT
A Fitting Reply 