Have you ever been to camp? Or maybe a work retreat? Or just played on a sports team in high school? If you’ve done any of these things, odds are you’ve participated in something called a “trust building exercise.” Let me explain. The trust exercise is when a team gathers behind one member, while at the same time, that member is blindfolded and told to fall backwards, trusting that the rest of the team will catch them. Sounds kind of scary, right? Usually it takes a few tries before the blindfolded person is able to fall backwards and not stop themselves. Sometimes it feels like we’re just as hesitant when we’re trying to put our trust in God.
God has called us into a relationship with him. Through his Son, Jesus Christ, he has revealed himself to us, and through his Holy Word, he has made a covenant with mankind. And yet, we still can have a hard time putting our trust in him. I know it can be difficult. Fear gets in the way and undermines our faith, and we find ourselves “stopping ourselves.” But when we live our lives trusting daily in God and his Living Word, we know that we’re on the right track. See how Solomon puts it: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV).
Our essential relationship with God through Christ is one of faith or trust in him to be faithful. Often in difficult situations we want more. We want to know how it will all work out, or how and why God allows certain things. But God hasn’t promised that we’ll be able to understand all the “how’s” and “why’s” of life. Instead, he has made known his nature, his character, his ultimate purposes and ends, through our Lord, Jesus Christ. God has given us what we need to trust him to be faithful. Knowing his faithfulness calls for our faith — even and especially when we don’t understand much else about a particular situation.
I pray that as we’re growing in Christ, trusting in him will become more and more like second nature. We’ll stop trying to catch ourselves, and fall into our Triune God’s open arms.
I’m Joseph Tkach, Speaking of LIFE.
