Trust
There is a famous clip of rapper, DMX, talking about trust. He says that in order to be around all kinds of people, you need to trust them to be who they are. Trust a snake to be a snake, trust someone solid to be solid. It has always stuck with me because it perfectly encapsulated my own view on human interactions. I didn’t need to trust everyone that I associated with to be good to me, I simply needed to trust them to be who I knew them to be. No hard feelings – just analysis. But what about God? How do we approach our trust in God?
It’s Different
When it comes to trusting God, I want to micromanage. I want Him to do things my way. Despite knowing that God has provided for me in so many ways in my life, I still feel the need to check in to see if He’s doing it my way. Intellectually, I know that’s crazy. I can look at any situation and say to myself, “Hey – you know He’s taken care of you in the past. Relax! God’s got this!” But, with the very next thought I might begin questioning whether God’s actually going to help me out this time. Or, I might be looking at specific things that have happened in the past and expecting more of the same – as if God’s a one-trick pony.
Why?
If I can trust people to be who they are, why is it so hard for me to trust God to be who He is? Why do I question whether He’s got my back this time? What do I know, and how does what I know about God change my outlook? Rather, how should it change my outlook!? This idea smacked me in the face this past Sunday when the speaker began talking about expecting God to do things the way we expect. Instead, we should be trusting the fact that God will provide – not trusting the method by which He provides. Ugh! Here I was looking for the familiar and being disappointed when God wasn’t providing the way He had in the past. I should have been trusting God to be who He is! God makes a way when there seems to be no way is how I should be trusting.
When?
But… I still want to be informed about the time frame. LOL At each turn I need to check myself because I’m inclined to want to know the whens, the whys, and the hows of what God will do in my life. Even while writing this, I’m wondering what His next step is. Faith is no joke. It’s climbing a ladder without rungs and waiting for them to be provided each time I reach my hand forward. Indiana Jones stepping out into the open gorge onto an invisible rock bridge over a thousand-foot drop. It’s breathing deep, exhaling slowly, and trying to settle my stomach with each new step.
I Don’t Have To Know Where I’m Going
I saw a dog training video showing how Belgian Malinois are trained by the military and police. The dog was blindfolded and trying to find its way across a thin wooden beam in one clip and walking across a wooden footbridge with gaps in the other. Right beside him was his trainer telling him which way to go. The dog couldn’t see him as it gingerly picked its way across. The dog had to trust its trainer’s voice. The trainer was out of sight but right there the whole time. When the dog stumbled, the trainer reached in and stopped it from falling off. What a perfect depiction of faith. I don’t have to know where I’m going if I am listening to God’s voice. Trusting God isn’t about knowing what He will do and how He will do it. It’s about trusting Him to be the God I know He is.
Proverbs 3:5-6 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 direct your path.