Reason #288
Trust. Easy to say, easy to spell, but hard to do sometimes. I remember playing a trust building game as a child. You would close your eyes, cross your arms over your chest and begin to fall back. Another person would stand behind you and catch you before you hit the ground. You knew your friend was there. You knew who was supposed to catch you, and you knew they knew they were supposed to catch you. But you didn't know when they would catch you. Would it be a few seconds into the fall, would it be seconds before you hit the ground? What if they changed their mind mid-way into the fall? What if they moved? What if they weren't paying attention? What if they weren't strong enough to catch you after all? So you had to trust. Trust that they would actually do it. Trust that they were watching you and wouldn't let you hurt yourself. Trust that they would do whatever it took to make sure you didn't hit the ground. And maybe, the hardest part in it all wasn't trusting that they wouldn't catch you. Maybe the hardest part was just keeping your eyes closed, your arms crossed and not trying to catch yourself as you fell backwards. Because really, you had the hardest part in it all.
Today was another birthday celebration! I love birthdays, whether it's mine or someone else's. Doesn't matter to me. A celebration is a celebration, and a fun celebration it was today. An afternoon filled with laughter, bowling, good food and new memories. God has brought so many new, wonderful people into my life over the past year and often times I become overwhelmed with emotion when I think about it. When I think about the sweet relationships, the new bonds, and the deep friendships I've been fortunate to form, my heart is just full. And so today my heart rejoiced. Gratitude overflowed as I spent an afternoon with people who have quickly become near and dear to me and people who have been near and dear to me forever. And I began to think about all God has done for me. Really, I thought about how much my outlook has changed over the past year. From being filled with worry to having every worry extinguished. It's quite amazing how He takes care of things when you let Him. Because last year I was eaten up with worry. Worry and fear and doubt, to be honest. I was the one with closed eyes, crossed arms, and I was falling backwards. I knew He would catch me. I did. But I didn't know when. I didn't know when the fear of falling would be over. I just wanted to open my eyes. I wanted to see what He could see. I wanted to know the exact moment this lesson of trusting would finally come to an end. I wanted to uncross my arms. I wanted to step back and catch myself. But I knew this was how it had to go. I had to trust Him. I had to really, truly believe that He was watching and was strong enough to catch me. And once you start falling, once you lean back and begin trusting, your only option is to wait until He reaches out and catches you. Wait until He steadies you. And He will. He is faithful, and He'll do it. The hardest part in it all is just waiting and actually letting Him do it.
And so He has. I trusted, He caught me, and even though it was a little scary it was worth the wait. And the fear of falling seems so silly now, too. I'm thankful I didn't open my eyes too soon. I'm thankful I didn't uncross my arms to try and catch myself. I'm thankful that I didn't step back and attempt to steady myself. I'm glad I let Him catch me. Because I would have messed it up. I would have done it all wrong if I had quit trusting.So I'm thankful I didn't have the option. I'm thankful that I just had to keep falling and waiting. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. I would close my eyes, cross my arms, and lean back. I would face the fear of falling all over again because I know who would catch me. And when He catches you, when He steadies you and lifts you back up on to your feet, it's a really beautiful thing. So just do it. Close your eyes, cross your arms, lean back and trust. He'll never, ever fail you.
#288 - Because we can always trust that He'll catch us.
"... trust yourself to the God who made you, for He will never fail you." - 1 Peter 4:19
Today was another birthday celebration! I love birthdays, whether it's mine or someone else's. Doesn't matter to me. A celebration is a celebration, and a fun celebration it was today. An afternoon filled with laughter, bowling, good food and new memories. God has brought so many new, wonderful people into my life over the past year and often times I become overwhelmed with emotion when I think about it. When I think about the sweet relationships, the new bonds, and the deep friendships I've been fortunate to form, my heart is just full. And so today my heart rejoiced. Gratitude overflowed as I spent an afternoon with people who have quickly become near and dear to me and people who have been near and dear to me forever. And I began to think about all God has done for me. Really, I thought about how much my outlook has changed over the past year. From being filled with worry to having every worry extinguished. It's quite amazing how He takes care of things when you let Him. Because last year I was eaten up with worry. Worry and fear and doubt, to be honest. I was the one with closed eyes, crossed arms, and I was falling backwards. I knew He would catch me. I did. But I didn't know when. I didn't know when the fear of falling would be over. I just wanted to open my eyes. I wanted to see what He could see. I wanted to know the exact moment this lesson of trusting would finally come to an end. I wanted to uncross my arms. I wanted to step back and catch myself. But I knew this was how it had to go. I had to trust Him. I had to really, truly believe that He was watching and was strong enough to catch me. And once you start falling, once you lean back and begin trusting, your only option is to wait until He reaches out and catches you. Wait until He steadies you. And He will. He is faithful, and He'll do it. The hardest part in it all is just waiting and actually letting Him do it.
And so He has. I trusted, He caught me, and even though it was a little scary it was worth the wait. And the fear of falling seems so silly now, too. I'm thankful I didn't open my eyes too soon. I'm thankful I didn't uncross my arms to try and catch myself. I'm thankful that I didn't step back and attempt to steady myself. I'm glad I let Him catch me. Because I would have messed it up. I would have done it all wrong if I had quit trusting.So I'm thankful I didn't have the option. I'm thankful that I just had to keep falling and waiting. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. I would close my eyes, cross my arms, and lean back. I would face the fear of falling all over again because I know who would catch me. And when He catches you, when He steadies you and lifts you back up on to your feet, it's a really beautiful thing. So just do it. Close your eyes, cross your arms, lean back and trust. He'll never, ever fail you.
#288 - Because we can always trust that He'll catch us.
"... trust yourself to the God who made you, for He will never fail you." - 1 Peter 4:19