Tuesday, January 19, 2016

When Trusting God Seems Foolish




Dare I admit that? That although I’ve walked with God for nearly 30 years and found Him to be consistently faithful, we’re facing circumstances where the gravity to which we’re having to trust Him has left this question whispering in my ear:
Are we being completely foolish to trust Him – THIS much?!? . . .

My prayers are outrageous. My trust feels irresponsible. 
And remember, I’m the responsible one. The older brother.

I read somewhere that faith is trusting God so much that if He didn’t come through, you’d fall flat on your face. Lately, we’ve been in a circumstantial free fall, and we see the ground merely inches away in time.

We’ve sought to be good stewards by checking all options to prevent destruction. Because we don’t want to be like the guy sitting on top of a roof in a flooded land watching boats go by and asking God why He didn’t rescue him. We’ve looked for the boats as we’ve simultaneously trusted Him. And our view from the rooftop shows we have no other choice but only to trust Him. (At which point I’ll add a little levity to say that you know you’re a mom of a 5th grader when you pray to the Lord with all sincerity of heart yet a little smirk on your face saying, “Help me, Lord. You’re my only hope.”)

I know what’s true. I take God at His word when He says that He’s able to do immeasurably more than anything I could ever ask, or even imagine. Yet when the usually-calm Red Sea is suddenly violently splashing at your legs and you can feel the sweat of the soldiers as their advance breathes down your neck, trusting God feels foolish.
 
If that’s where you are today, I want you to know you’re not alone.
And He can handle our raw honesty, friend. Our humanity. In fact, He welcomes it.



(Image above: Scene from ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ 20th Century Fox)

5 comments:

  1. Needed this today! I feel as I am sinking! But I know the waters will not overflow me!

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    1. i'm so sorry you're feeling the weight of the water, too, piper. Lord, please sustain us in the unsustainable. . .

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  2. As you can see, I'm very behind in my blog reading. ;-) But I love this! And I love that I am reading it now that you are in a better place. I know you aren't on the mountain top yet, but you are getting closer to the top. :-) I love how you come alongside people who are walking a similar path to give them hope.

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    1. define "behind" . . . (b/c i have a pretty good hunch i can match how behind you are and up you several years, lol). like you said, sometimes late is perfect. :)

      yes, i'm grateful, too. we're not at the top, but we're also not digging the pit any deeper than it already is, & THAT feels like big progress when you've watched circumstances constantly toss TNT into that pit for so long.

      hope. there's always Hope. sometimes harder to hang onto it than others, that's for sure. thx for hangin' onto it for me when i couldn't, friend.

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