"Trust is a Must"

At one camp I worked for in 2009 my supervisor gave me a small card with that phrase on it, "Trust is a must."  It encouraged my heart as the summer was full of stretching moments as I directed their Adventure Camp program.   We must learn to rely on what we cannot see.  God has made so many promises to us as His children. 

To NEVER leave us (Heb 13:5b).
To WATCH OVER our coming and going forever (Ps 121:8).
To NEVER GIVE UP on His work in our lives (Phil 1:6)
We will REAP A HARVEST if we DO NOT GIVE UP (Gal 6:9)
Our labor is NOT IN VAIN (1 Cor 15:58).
NO ONE can snatch us out of His hands (Jn 10:29).
NOTHING can separate us from His love (Rom 8:38-39).
We will have trials but JC has OVERCOME (Jn 16:33).
Suffering produces PERSEVERANCE, CHARACTER, and HOPE! (Rom 5:3-4)

    How do we trust these promises?  How does it look practically in the life of His children?  While setting up ropes for a rock climbing site a few weeks ago, it seemed like God gave personal picture of trust as I leaned back on a rope to descend and clean out a climbing sight.  Trust meant putting all of my weight on the rope.  It meant leaning back over an edge.  Fully relying on the rope to keep me safe and to hold me.

Leaning back over the edge of the drop-off!

 

 

   When you rappel down a rock cliff you have to lean back and truly put all your weight on the rope.  If you do NOT lean back, you could easily slip or get off balance and hurt yourself.  When you sit back and just rest your feet against the rock, it keeps you balanced and in the safest position for the descent.  To start you have to lean over the cliff and sit over the edge of the 25-100 foot drop-off below you.  Everything inside you naturally tells you NOT to do this.  Your body warns you that it is dangerous to lean over a cliff.  Realizing the truth of the situation helps overcome the fears.  The truth is that the ropes are so strong that they could hold up a car.  The gear is all made to handle much more than the little weight you put on the rope.  At some point in the midst of fears and the uncertainty of the new situation, you have to make the decision to stop holding yourself up and just LEAN BACK.  This is a picture of trust.  It means letting go of your control to keep yourself safe, not listening to your natural feelings of fear, and trusting the ropes to hold you.

  

   It was such a gentle and sweet picture that God allowed me to see.  It was exactly what I needed to do as I was asking a lot of questions and dealing with a lot of uncertainty.  Will you lean back?  Will you release your own control.  Will you trust God?  It is not a rigorous, exhausting climb or a dramatic, impressive exercise, it is simply leaning back and trusting a loving Father who has never forsaken his children.