Trusting God again and again!

Sometimes it is hard to trust God. We know He is faithful, good and full of loving kindness. We know all the right verses- ‘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.

Yet in the moment, when things go wrong and we are hurting, we can’t always see how God might be working. It can be hard to see anything, except to experience the pain and the sadness.

Yet God is so patient with me, and keeps inviting me to trust. Yesterday I had an airport connection to make, but the first plane was late leaving. By the time we landed, my next flight was already boarding. I was waiting to leave the first plane, but everything was so slow- the vehicle to take us to the terminal building seemed to go at 5 miles an hour. And my mind was spiraling- I’m not going to be able to run fast enough to get my connection, I will miss my flight, I will be stuck at the airport for days. I was just getting agitated thinking of all that was about to go wrong. I rushed out the bus to the next security barrier at full pelt.

My ticket set off an alarm, which took me to customer services. I tried to explain what had happened in an incoherent torrent of words. And the poor man behind the desk looked at me in a kindly way, and said ‘ we saw you’ on the system. We are putting you and your bags on a later flight. It is all fine. And sure enough, there was another flight a few hours later, they upgraded my seat, and all was well.

What a lesson in trust. Not just in an airline, but in God. When things don’t work out it is easy to catastrophise- to think that it is a disaster. But sometimes a situation can be salvaged. And we are completely dependent on a God who sees us, and makes provision for us. It doesn’t mean that things don’t go wrong- of course they do. But God sees, and call us not to use our energy to worry and speculate on things going wrong. Rather to just know we need to do our best, then relinguish control, and to trust. I need to learn this lesson three times a day!

Gracious God, as your children we worry and fret and question. We often don’t understand. Lord Jesus, in the midst of it all, You call us to take your hand, and to believe that you can save us in the midst of turbulence and storms. Help us to listen for your voice- to hear what your Holy Spirit has to say to us, and to be calm and to trust that all will be well. When under pressure, may we take a breath, submit to You, and know that in living or dying, all is well. So may we not fear or worry, and every day learn to trust You more, in the deepest places of our hearts, Amen