LEARNING TO TRUST

Trust in God; trust also in me. John 14:1

In the documentary called, Meru, Believe in the Impossible, three rock climbers, Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk, managed to conquer what had never been conquered before by reaching the Meru Peak with the almost impossible Shark’s Fin sheer granite wall in the Himalayas.

Their first attempt was in 2008, but they fell short by only 100 meters of the peak. In 2011 they tried again. This time they were successful. Each climber took his turn leading. There was no daredevil-type trust involved, but a well-calculated trust that the one leading always had the best intentions for the welfare and safety of the other climbers. At one difficult point, one of them asked, “Why do we do this?” The answer was an emphatic, “The view, the view, it’s always the view.”

Can we learn to trust Jesus Christ the same way that these men placed their trust in each other? Trust is something that is hard for many to relinquish to another. Some of us cling to scriptures such as Philippians 4:6-7, Joshua 1:9, or Romans 8:28. We memorize and repeat creeds and prayers, hoping that by saying them enough they will sink into the depths of our hearts, but we still struggle with surrendering 100% trust.

We have life issues that have molded us as human beings. God knows that many of us have had upbringings that have skewed our definition of a firm foundation. To us, believing seems impossible. If we are struggling with trust issues, we need to confess this to God and ask Him to provide what we lack. He may actually give us some lessons to learn trust. We will soon see that God always has the best intentions for us. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future…”

Learning to understand God’s love is the first step to trust, truly believing that He is always thinking of our welfare. Read Romans 8:38-39. As we grow daily in that love, we will know, without a doubt, that we can trust Him with our lives, our children, our finances, our hopes, our health, and our dreams. He will help us to climb the most insurmountable obstacles in life to bring us upward to His side. Why do we choose Christ and this difficult path of trust to His righteousness? It’s the view! The view up there is stupendous.

Help me Lord to daily trust you more. Lead me up the sheer cliffs of life that I cannot climb by myself. I give you the lead. Through Christ Jesus I pray, Amen.