Sadie: ((screaming and climbing up my leg)) I’m scared of the ocean mommy — hold me!!
Me: Kat baby, do you trust me to keep you safe?
Sadie: yes ((crying))
Me: ((takes off sunglasses)) Look in my eyes baby, trust me in the ocean. I won’t let you get hurt.
Sadie: Yes but not right now in this ocean ((crying, running from water))
Out of the mouth of babes, right? Well maybe it’s out of the mouths of adults too...believing, Jesus loving adults.
How often do we —adults—say this? How often do we post and profess our trust in God, while not trusting Him with our current circumstances? If you’ve been in church for any amount of time you’ve probably heard a pastor or leader say something to the effect of if you can trust Him with your eternity, you can trust Him with your now. It’s preached, there are memes, we say it to others, we post it on social media, yet we hold on to our hardest moments like He isn’t big enough to handle it, like He doesn’t already know what we’re going through.
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Because from the beginning...
““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.””
Jeremiah 1:5 NIV
“From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”
Psalm 22:10 NIV
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In the middle...
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;”
Proverbs 3:5 NIV
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 NIV
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3 NIV
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Until forever...
“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.”
Job 19:25 NIV
“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”
Isaiah 26:4 NIV
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He tells us in scripture to trust. He gives us direction from the beginning. It’s so hard to trust His plan when things aren’t going according to ours. It’s easy to trust when we graduate, when we find our “soul mate”, when we have beautiful children, when they succeed, when our career takes off, when finances seem to be in order, when everyone is healthy. Yeah, that’s the good stuff life is supposed to be all about, right? But what happens when we can’t afford school, we are single or heartbroken, our children struggle, we can’t have children, we are let go from our job, lose our home. How do we react when things don’t go according to our perfect idea of life? I bet you that even the most saintly of people struggle in these times. Even the most profound pastor, speaker, leader, teacher you know will fall when faced with disappointment and failed life expectancies. We are human. We are bound to fail. We are not only bound to fail but bound for Hell without Jesus. I have never “questioned” the goodness of God and have always known that His plan was greater than mine. But with that being said, I have also had hard seasons. Seasons of deafening silence, seasons of questioning why, seasons of struggles behind the scenes and seasons of lonely emptiness where I longed for things to be according to my plan.
So when Sadie says I just don’t want to trust you in this ocean, I get it. I feel that deep because I live it. Its in these times we have to rely on scripture we know, believers we trust, and prayer to survive whatever season we are in. Some seasons are gut wrenching but we have to remember that they are just that, seasons. The only thing that is forever is Jesus and that is why we must trust Him in the ocean.
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