On the Ledge Called Trust

This is how it goes. I know it. It isn't the first time I have experienced all this. Yet it happens, just the same, despite my best efforts to avoid it.

First, it's the honeymoon. All is glorious and new and amazing.

Then, reality sets in and you begin to question your sanity at placing yourself in such a precarious position. You suddenly notice how steep the ledge is that your are perched upon, you recognize that one misstep will send you careening into an abyss you hadn't seen before.

Ah, but there is beauty and hope and grace in those unsafe and uncomfortable ledges. We realize how dependable God is. How pitiful and pathetic we are apart from the One who led us here. We're suddenly aware of our humanness and His God-ness. And we learn to Trust Him on a level we'd never imagined possible before.

This ledge, until you abandon yourself to trust, is a place of fear and worry and doubt.

Trust is a funny thing. It requires self-sacrifice, an abandonment of self-sufficiency. It requires us to let go. Did you ever do those "trust falls?" The ones where you stand on a ledge with your back to a group of friends and just let yourself fall backward, into their arms? You know they are supposed to catch you - but will they? Will something distract them? Are you too heavy, falling too hard or too fast for them to catch you?

This is like those "trust" exercises - only the stakes are much higher. But the Friend who is catching is much more dependable. His arms are strong. You won't catch Him by surprise. He's dying for you to fall back with complete abandon and trust into His everlasting arms.

I'm realizing that the more frightening the ledge, the more sweet (and necessary) the trust. I don't think I've ever been in a place quite this uncomfortable. Dependence on and trust in God are a daily necessity. And you know what? I love it. Not because it always "feels good" but because it is good.

It is good to discover that He never fails - not even a little bit -no matter how much I fail, or how crummy I feel, or how bleak the circumstances, or uncomfortable the situation.

It is good to trust in the Lord.