I was going to write an entry entitled “Love beyond the Fear” but you will have to stay tuned for that one as God put this one on my heart for today so keep reading.  He must have wanted us to hear this today :).

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There are fewer words that I truthfully hate more in the English language than this when coming from other people.  Surprisingly, it isn’t any of the usual suspects in which someone ask for time or money  or those things that generally seem to be in short supply or come at inopportune times in life.  In fact, i will generally give of both of those things without very much of a blink of an eye (just ask my calendar or bank account).

The words I hate more than anything create a sense of panic as soon as they are spoken.  I immediately wait for the other shoe to drop, someone to change their mind, lead me into some sketchy restaurant, overpriced store, bad neighborhood, or other circumstance that will create a jam that I should have seen coming a mile away.  I now expect my bank, my expectations, or my heart to be broken in some way — or if I am really lucky that day — maybe all three.  (Please read in all of the heavy sarcasm that this intended to be laden with).

I wasn’t always this way you know – and I am quite sure that you weren’t either.  I loved freely, and always believed that people were awesome and had my best interest at heart.  That they meant what they said and that  the exhale of the words “trust me” meant that I could take a deeper breath. That I could step down from the guards post of my heart.   That I could let my dreams of the future run forth and a bit “wild” only it wasn’t wild because it was actually possible.

And then life slapped me.  Hard. Men cheated.  People at work lied.  Parents used that statement as a false promise for the fact that they would be back next week and in our lives forever.  Suddenly, “trust me” became a death sentence for my ability to relax. 

Perhaps we cannot trust the people and circumstances around us, but I promise that we can trust Him.  People are flawed, He is not. He most certainly is not held to the same standards and boundaries that we are. As I’ve said what feels like a hundred times, He can see far beyond anything that we can.  The view from his helicopter is not as short-sided like the one we are trapped in being us.   When He asks us to trust Him, He knows what He is doing.  He can see the plan. 

Think of surrendering to His plan sort of like floating in a pool. Imagine that you don’t know how to swim but someone tells you to go in anyway.  Not wanting to be the chicken, you get in.  If you are scared of the water or getting your head wet and you flail around, unless someone drags your butt out of the pool and you let them, you will eventually tire out and could drown.  But, if you get in and lay back – just float – you can enjoy the beauty of the silence that envelopes you.  Enjoy the bright sunshine that washes over your face.  Point your chest toward that sky and watch the clouds float by.  Thank Him for the fact that He knows what He is doing when you don’t.  Before you know it, 10 minutes has passed…20 minutes…and  so on.  Suddenly, you have proven to the others in the pool and yourself that the pool isn’t so scary.

Your life is just like that pool.  When He asks you to “lean back” – to move, to take that job, to talk to that stranger, to buy a homeless person lunch, to volunteer your time or talent to something you never thought you’d associate with — do it.  How will you know it’s Him? You already know the answer even as you ask this silent question.  We’ve all felt the indicator before, that leading that we don’t understand but respond to. The thing that when you were a child poured right out of you — that was the Love straight from Him to you and through you to others in the world.  And then we grew.  We got disappointed.  Let down.  Afraid. Stressed.  Burdened by all the input of the world and before you know it, that “sparkle” set in there so long ago, didn’t seem so bright.  It didn’t/ doesn’t speak to you so instantly and drive your actions like it might have once have.  

One thing we must always keep in mind is that His “trust me” is so different than ours.  He intends to keep His word and is not influenced by stress, whim or other thing that seems to influence the conscious and choices of those around us.  He always plans to prosper us and bring us into the greatness He intends for us to achieve.  His word truly is His bond.  Breathe into, step out in in faith and do what he asks…Trust Him.