Trust Me by Carolyn

"Trust Me."  How many times have we heard these two simple words throughout our lifetimes?  Can you think of times when someone has said this to you?  Did you trust them?  How far did you trust them?  All the way?  What was the outcome?  What about those times when you said them to someone?  How did that work out?  Most of us are very careful about both sides of this issue.

Trust me.  What does that mean?  It has been said that our faith is only as good as the object of our faith.  Isn't trust the same?  If we put our trust in something that isn't trustworthy our trust is quickly destroyed.  "Once burned, twice shy."  If this happens too many times, soon we learn we not to trust.

I have been thinking about this since a silly, simple little incident occured in my home.  But it was a big insight into what it means to trust our God, and the difference between instinct and choice.
We have a Persian Cat.  Her name is Nestle.  She is the gentlest cat I have ever owned.  She is completely comfortable in our care.  She lies down and flops over on her back, pulls her front feet entirely straight up and over her head, stretches out her back feet as far as they will go exposing her tummy to all sorts of pampering knowing that's exactly what we are going to do.  She knows she is going to get brushed and she loves it!  She trusts us implicitly.  Suddenly, unexpectedly scrape the bottom of your chair across the hard tile floor making a loud, disturbing noise however, and watch her take a sudden flying leap straight up in the air, up the stairs, and under the bed!

But a scare like that will send any of us into outter space!  Now let's take a controlled situation.

When I pick her up she trusts me to love her, pet her and not drop her.  She is also curious and since she's an indoor cat, I am always looking for ways to stimulate her and satisfy her curiousity.
 Our toilet was running and I needed to put the chain straight so the stopper would drop.  Since I already had her in my arms, I thought she might like to watch me do that.  I held her in one arm and with my opposite hand I untangled the chain.  At first, she was curious, but after a couple of seconds, she became completely insane and catapulted herself out of my arms, up the stairs, back under the bed.  She didn't trust me.  Her instinct took over and suddenly it was all about self-preservation.  No choice for her, not really. 

As long as we are breathing there are lessons to learn and choices to make.  I thought about the lesson contained in this little experience.  When God puts us in a trial, or asks us to undertake a project we are totally unsure about, He's asking us to trust Him.  When He's calling us to step out of the boat, or into an uncertain and scary situation and He's asking us to trust Him.  He gives us a choice. Who is our role model in this?  There are many people in the Bible who had to step out of the boat.  Think of all those in the Old Testament who were called upon to do incredibly dangerous, and courageous things with little or no reason to be assured of the outcome, or all the disciples who followed Jesus before and after His ascension in spite of the danger.  But the most outstanding role model of all is Jesus Himself.  Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane sweating blood and saying, "Not My will, but Yours be done."

If your Bible has a concordance, look up the word trust and you will find dozens of references throughout the Bible.  It's a big word.  It's a big deal.  The dictionary makes a distinction between trust and faith.  Trust implies depth and assurance of such feeling which may not always be supported by proof.  When acceptance of someone or something is fairly solid and emotionally charged, faith is the more appropriate term.

Due to our human nature it is almost impossible to say how we will react in a challenging situation. But due to our supernatural God, for Whom all things are possible, (Matthew 19:26) it is possible to make the choice and say, "Not my will, but Yours be done."