Trust (October 11, 2012)

…Opening To…

We are as sure to be in trouble as the sparks fly upward, but we will also be “in Christ,” as [Paul] puts it. Ultimately, not even sorrow, loss, death can get at us there. (Frederick Buechner)

…Listening In…

While Jesus was still speaking with her, messengers came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any longer?” But Jesus overheard their report and said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.” (Mark 5:35-36; context)

…Filling Up…

We’ve moved from anxiety through fear and to surrender. Surrendering yourself, your fear of the unknown future, and your anxiety over your lack of control is one of the scariest things you can do. It’s scary because it seems to go against everything that our society teaches: rugged individualism (the idea that you can do everything by yourself), perfect information (the idea that if you just had the right set of factors, you could predict the future), and marketing in general (the idea that if you buy product X you will finally have the life you always dreamed of).

Of course, if you’ve ever read anything that Jesus said, he didn’t give too much credence to what society thought. And we should follow his example. Surrendering to God might feel insane at first. In fact, though I’ve never been skydiving, I assume it feels something akin to the minute you are no longer safely in the plane, but before your parachute opens.

In those moments before the `chute opens, I assume all the reasons you shouldn’t have jumped race through your head. At least, that’s what would be racing through mine. When you surrender to God, the same thing happens: the “world” (in its most negative connotation) assaults you with all the reasons that trusting God is a stupid thing to do.) But if we can survive that assault (and with God’s help, we can), then something overwhelming happens.

We find peace.

When we surrender to God, we rectify the second half of our definition of anxiety. Remember: anxiety happens when you realize you don’t control the future but have yet to stop trying. When we surrender, we stop trying to control our future and we still have the benefit of knowing that we don’t control it! Sounds pretty good to me.

Of course, this kind of trust in God is so very hard. It necessitates a daily surrender, not just a once-in-a-lifetime one. Trusting God is like exercising. If you go to the gym once, you’re not going to get much out of it. But if you make a regimen out of it – or in our case, a spiritual practice – then you can run marathons.

…Praying For…

Dear God, most trustworthy Lord, I ask for the strength to surrender myself to your will and your love each day of my life. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.