Do you TRUST me? (Part One)
Let Go and Let God
This is the first of a series of three reflections looking at the overall theme of Trust. It’s a theme I’ve been reflecting a lot on over the last few weeks during this lock down period across New Zealand due to COVID-19. Trusting God in the midst of confusion, trusting God in the midst of uncertainty, trusting God even when he doesn’t feel close.
This first reflection looks specifically at one of the issues that stops us trusting God and that is the issue of control.
Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
Trust in God, not self… or as I’ve heard it said many times; “Let go and let God.” Something, that we as human beings are not very good at are we? We seem to need to have control to feel safe, to feel certain and to feel sure about life.
An example of this is when we are in an aircraft, several thousand feet up in the air, hurtling along at hundreds of kilometres an hour. I think one of the things that makes people nervous passengers, isn’t the worry that the plane will crash, but more the fact that we aren’t in control of it! We know that flying is one of the safest forms of transport, far safer than driving a car, but we feel fine driving a car because we are the ones in control.
Even when logic and evidence tells us otherwise, we feel safe because we are in charge and not some voice who who we can’t see that ‘tells us’ they are the pilot. We don’t know if this is their first flight with passengers, we don’t know if they are tired, had a bad day or not very good at what they do, we just have to trust them and that makes us nervous.
I remember when I was moving over to New Zealand from the UK with my family back in 2004 to come and work with Scripture Union and how much I had to learn about control.
Despite the careful planning and organising of our move to the other side of the world, there were many times when things started to unravel, plans came to a shuddering halt or unforeseen obstacles appeared to derail our careful planning. As the uncertainty and anxiety levels increased as a result, I was drawn to these couple of verses in Proverbs time and time again and reminded each time to let go and let God. And time and time again the lesson was learned that as I relinquished control and submitted my plans afresh to God, that he proved that His plans are far better than mine and His timing is perfect.
This period of COVID-19 lock down has caused many plans and dreams to come to a shuddering halt and with it a search for answers and a grasping to get some sort of control back.
We may not know if those plans will happen in the future or those dreams and aims for 2020 will ever come to pass. But in all of our uncertainty, in all of our questions and doubts for the future, let’s return to the one who holds the future and Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding and in all of our ways submit to Him and let Him be the one to make our future paths straight.
Below is a song by the band Sixpence None the Richer called Trust which is based on Proverbs 3:5-6. By way of response, may I encourage you to give it a listen and as you do, reflect on your own personal need to let go and let God.