Trust GOD!

In Mark 11:22 the Messiah tells his disciples to “Trust God!” This verse varies in different translations. You might also find it to read, “Have faith in God,” or “Believe God.” But no matter how it is said, it still boils down to “Trusting” God.
A few days ago, I was thinking about the time Tovah and I went on our first vacation while homeschooling. We went to the Jersey shore for a 4 day 3 night package. It was the Tuesday after Labor Day (the last summer holiday in the USA) until that Friday morning. We stayed at this very family friendly place called “The Lollipop Motel” in Wildwood, New Jersey. That was one of the things about homeschooling that I grew to love, you can vacation in the off peak times of the tourist seasons. Our stay was a little less than $300.00, but that same room and days during the peak season would have cost almost $900.00. We still have pictures of all the fun we had.

I am not a big fan of sand and so the beach was not my favorite place to be. I’d much rather swim in the pool, yet Wildwood has one of the best boardwalks in New Jersey. The rides and games are fantastic and we had a great time each day hanging out. Tovah and I both were introduced to miniature golf—she fell in love with it, I didn’t. LOL!! I had to take her on the beach at least once, but we spent the hottest portion of our days at the motel pool.

At the time Tovah couldn’t swim and she was terrified to let go of me even with a noodle under her. No matter how hard I tried to convenience her that I wouldn’t let her go under; she would cling to me as if her life depended on it. The other families staying there were such a great group of people; they came each year at the same time and everyone sort of knew each other. And all of them (even other children) tried to reassure Tovah it would be okay to let go just once. Finally after 3 days of coaxing, begging and pleading with her, she finally took a leap of faith and let go. She finally trusted me enough to not let her drown, and let go. It was our last full day there and we only had about an hour left in the pool before we had to get dressed to go on the boardwalk for dinner and our last rides. She had so much fun splashing and moving around with the noodle to support her she didn’t want to get out of the pool.

While we were getting dressed she sat next to me on the bed and said, “Mom, I wished I hadn’t waited so long to let go.” There was a sadness in her voice, because I think she realized some of the fun she had missed out on the past couple of days being so afraid. That moment was also a mirror for me of how I have a tendency to be with God. How He has pleaded with me at times to “trust” Him. Reassuring me that He would not fail me in the least, but I was too afraid to let go of whatever it was that I was holding onto. When I told Tovah I wouldn’t let her drown, I was telling her the truth and she could trust me—so is it with God and us. Whatever He says is “Truth!”

Today some of us are at a place in our lives where the Messiah is telling us to let go and “Trust God”, yet we are having difficulty doing that. Times are tough and getting tougher with each passing day around the world. It seems that no one is exempt from the many devastating things that are happening. We are losing loved one, our homes, our jobs, our freedoms, our health, our children (to the world systems), our money and the list goes on. But I want to reassure you that through all these hard times, we can “Trust God!” We can Trust Him to do what needs to be done for us.

Trusting God is not a magic potion that makes everything okay. It doesn’t mean that we will not continue to experience hard times, trials and tribulations in our lives. No, it doesn’t mean that. But what it does mean is that through all the hard time we have Him to lean and rely on. It means that we are not alone and that He is totally aware of whatever it is we may be experiencing. It empowers us to stand with great confidence that as promised He will not leave us or forsake us.

Things might be looking a little bleak for you at this moment, but all it takes is “one” word from God to change things in our lives. So until that word comes to you—keep trusting Him!



Love & Hugs
Ponnie

See you Monday!

Maria Guzman will be back next week, so be sure to check in!