God showed me a funny, yet not-so-funny illustration yesterday about how some of us trust Him. Let me explain.
On one of our ministry trips last year, we had been driving toward home for hours and hours; the kids were tired and a little grumpy. Bryson had to stop once again to go to the bathroom and he had a wait awhile until we found an exit, therefore he was not happy. I had this unwise idea to lighten the mood…so…when he walked toward the Jeep to get back in, right when he was in front of the Jeep, I blew the horn…thinking it would make him laugh. It did not. He was so mad at me, but Breanne and I laughed until we couldn’t. Ever since then, he is cautious when he walks in front of the Jeep.
Now, this is not a new thing; this is something Breanne and I have done all our lives. She often pulls this trick on me and I on her, sometimes we laugh, sometimes we don’t. We are that kind of family; you know the ones who hide behinds doors and jump out at people when they come out of the bathroom. I don’t know why, but it keeps us laughing.
Anyway, yesterday I picked up the kids and Breanne for an afternoon out. As Bryson started to the vehicle, I blew the horn at him. He laughed and said ‘Nana, don’t do that again.’ I said ‘okay buddy.’ He had to walk around the vehicle again and he reminded me not to blow the horn, I said ‘okay, I won’t, I promise, trust me.’ He said ‘okay Nana.’ But as he walked in front of the Jeep he had his hands over both ears…I just laughed.
As I watched him walking in front of the Jeep with both hands over his ears, God began to speak to me and tell me that is how some of us trust him.
You see, we have been through times that challenged and disappointed us, sometimes even made us mad at God. Times when we thought things would turn out a different way than they did. Times when we believed with everything inside of us but still did not get the outcome we wanted. Those times have made us cautious in our faith.
We are still walking with God but now we are watching our steps. We are still saying we are walking in faith but we usually have a back-up plan just in case God does not come through.
We are still believing for healing but just in case God doesn’t heal us, we better make sure we have another way out of this.
We are believing for a haul but we are afraid to cast our net another time.
Just like Bryson, we are saying ‘I trust you!’ but we have our hands over our ears…just in case.
Bryson was like that because I had disappointed him before, I had done something he wasn’t expecting from me, and he no longer fully trusted me.
It will take time before that boy will walk in front of my Jeep without expecting a horn to blast. OR, he could trust his Nana and walk with confidence. However, looking back, he sees he has reason to expect the loud blast.
Looking back is part of the problem, we simply can’t look back. If we look back, we will be stuck there, we can only look forward and expect good things. I know many of us, of you, have been disappointed but the bible tells us to trust God completely. Proverbs 3:5 says; Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. We have to choose to trust God even when we don’t understand.
We must believe he has a good plan for our life, even when our past doesn’t prove that. The bible says; For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
God has a good plan for us, a good hope for us, a good future for us…it is NEVER his desire to harm us, we must trust in that truth.
I know my story today was funny, but it’s not funny to have no faith in God. It takes faith to please God, without faith it is actually impossible to please God. So today, if you are ‘trusting God’ with your hands on your ears, take them off and walk free…walk in faith.
