Trust

Today I took my filthy car through an automatic car wash. There were at least two times during the process that large lit-up signs gave these instructions:"no braking; and hands off the steering wheel." On top of that, the man who was at the start of the wash yelled the same instructions loudly to me through my closed window.

As I approached the end of the wash when the dryer was running and there was no opening out into daylight, a different lit-up sign said something like, "Relax; the door will open automatically..." Sure enough, it opened just in time!

Obviously, all those signs and instructions indicate that the creators of the system count on fallen humans' bent towards grabbing for control when disorientation comes into our lives.

It was an experience in trust, because in the middle of the wash, I could hardly see anything. The mixture of heavy dirt and soapy water covering all my windows made visibility almost nil. If I had not trusted what the machine and the people running it said, I would have grabbed the wheel and hit the brakes.

What was it that made me trust myself into the hands of this machine and obey its instructions to let go of control of the car in order for it to be cleaned? A few things come to mind:

1. Promise: the company that created the machine promises that it will do the job well and without injury to the user.
2. Laws: there are laws that enforce the fulfillment of the claims made in such promises.
3. Experience/proven-ness: both my own experiences and others' experiences of such machines gave me confidence that it would all come out just fine. Countless people over recent decades have used these machines with success.

There are very real reasons I can trust in the Lord and not depend on my own understanding (grabbing the steering wheel and hitting the brakes when doubt and fear strike my heart). Those reasons are the following:

As a wholehearted follower of His, I have His Word and promises of His perfect leadership and control over all of my life; He has promised to fulfill His purposes for me and tells me that all of His intentions are for my well being.

Backing up those promises is all of the force of God and His Kingdom. The One making the promises is Love, He is Faithful and True, and He is powerful to fulfill what He has spoken. His nature, character and works back up all that He says.

And all of my experiences of His work in my life along with countless testimonies of His people through all ages of human history tell me that His words have been tested over and over and over and they have been proven true. Not once has He ever failed to fulfill His promises to any human.

The apostle Paul says by the Spirit that we see as though we're looking into a very dim mirror in this age, but someday we will see Him face to face, the One who has proven Himself true in every circumstance of every person's life. Trusting the Lord is not "blind faith" but it's walking according to His promises which are fully backed up by His nature and actions as tested and proven true by countless saints (including me) throughout history.

Our emotions will vacillate and there will be times when for a moment we'll reach out to grab control of the steering wheel, but by His grace, we quickly let loose again as we remember Who He is that has promised to bring us into fullness. As one worship song goes, "All men's empty promises lie broken at Your feet, but You have never broken one!"

Praise Your name, dear Lord Jesus!