I didn’t know if I could do it.
When my family discovered that the highest, longest zipline in the South was in Gatlinburg, Tennessee—our vacation destination—they were all in.
I, on the other hand, was all, Have you lost your ever-loving minds?!
I made no promises that I would join them in this insane adventure. I get a panic attack if I climb too high on the bleachers.
Five hundred feet high (170 feet higher than the torch on the Statue of Liberty, the website boasts) and 1,500 feet long … terrifying.
But my teens were relentless. “You have to do this, Mom! It will be fun! Come on!”
I finally buckled. The reward of teenage respect overrode my fear of impending, free falling doom.
As we waited for the next bus to come get our group, I struck up a conversation with a woman nearby.
Have you done this before?
Oh, I just came down, she said.
She was smiling. All body limbs were still intact. This was encouraging.
So, how was it? Better than you thought?
Oh, I chickened out on the platform, she said. I just couldn’t do it. I got hysterical, so I came back down.
No wonder she was smiling.
But I’d promised my kids. I couldn’t back out now.
Thankfully, we started small with a zipline that was just a few feet off the ground. Each course was longer, more challenging and higher. Much higher.
In order to get to the end, at some point I had to make a choice. I had to either decide to step off the platform or slink back down the mountain in fear.
Either the harness was trustworthy or it wasn’t.
Either the guide knew what he was doing or he didn’t. There was no middle ground.
Each time I got safely across, I became more and more confident that my trust in my guide and my harness was well-placed.
As long as I followed the guide’s directions and held on tightly to the steel link that connected the harness to the guide wire, I was fine. If I tried too hard to steer it, I could easily spin out of control. If I didn’t relax back into the harness, I could get stuck in the middle of the ride.
Our journey with God is so similar isn’t it?
[Tweet “When I trust the Guide, I can enjoy the journey. “]
Every time God shows Himself faithful in our challenges, He builds our trust in Him. He may not always get us across the valley in the ways we’d choose, but He’s been my Guide long enough that I’m learning to trust His methods.
On the other hand, I know from painful experience that when I’ve chosen to cling tightly to my own way and tried to take control, I’ve often spun in circles and become stuck in my circumstances far longer than if I’d trusted my Guide.
Trusting in God can be terrifying. What if the worst happens? What if He doesn’t come through the way I want Him to? What if I lose control? (As if we have control anyway!)
The Bible tells us to “fear not” 365 times. God knows we are going to be afraid. He understands that we are human. So over and over again, He reminds us why we don’t have to be.
I may not always understand why He doesn’t relieve my difficult circumstances, but He assures me that He’ll never leave me hanging:
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5
For years, I’ve struggled to trust God. I’d think, Surely if God loved me, if He were trustworthy, He would heal me. He would change my circumstances. He would make things easier. He would do something about all the suffering in the world.
But over this last year, God has whispered a life-changing truth to my heart over and over again. In fact, He’s been whispering it to me (and you, too) my entire life.
Lately, I’ve heard it with new ears.
God has used recent dark circumstances in my journey to assure me of His sweetness and love. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But when we have no control, no foreseeable way out, when He is our only hope, we are often most open to really hear Him when He whispers:
You can trust the One who died for you.
He is either trustworthy or He isn’t. There is no middle ground.
I vote trustworthy. That was settled at the cross.
Whenever fear and doubt begin to creep in, I’ve been saying, sometimes out loud: “I choose to trust You, Jesus.”
[Tweet “When I say, “I choose to trust You,” it moves my focus from my fear to my Father.”]
It moves my focus from my fear to my Father. It opens the door for the Holy Spirit to speak to my heart and help me truly believe it, no matter what my emotions and circumstances are telling me.
He reminds me to not look ahead to the next challenge. He tells me to believe that He will give me what I need for this moment. “Don’t worry about the next step, I’m already there. I’ll meet you when you get there. Just trust Me to give you what You need right now.”
When I trust the Guide, I can enjoy the journey. I can step off the platform and know that He’s going to hold me. I can look at the next, bigger challenge and think, This scares me. But I’ve seen how God has taken care of me in the past. He won’t leave me.
I can rest in the knowledge that my Guide will show me the way.
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
