The blessings God gives us are limited only by the trust we give Him. – Braden’s dad

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On a recent flight for family vacation, I took a mental side-trip. Here we were in this sealed metal tube, hurtling through the air at 500mph over an ocean at 30,000 feet all while calmly munching on snacks and enjoying an inflight movie. That’s pretty amazing in itself, but then something else occurred to me. We hadn’t met, much less seen the person flying our plane!

I have a light case of claustrophobia and work in a 15-story office tower. If, while riding the elevator it suddenly just stopped mid-floor, I’d go nuts but that wouldn’t be the end of the world. However, if a cable snapped at that height, no one would survive the fall. Still, I rarely choose to take the stairs although they’re much easier to understand and technically more reliable than elevators. These are just two very simplistic examples out of thousands where, without hesitation, we daily trust our very lives to things unseen or only minimally understood.

Now, try asking someone if they can simply trust in the God who created these things along with the very laws of mechanics and physics making them all possible. It’s a fairly safe bet that person will think you’re weird or slightly insane. Why do we blindly trust without seeing nor fully understanding in temporal circumstances, yet stubbornly withhold our trust in something far more vital and eternal like our Creator?

Maybe it’s because we all began life with a nature of trust that immediately began to diminish from day one. Our unique life experiences quickly begin re-teaching us that trust should only be given when something or someone proves they won’t ever fail us. I’ve come to realize, as vital as oxygen is to our existence, trust is a the key element we all must have to truly live. Without trust, our days are filled with suspicion, dysfunction. isolation, and emptiness. Trust offers connection/ relationship, confidence, fullness, and joy. There are few things more valuable yet more damaging to a life than when trust is lost. I can say this with confidence because I lived that way most of my life. Sadly, I know a lot of people who still do. Having learned too well how to distrust, they just go on breathing but not really living.

Through too many trials and errors to mention, I’ve learned a few things. The most valuable of those is that this unseen and often misunderstood God is more real than anything our physical senses can comprehend. He is bigger than any temporary circumstance and can be relied upon even when I may feel betrayed or disappointed by the world. He is far more gracious, loving, forgiving, unconditional, and permanent than any earthly offering. All said, I have come to trust God because He has proven to be trustworthy. I can personally recommend Him to anyone who may be interested.

It’s ironic how the last thing most non-believers immediately turn to when planes fall out of the sky or when elevators drop to the ground, is God. What would our lives, our families, and our communities be like if, instead of waiting until the world fails us, we could learn to first simply rely on Him.

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Prayer: God, words escape me when I consider who you are. Thank you for never being intimidated by our doubts. You see and understand what we all wrestle with. Help us fill our minds with truth, strengthening our trust by learning and leaning on you. You are as close as our next breath and more vital to life than air. Thanks for understanding us enough to come into our world as a man so we can know and trust You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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“The father cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief”. Mark 9:24

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬ ‭