And those who know Your name trust in You,
For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
– Psalm 9:10
A frigid cold descended in the night upon the river valley.
The next morning, a deceptively innocent breath of frost kissed the new deck outside the front door. A toddler and his dad stepped out of the house, the boy bouncing enthusiastically on ahead of his father.
As the boy’s feet hit the ice, his little legs splayed out in opposite directions. Unable to catch his balance, he slipped and slid all over the deck. But he did not fall, he did not cry, and he wasn’t afraid.
He knew he’d be all right.
His father had a firm hold on his hands as he danced and laughed and skated across the danger to the safety of the gravel driveway beyond the deck.
Trust is a beautiful thing.
It’s a gift we give someone who has earned the right to ask for it. It’s the bond between two people who have a history between them. Trust is hard-won and easily lost. I believe that’s why God loves it so much when we show Him we trust Him with our lives.
Tremble, and do not sin;
Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still.
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And trust in the LORD.
– Psalm 4:4-5
The Lord understands how hard it is to trust what we can’t see.
At His resurrection from the dead, He told the doubting Thomas, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” (John 20:29)
There are several Greek words used in the New Testament to indicate blessing. The one used in John 20:29 is makarios, which is most closely linked to the English word “happy.” Trusting in others or ourselves will inevitably lead to sorrow, because humanity is flawed. Searching for security in money or possessions or power will fail us, as well, because all those things are temporary. God is the only safe place for us. He has promised He will not abandon those who run to Him.
As a new year dawns, many of us carry the sorrows and struggles of an old year into the next. Danger lurks in a world filled with evil. This is a good time to take a mental pilgrimage back to the many times God has held our hands as we slipped and slid through the frigid seasons of our lives. Each time we’ve fallen, he’s lifted us up. Every time we safely navigated another trial, it was because we reached for His arms. As we enter a new season, may we have the trust to hang on tightly to Him.
Not only will we be safe, we will be happy.
…indeed,
we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves,
but in God who raises the dead….
– 2 Corinthians 1:9
