Trust Me

Trust me.” A phrase we hear and say all the time.  So much so that these words have lost their value to most people. The trouble comes when we translate this lack of trust in people, to a lack of trust in the Lord. I think a lot of trust issues with the Lord come from trust issues we have with people, at least that was the case with me…. “

Jesus is Always Closer Than We Think He Is 

In Mathew Ch. 14 Jesus tells Peter to trust him. He asks him to step out of the comfort and safety of the boat he is in, and walk to him on the water.  Initially Peter steps out of the boat in confidence, walking towards the Lord. But as he sees the wind and the waves pick up his confidence starts to dwindle. He loses trust when he sees how far he has to go and the conditions getting rougher. Peter begins to sink. He cries out “Lord save me!” Jesus, who is closer than Peter thought, reaches out his hand and immediately pulls him up. Jesus is always closer than we think he is.

Momentum and Confidence From the Lord

I can relate to Peter in this story because I have been there. No, God has never asked me to physically walk on water, however he has asked me to step out of the safety of my comfort zone to a place where I would have to trust him. Part of God calling me to go to Costa Rica involved raising financial support. A lot of financial support…. Talk to most any missionary and they will tell you what a large and challenging task this can be. They will also tell you that though it is sometimes hard, God has always provided. I had to trust that God would do the same for me.

When it came time for me to start fundraising I hit the ground running. Like Peter, I was quick to jump out of the boat, eager to walk with Jesus. I used this momentum and confidence from the Lord to drive my efforts. I knew with all my heart that the Lord would provide! The Lord had told me to trust him, and so I did. God surely came through and I was having greater success than I could have ever imagined. But instead of looking at how much the Lord had done, I chose to look at how far I still had to go and how many obstacles I still had to overcome. Peter made the same mistake. He chose to ignore the fact that he had just taken multiple steps across liquid water, and instead chose to look at the wind.

Jesus Did a Jesus Thing

Prayerfully I had set a goal to be fully funded and heading back to Costa Rica at the beginning of August. It was the beginning of July when I began to lose trust that this was actually going to happen. Looking at how much more money I still has to raise, it was beginning to look like a September launch date was a lot more plausible. At this point I was at about 65% of my goal. Then Jesus did a Jesus thing. In just 1 day enough support came in to bring to be about 97% funded! I was ecstatic…….speechless. It was God’s way of saying, “I told you so. Now do you trust me?”