Child-Like Trust

     Over a series of chairs, I watched as a young person approached a dad holding two little boys in each of his arms.  As the he drew within reach, one of the little boys decided that he wanted be held by this person, and so he literally fell into this unsuspecting person's arms.  :)  I smiled to myself as I watched the person scramble to get a good grip, and not let the little boy fall.

     I love the picture this little boy demonstrated of trust.  He wasn't frightened, thinking about the "what-if"s.  He did not think about the possibility that this person might not be able to catch him.  Instead, he simply trusted, and "jumped" right over.
In the same way, we must become like a child when it comes to trusting God.  We must trust that God will simply catch us if we fall.  In fact, if we trust God, we have His promise that He will never let us fall, and yet it is so easy for us to doubt.
When God shows us His will for our lives, how many of us simply "jump right in" with complete trust in our heavenly Father?  So many times, it's easy to call upon our experiences in the past, and be concerned about the logistical detail.  We think about the "what-if"s.

     Another time I saw a dad sitting on the floor, and his two-year-old son was climbing like a monkey, up his daddy's back and onto his shoulder.  This little boy was having the most fun... until he slipped off his daddy's shoulder, and nearly landed head-first on the floor.  His daddy did manage to catch him, but not quite knowing what was going on, the boy started to cry.  His daddy then had to spend a full minute soothing him, and telling him that it was "a good thing Daddy caught you, otherwise, you would have you hit your head.  But Daddy caught you, so you're okay."  Finally this boy realized, and happily went off to play again.

     How honestly this example can be applied to our spiritual lives, too.  In a slightly different way, how many times do we cry, having pity on ourselves for our weakness and failures, when all the while our heavenly Father is ready to hold us, carry us, and catch us when we fall... if we would only let Him?  Or other times, like the boy, we are confused, mentally or emotionally, and instead of trusting that God will always work everything for the very best, and that God will always, always catch us when we fall, we distress.

     Are you thinking about the what-if's, instead of jumping into God's will for your life?
Are you crying in confusion, or singing amid your confusion, because you are focusing your eyes on the great love that the sovereign Creator of the universe has shown you, and continues to show you?

     Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.   Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB

The Adventure

     "[Gandolf] ...I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone."
     "[Bilbo]  I should think so - in these parts! We're plain, quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things!  Make you late for dinner!  I can't think what anybody sees in them."

     I can easily see myself having such a response as Bilbo.  "Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!"  I can't say the word,  "adventure" has always intrigued me.  But as Millie Keith's aunt Wealthy put it, "God calls us to a wild adventure, not a tea party, my dear."  For me, what this world provides as "adventure" is a poor representation of the true adventure that God calls us to.  Adventures can be "nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things," yet what you find through the adventure is so much better.  It's not because I like getting "dirty" that I have accepted God's invitation to this adventure, it's because He is so much better than anything else.  God is simply so beautiful, so wonderful, so worth living for, that I don't mind getting a little "dirty" in this broken world in order to know and serve Christ more.  What I have gained in this world, I'm beginning to count as loss, or as dung, as Paul puts it in Philippians 3:8 (KJV).  I'm leaving what I know, to find something better.  Jesus Christ is better than any and all else.

     It's the greatest romance novel, the greatest adventure, and the greatest thriller of all times... and I have the privilege of playing even the smallest part, on such an enormous stage.  I do not choose to follow Him because it's all fun, not because it's all thrilling, not because it's all entertaining; I choose to follow Him because Jesus loved me so much, that He gave His life for me, and the least I can do is give my life to Him, for His purpose, His glory.  The fact that Christ not only saved me, but has such an amazing love for me, to invite me to serve Him... to be an ambassador of Him; such an amazing privilege, for someone so worthless as I.  How can I say "no?"

     Do not expect this blog to be all about my personal life, because, quite frankly, my life is rather boring by itself. But I have embarked on the greatest adventure of all times, and while you may see some of my journey through my writings, my purpose is to let Jesus Christ be center stage - the main character.  After all, He is what we are truly after, or at least should be after.  He is the One Thing that each one of us should desire, and I pray that I may spur you forward into this amazing, never-ending realm of knowing Him.

     But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 

     Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.     Philippians 3:7-14 NASB