PICTURES OF TRUST AND SURRENDER
Light For Life June 2005
There are many things that I have been writing about recently, but out of the many lessons I have learned, when it comes down to it, they are really about trust and surrender! Two picture analogies have formulated and been etched in my mind and they have taught me a lot about these two. They both encompass and beautifully portray trust and surrender and perfectly remind me of the 'stances' I need to take in relation to Jesus, my Lord and Saviour – not ones that would immediately come to mind.
TRUST
Have you ever heard of the ‘trust game’? I have seen in it movies where there is some kind of support group meeting together, they share their bad experiences and talk about how they need to learn to trust (no specific movie or program comes to my mind, but I have seen it somewhere), they break up into pairs and one person will allow themselves to fall backwards and the other person WILL catch them. Now I have never done this myself but every time I even imagine doing this I get goose bumps down my spine, it is the adrenaline rush of what you would feel if you really did this. I don’t even know if I really would, even if I was falling onto a big pile of cushions, because, the thought of the sensation is freaky and surreal.
Now there is a book that I have been reading, it is called 'The Way of Agape' by Nancy Missler. Some of you may not know but the word Agape is the Greek word for God’s unconditional love for us. I really need to tell you all about it (maybe next month) because I believe it is redefining and rebuilding the foundation of my faith! In it I have learned that in order to truly trust someone you NEED to KNOW they love YOU, and yes, this is the case with God too. We can work on trying to trust people and God but when we really experience that trust and have a revelation of that love for us, individually, then we can begin to truly trust.
So, in times where I am stressed and not coping I have been picturing myself falling, backwards, into the arms of Jesus - and He catches me. It is a picture that helps me let go of what is happening and enables me to put my trust into practice. It has become a tool that I use and you might find it helpful too. I can imagine it and say to God 'Ok I am letting go, I will trust you, I KNOW you will catch me because you love ME and you are trustworthy'. Then I can see myself falling. I am learning to let this be the catalyst for actually trusting God with my life and my situations. The thing that you need to remember is if you KNOW He loves YOU then you can trust Him - thereby letting go = trust!!!
SURRENDER
The second picture that is etched in my mind is one that came to me from God I think. It is a picture of me, on my knees, bowing down to the Lord, I am at His feet. This is a very powerful picture! To me this picture is not one of weakness but strength, after all it says in the bible, when we are weak - He will be strong! We need to be weak in order for His strength to be released in our situation. This picture looks like me throwing myself at Jesus feet, The Rock, the true and solid foundation, it is the only way. It is like throwing yourself at someone’s mercy, but in this case, throwing yourself at His mercy is a sign of trust and knowledge that He is our help and our refuge, our strong tower. Lord please help me to throw myself on you, to fall on The Rock.
The scripture verse that I read talked about falling on the rock or, the rock falling on you – it was in a different context to mercy, but I was seeing that there is perhaps another way we can understand this analogy. God’s word is supernatural and I believe that scripture can speak several lessons to us in the one story. And, this is it – it is far better for us to fall on The Rock – and for us to be broken, relying on His strength etc, than for the Rock to fall on us to break us, crush us.
When we act on our own we are not falling on The Rock, actually we are setting things in motion for the Rock to fall on us and that results in us getting broken. When we fall on The Rock, there is no further to fall, it is a position of humility, and therefore a position of strength. By taking that position, we are conveying to God that we are not in control, we are limited, we rely on Him, and we know He is the answer. I feel He senses my declaration that only He can deliver me here. My prayer in this is, "All that I have comes from Your hand, all that I am comes from Your hand and all that I need comes from your hand, thank you for bringing me Your answers'.
I hope one or both of these pictures will mean something to you and perhaps meet you where you are at - maybe in need of trust of surrender. Maybe they will help convey how you might be able to do trust and surrender, and give you somewhere to start. We've got to start somewhere! Start here.
Love
Cam
Word For Life
TRUST: To trust, hope, to make someone a refuge.
SURRENDER: To yield to the power of, to give up possession of.
The Word
2 Cor 12:10
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1 Cor 13:4
For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.
Isaiah 40:29
He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might He increases strength.
