“ What Is Needed Is Trust”

It’s easy to trust when the sun is out and there’s a nice breeze, and life is delightful. “I really trust God for my life… I’m healthy, the kids are doing great…. I have money in the bank, I just got a nice promotion …. Boy, the government has it together…both in domestic and foreign issues and they’re really coming around nicely on moral issues….boy, the churches are full…. wow, things are great. I really trust the Lord.” Hmmmmm, it doesn’t take much trust to trust when trust isn’t needed.” 

But what about when we find our self in the middle of a mess, in the middle of a storm…. pretty much the opposite of what I described above. Things are falling apart in every direction and its hard to see a way out. What about when you feel you’ve done all you can to help your child and things are still going south… what about when you’ve done all the treatments the doctors prescribed and you’re not getting better…. what about when you prayed for a turnaround for our country and things seem to be going off a cliff. I think you get the picture. Well, this is precisely the time when trust is needed. This is when we need to trust the Lord.

In the movie “The Shack”, a father who has lost his young daughter to a predator, is trying to stay above water…having lost almost all hope and trust in God … he’s simply devastated. In the theme song, there’s a call to trust. It goes:

“When you’re lost in the dark…Keep your eyes on me
When the light in your heart is too burned out to see… Keep your eyes on me …You swear you’re all alone …and you can’t find your way home …Keep your eyes on me”

Jesus, I trust in you! The times we need to trust God to come through for us is when things are the most bleak. The time it’s hardest to trust is when we most need to trust. “Jesus, this situation looks hopeless. I don’t know what to do…I’ve tried everything and it’s not working… I’m at the end of my rope.”

This is the very time we need a Good God. This is the very time we need a God we can trust to save us… a God that is all wise and all loving and all powerful…. a God that knows what is needed. Sometimes his perfect will and perfect timing does not line up with our will and timing…. but in the end, it is perfect. 

This is also the time we need good friends to stand with us in our trial…often just standing with us, maybe not saying a whole lot…but standing by our side and praying for us. In Christ, all will be well with our soul. In Christ, things are going to be okay. 

As St. Polycarp was being martyred in a funeral pyre, he proclaimed a final priestly prayer…”I bless you for finding me worthy of this day, this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs I may share the cup of Christ…and rise again to eternal life…” (Magnificat, Feb. 23, 2022)

So Lord, in the midst of our trials help us to trust in your goodness and may you “find us worthy of this day and this hour”, that we might cling to you and receive your perfect blessings.