The Joy of Being Able to Trust

We've been enjoying a wonderful series at church these last few weeks called, "Trusting the Lord--During Difficult Times".  There are so many nuances involved in our human ability to fully trust anyone, not just God.  But trusting God is so vitally important to our emotional, physical AND spiritual health.  Why are we, His most loved creations, so hesitant to trust our loving Father?  Why do we think we need to fix it ourselves?

Our pastor gave us such a beautiful metaphor of trust today. Instead of writing in my usual circles, I'd like to try and paraphrase what he spoke about.

He told us that a little bird flew into his house the other day.  The bird, instinctively, flew up the wall to the one pane of clear glass that looked like a way out.  Sadly, the little creature kept flying head first into that pane of glass.  He was sure that he knew the way out...he just had to work a little harder at it.

Pastor Tom, feeling empathy for the bird, got his broom out of the closet, and gently began to edge the bird over to the open window, which was a few feet away. A window that the bird could not see from his vantage point.  The bird, probably extremely frightened at the sight of a big broom coming at him, flew even harder toward the pane of glass in an attempt to get away.  Again, Tom tried to nudge the bird to the open window.

In time, and after (I would assume) a lot of pain, that bird allowed Tom to move him down the wall, and ultimately to his freedom outside!

Now, it is obvious that this was a beautiful metaphor of trust.  We, like that bird, can only see what we assume to be the right choice, direction, or decision. It's right in front of us, and we're pretty sure if we just try HARDER, we'll be ok. Our field of vision is humanly limited.  Like a loving Father, God will get a "broom" to gently nudge us to the path that is truly in our best interest.  Sometimes that broom is scary! Sometimes we fight against that broom and wallop our little head a little harder against that pane of glass which we are so sure will lead somewhere we desire to be.

The true joy comes when we trust our Father and know He is using that broom not to destroy us, but to guide us to the right path. We let Him guide us...we can't see the open window from our perspective, but trust that it's there.  Then, with one last nudge, we feel the freedom, joy and victory of that open window!!  We've made it!  Looking back we see our loving Father smiling at the fact we are flying, and no longer hitting our precious heads against a pane of glass.

So, the questions are these...Are you currently hitting your head against a pane of glass? Are you trying to figure out where that open window is, on your own?  Look behind you, listen, and trust that your Father knows the way out-- the perfect way for YOU.