The Calm During the Storm - Trusting What You Know

 

Trust is a curious thing. The dictionary describes trust as a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. I am reminded of this trust in my adventure with my friend this week.

As I exited my house for my daily walk with a friend, I saw off in the distance a storm front heading our way. I wondered what the weather was going to be. Is this some storm off in the

distance? I took my phone from my pocket and lo and behold I thought it said 80 degrees, when in reality it said 80 percent chance of rain.

I thought, Oh, we can get our walk in before the rain hits. Besides, we live in North Texas where the weather is always a chance of rain and you never know if it will rain or not. It is not strange to see a storm in the distance and not get a lick of rain.

So, off I went wondering if my friend was still asleep or trying to get to me. Just in front of the beautiful storm front was what I thought was my friend… or was it a mailbox? I was not sure because from a long way off my friend is about the height of a brick mailbox. I called my husband, just in case, so he could come and rescue us in the car if we got stuck in the rain. Of course he said yes. He is a kind gentle man who has been there with me and I trust him with my life, because I know he has my protection as his best interest.

As I got closer, I saw indeed that it was my friend. We both started clamoring, “Do you think we can get our walk in before the rain hits?” As we looked up, the sky was getting darker and darker. We suddenly realized that we were going to need to either run to her house or trust Steve would get to us in time. The rain was upon us. As we were debating our best option of not getting soaked or struck by lightning, it started raining harder.

Her natural instinct was to run to what she knew as shelter… her home. My natural instinct was to run toward Stephen who I knew would be there for me. My friend prompted me to follow her, saying, “We can make it to my house before he can make it to us.” Knowing her house was closer than mine, it was still a long distance away. Since she is a senior citizen and I am middle-aged… what we thought we could do physically, in our mind’s eye, dates back to when we both were twenty, and not our actual age or true physical ability. I said, “I do not think we can run fast enough.”

Meantime, in the distance we saw headlights. I said, “Here comes Steve!” She said, “Oh good!” But the car turned the other way, and it was not him. She began to go toward her house and I started running toward where I knew Steve would be. Believing that he told me he was coming. “I trust him,” I said to my friend. “He will come and get us.” Sure enough, here came another car and I said, “See, it’s him! Run toward the car.” She ran with me, but was doubting, saying, “I don’t think it’s him.” I said assuredly, “No, it is him!” Sure enough, it was… We jumped into his car just as lightning hit. As we fell into our seats and slammed the rain outside the car, we felt very relieved. He was there, like he said he would be. He came for us just in time, before the real bad weather hit.

Having 30 years of experience with my husband, I, of course, know and trust him with my life. My friend has only known him for a short time. Her instinct was to trust in her own abilities to run… which in reality would have been a failure. My instinct was to trust in Stephen, because I knew I could not do it on my own. As we both trust in our instincts, we naturally acted on what we perceived to be true. I had to convince her that Steve was indeed trustworthy and would not let us down. She trusted me and our friendship therefore believed me that it was indeed my anxiously awaited husband.

                  I realized after this incident that our human reaction is how we as human beings respond toward God. If we know God and trust Him, we have confidence in Him, and run toward Him to save us from impending danger, and rescue from upcoming trials in life and our ultimate life’s end. It reminded me of Proverbs 16:25: “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”^[1] What could have been a serious avenue for my friend and me, ended up being a funny mishap that we will probably laugh about for a long time.

                  So this brings us to my query: “In time of distress, who are we trusting in?” Although my husband is faithful, he cannot give me rescue from my impending death, or joy in every

circumstance. However, I do know and trust that Jesus can. He can be trust like a child can trust his daddy will catch him when he jumps into his arms.

                  It will always go back to who we know; who we have experience with.  Corrie ten Boom says it like this, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” So, the question for us all is: “Do I know Jesus enough to run to Him, or do we run to our destruction?” I have known Jesus for about as many years as I have known my husband and I know that He will rescue me from times of trouble. I’m convinced that Jesus is trustworthy and will come and get me from this life’s storms. Will you run with me to Him? He is faithful to all who trust in Him. Let’s run together toward the only One who can save us from our life’s quandary: Jesus Christ. 

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^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Pr 16:25). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

Thank you for taking the time to read my contemplations.

 Blessings,
©Darla J. Smith
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