Trust… with All Your Heart

Several years ago, I was struck by a poster hanging in one of the children’s Sunday school rooms at the church where I was serving. On the poster, there was a picture of a white water raft full of people racing down the face of an enormous waterfall. You can see the look of intensity on the faces of the rafters. They have their paddles raised out of the water and have clearly given up on trying to guide or control the situation. 

The caption reads, “Trust in the Lord with all Your Heart.” Proverbs 3:5

Now, I love white water rafting, and part of me would love to be there in that raft with the adrenaline flowing. But my initial thought was: Is it fair to put ourselves in situations that are dangerous and in places that God did not intend for us to be, and then cry out, “God help me?”  

On second thought though, sometimes in life, we do find ourselves in difficult, confusing, scary circumstances – with white water raging all around us. We all have moments when all of a sudden we realize that there is nothing we can do to guide or control the situation. And, whether we’ve brought it on ourselves or not, we simply have to surrender and trust that we are in God’s hands.   

I don’t know what you may be facing in life. But I pray today that in whatever circumstance surround you, however, they came about, that you would know in the deepest part of your being, that you can place your trust in the Lord. 

Let us pray: Loving God, You are our shepherd, we shall not want. Help us to trust you. You lead us beside still waters, so give us hearts that can be lead. You restore our souls. And, we thank you that beyond the danger, beyond the troubled waters, you bring healing.  We pray especially today for people who are in dangerous situations and others who feel they are beyond their ability to cope. We ask for your protection, your strength, and your guidance. In Jesus’ name. Amen.