Trust: From A Different Perspective

“Trust God”- a term we hear a lot and say to ourselves most of the time. But the reality of it? It’s a struggle. I have caught myself saying this so many times but to be honest with you, I never knew how hard it actually was until trusting God was all that I was able to do. All this time, I thought I had been able to trust God. Like me, you too may have been saying that you trust God- that you trust him with your life, your future, your career etc, but what happens when everything seems to be crumbling? When everything doesn’t make sense, or the storm seems too big? What happens when relationships, friendships or career paths break down? What happens when your circumstances in no way matches anything that God is saying to you? Is it still easy to say, ‘I trust you God’? Sure, we may say it and believe it but it’s a struggle. It’s hard and it’s tiring. Why? Because we are human; we don’t see the bigger picture. We focus too much on the here and now that we are not able to see what lies ahead. If you are in a season where trusting God is difficult for you right now, know that you are not alone. It’s hard and can be very discouraging at times. There is no easy way to this whole ‘trust’ thing, but I do have something that will help you to see it from a different, much simpler perspective. A comparison given to me by the Holy Spirit, during an unusual evening walk, that I would like to share with you.

 A little back story: It was exam season and I was going through something very difficult at the time. I was feeling very overwhelmed and revision wasn’t going too well either, so my friend took me for an evening walk. We were both just walking when suddenly I had a weird urge to walk with my eyes closed. Without telling my friend, I tried doing this but quickly came to my senses and stopped a few seconds after, I mean it was dark and we were near the main road. But I still couldn’t shake off this urge so I turned to my friend and asked her, as odd as it sounded, if I could hold her hand whilst she walked me back home with my eyes closed. All my friends were very aware of how weird I was, so she didn’t really question me and just agreed. As nervous as I was, I grabbed onto her arm and began to walk. As I started walking, Jesus started speaking to me. During the walk and even after, He used each stage to show me the processes of trusting Him and just how simple it can be to surrender and trust Him completely.

The very first thing He showed was my failure to walk on my own. Just like how it would have been dangerous to walk alone with my eyes closed, with nobody to guide me, walking alone through my life without anyone to guide me is just as dangerous. When I was walking, it was dark and there were cars going by; walking alone with my eyes closed could have serious consequences. Similarly, walking alone in life will also have serious consequences and so I need someone to guide me when I do not know what lies ahead- and that someone can only be God.

Secondly, as I grabbed my friend’s arm to let her walk me back home, Jesus pointed out something big. I’m not going to lie, I was very scared at first, I kept pulling my friend back and was so tempted to open my eyes but the more I realised that my friend was guiding me, that she could see the way and that she would not let anything bad happen to me, the more I was able to trust her and the easier it became. Jesus showed me that, if I can trust my friend to walk me back home when I couldn’t see, then I can trust Him, an all knowing and all loving God, to walk me through life. All I need to do is to lean on Him and trust that He will take me to the right destination as He is the One that knows the way, He is the one that sees all things.

Something I noticed on my journey back home was that it felt much longer than it did in the beginning with my eyes open. Jesus used this to show that sometimes it will get tiring and the journey will seem long. Despite this, no matter how long it takes or how long it may feel, just like how my friend took me back home where I needed to be, regardless of how I felt or what it would take, He will also take me to where I need to be. He also showed that, just like how I found it hard to completely trust my friend in the beginning, I will also find it hard, at the start, to continue during tough times and may even want to give up. However, the more I realise that God is guiding me, the more I will be able to trust in Him and the easier it will become.

As I was walking with my friend, I imagined Jesus walking with me. In fact, I truly believed that it was Jesus, and not my friend, that I was grabbing onto- walking me back home and talking to me. I enjoyed the walk so much that I decided to do it again the following week. This time Jesus showed me something different.

As I began to walk, I felt as if I had gone back to stage one again. I was very scared even though I had done it before but Jesus showed me that similarly, time away from Him will also feel like I’ve gone back to stage one again. It will feel scary and will make it hard for me to trust Him again. Therefore, staying close to Him through prayer and reading the bible is vital, it will make the process a whole lot easier. Not only does God speak to us through prayer and scripture but He gives us the hope and strength to go on.

On this walk, I decided to walk on a different road than last time and so the place felt unfamiliar as I was not used to walking there with my eyes closed. But, in the same way, Jesus showed that He will also take us to new and unfamiliar places. We will feel uncomfortable at times but just like how my friend was still there guiding me in this “unfamiliar place”, Jesus will also be there, guiding us, every step of the way and will take us to the right destination regardless.

During my walk I heard people talking on the way.  It confused me as I didn’t know if they were talking to me or talking about me. I mean I must have looked odd walking with my eyes closed. I also saw so many flashing lights, I hit my leg on something and even lost my balance at one point. Jesus used these two events to show me that there will be a lot of people who will tell me different things and sometimes even lies but despite this, I should always keep my focus on Him. He’s the only one that knows the way so we should always listen to Him and Him alone. He also showed how there will be so many things that come my way to destroy me and confuse me but if I close my eyes tighter, I will not see the lights flashing as much and hence will not be as confused. Likewise, we should try our best to block out any confusion and trust the process and trust Him. Sometimes things will hit us or hurt us, but they will not destroy us. We may lose our balance, but He will not let our foot slip!

From these simple but very odd evening walks, Jesus spoke to me when I really needed it- in a time where trusting Him was hard and I could not see past my circumstances and problem. If, like me, you are in a season where you are finding it hard to trust, then I advise you to try this out. It helped me to see it in a different, much simpler perspective. Being in a situation where you are depending on a friend to walk you back home when you can’t see will help you understand how, in the same way, we should and can also depend and trust God to guide us through our life when we can’t see what lies ahead. But for you to understand it fully, you too must try it out!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”- Proverbs 3:5-6

“I am with you always”- Matthew 28:20