Cultivating Gentleness: Trust
In my previous posts, I talked about getting to a point in my life where I realized I needed to surrender to a force greater than myself and finding faith in a loving, accepting God. Now, let’s talk about trusting God.
Trust is a daily choice for me. Without trust, I cannot surrender and I cannot have faith. I have come to realize, surrender and faith make my life easier than simply relying on myself or others to save me from heartache and harm. Notice I said “save”, not “help”. I do rely on others for help at times but have come to realize the damage expecting too much can cause. We make mistakes, we disappoint ourselves and others. Putting expectations of any kind on others and ourselves only magnifies the hurt and disappoint we experience.
I choose daily to remind myself that overcoming trials from my past had little to do with my own efforts—I was running around in a tizzy most of the time (even if I appeared calm on the outside). And how does one accomplish anything on their own while being a storm? I can look back now and see how some loving force bigger than me was working miracles. It may not have seemed like it at the time, but I see now that everything has worked out. Everything has turned out okay. I am okay. Things have never turned out the way I have imagined them to (whether in the positive or negative sense) and I see that as a good thing. Things never turned out as badly as I imagined and things have always turned out better than I imagined. Reminding myself of this allows trust to take place.
By allowing myself to trust, I can stop being a storm. I can stand still and live my life rather than survive it. Even in the midst of someone else’s storm, I can choose to stand still, trust God and let him do his job…
By allowing myself to trust, I can stop being a storm. I can stand still and live my life rather than survive it. Even in the midst of someone else’s storm, I can choose to stand still, trust God and let him do his job rather than getting in the way by causing a bigger storm. I can begin to live out the words of Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (English Standard Version). As long as I am trusting, I can calm my own storm and allow God to intercede and help me. I do have to remember that I have no control over the storms others make and whether or not they can stand still and let God work—that is between the other person and their God. It is not my business.
Great relief comes when I trust, and surrender to a faith in a God of all accepting love. I can rely on his power instead of my misguided use of self-will that inevitably creates more chaos than calm. How do you come to a place of trust, surrender and faith in your life so that you can stand still and allow miracles to happen?
♡,
Kristen
