Have you ever been part of a group, whether as a child or an adult, and participated in the trust fall game? It is usually used as an exercise to gain trust in others or as a team building exercise. If you are not familiar with the exercise, usually one person stands with their arms crossed on their chest. Sometimes they are even asked to close their eyes. Their partner is then asked to stand behind them. The first person is supposed to slowly lean backwards as if falling while their partner catches them. The trick is that the person falling should not stop themselves, but rather “trust” that their partner will stop them from hitting the ground. This is not easy! Our natural instinct when we feel we are falling is to catch and save ourselves. It is so natural that we even do it in our sleep! Have you ever had a dream in which you were falling, only to throw your arms out to save yourself? I’ve woken up many times to a dream such as this!

In reality, however, it is impossible to save yourself from life’s many dangers completely on your own. You need the help and support that others can give, whether that is physically or mentally, and above all you need the help of God. In the fast paced world of today, we often strive hard to be independent, hard working people who do not have to rely on others to survive. In fact, it is often seen as a weakness in today’s society to have to ask for help. Paul wrote this in his letter to the Philippians, “…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7.

I have to admit, this is one of the hardest things as a Christian for me to follow. I know that I should fully rely on God to take care of my needs, but sometimes it is SO HARD! Life throws us so many challenges and curve balls, and it always seems as though our challenges seem to happen many at a time. Right now in my personal life is the perfect example. My family has been dealing with many different hardships as of recently, work related, financial, home, health and more. Although none of these situations are extremely dire, many of them have caused countless hours of worry and heartache, and for what? I know that God ultimately has a plan for my life, and he will take care of me. I just need to learn to trust in him.

The Gospel lesson from this last Sunday was from Mark 4:35-41, the story of Jesus calming the storm.

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Although I have heard this story many times, it really spoke to me this week. We will face so many different storms in this life, some big and some small. It is tempting when the wind and the waves crash down on us the hardest to think that God is absent in our lives, just as the disciples thought that Jesus was asleep on the boat. This thought, however, is far from the truth. God is always with us. He is always listening. He always cares. Sometimes we get discouraged when we pray for something and we don’t get the answer that we want. We must remember that God’s way is not our way. This doesn’t mean that God is not listening or does not care. It just means that he knows what is best for us, and sometimes that is not what we are asking for. This is where faith and trust come into play. We have to trust that God will still provide for us and help lead us to still waters.

This reminds me of one of my favorite hymns, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” written by Joseph Medlicott Scriven. The first verse is this:

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!

Those lyrics, “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,” hold such a powerful meaning. How often do we bear the pain and forgo the peace in our lives when all we have to do is take it to God in prayer! We are not meant to travel this road alone. Jesus is with us every step of the way. All we need to do is to take our worries to Him in prayer and TRUST that He will provide for us! Like I said at the beginning of this blog, I struggle with this every day. Anytime something comes up, my first reaction is to worry; that is until I remind myself that I need to let go of my problems and give them all up to God in prayer. Whenever I remember to do this, I feel a calming peace surround me.

So the next time you are feeling overwhelmed and heavy burdened, remember to let it go. (And no, I do not mean the lyrics from a popular children’s movie a few years back!) I mean to let it all go to God in prayer. Just like the exercise I talked about at the beginning of this article, practice the trust fall. The key to the success of this exercise, however, is to not try to catch yourself. Let God catch you. Trust that he will pick you up, dust you off and put back together all of the broken pieces because HE WILL. If Jesus can calm the mighty powers of the wind and the waves, he can surely calm the storms in your own life.

I leave you with this version of the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. I encourage you to listen to it, and may the words and music have a healing on your soul.

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Can I pray for you? Send me a message at molly@savedbygrace.blog