Trust Part Four

 

One more Hebrew word to explore is yachal, which is often translated to wait expectantly.  You may think is waiting really trust?  Waiting feels like we are standing on sidelines.  Waiting can feel passive or like we are no longer in control.  Yet, the key word is “expectantly” or with “anticipation”.  When we wait this way there is an activeness and anticipation to trust. The tactile, tangible example here is that when I travel and my wife says she will pick me up at the airport, I trust as I am standing there waiting.  I trust, as I am waiting, that the line in the grocery store will move ~ slowly ~ but eventually.  I trust, as I am waiting, for a package in the mail, all the various workers hands who will get that package to me.  I pray you are starting to realize that even though trust seems in short supply, much of our lives really is built on trust.  And we know our faith is built on trusting God to be with us in all times and places. 

Trust is dynamic, changing, never assumed, or given, but always following a flow of life. 

Pause, where is your trust gas gauge today?  Do you feel like it is full or running on empty?  Are you waiting expectantly for a call when you can finally breathe a sigh of relief?  Are you waiting for a resolution of a situation that has been heavy on your shoulders?  Often, while we are waiting, our minds love to create and come up with thousands of fictional “what if” scenarios.  The flight, freeze, fight, flock part of our brain loves to point out all the possible worse case possibilities, then ruminate on each of them.  To wait expectantly drives its tent peg into the firm foundation of God, who nourishes us and invites us to lean on God, especially when we are weak and worn.  May you and I celebrate all the ways trust can show up in our lives on this day.  Amen.