Trust falls are up there with Chubby Bunny as a perennial youth group activity. You stand on a ledge three or four feet above your friends, cross your hands over your chest, and fall backwards into their waiting arms. You know they’re going to catch you. They’ve caught everyone–even the 200 pound high school linebacker. But there’s still that moment as you stand there, arms crossed, palms sweating, and prepare to fall. What if they don’t catch me this time? It’s always there–just that hint of fear; the whisper of insecurity. You fall anyway.
They catch you. And you start learning that stepping out in trust means risking the fall.
My word for 2015 is trust. Hope turned out to be oddly appropriate for 2014, so I’m a little apprehensive over trust being the word that keeps floating up as I’ve prayed over choosing my word the last couple weeks. (Could be worse–it could have been patience. Ha!). For whatever reason, trust is the word that God keeps bringing to mind–and I trust that he has his reasons.
As I’ve been working through my concordance, Psalm 9:10 is the verse that has really popped for me:
Those who know your name will put their trust in you. For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. (Psalm 9:10)
Those who know your name will put their trust in you. In the Bible, names often reflect something of a person’s character. Abraham means “father of nations.” Joshua means “The Lord is my salvation.” Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement.” Over and over again in Scripture we see that when God wants to reveal something about himself, he reveals his name to his people.
Hagar knew him as “The God Who Sees Me.” Abraham knew him as “The Lord Who Provides.” During the Exodus God revealed himself as “The Lord Who Heals,” “The Lord My Banner,” and “The Lord who Sanctifies You.” Jeremiah knew him as “The Lord our Righteousness;” Isaiah called him “The Holy One of Israel” and prophesied about the day he would be known as Immanuel–God with us. Knowing God’s name meant experiencing his character.
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Knowing God’s name requires us to experience his character in the same way. Hagar learned God’s name when she was wandering the wilderness, pregnant and alone. Abraham learned God’s name in a moment of desperate obedience. It was during the heat of battle that Moses learned our God is the banner of victory. It is in our own moments of isolation, desperation, and conflict that we are stretched to learn to trust God in new ways. He appears in the midst of our struggle and declares his name as he delivers us, and it is in those moments that we learn to trust.
We often ask the wrong questions in those crisis moments. We want to know “Why me?” “How could this happen?” “What’s coming next?” We need to learn to ask “who.” God, who do you want to be to me in this moment? What name do you want me to claim? How do you want to reveal yourself to me in these circumstances? Ask, look, and wait expectantly, for our God never forsakes those who seek him.
So that’s my theme for this year–trust. Trusting God. Trusting others. Trusting myself. And looking for who God wants to be to me this season as I learn to grow in trust.
What’s your word for 2015?
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