Trust Your Father

Proverbs 3:5-6 New International Version (NIV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight.

The puppy was held tightly against his chest and tears rolled down his face. Then in a moment large hands removed the stuffed animal from the child’s arms and screams of terror filled the airport. No words can console him. Time seems to stand still. Separation without understanding has led to this heart wrenching scene.

Most of us have witnessed this scene play out over and over in airports across the country. Small children have no understanding of the need for airport security. They have no memories of 9/11 or understanding of global terrorism. All they know is that something they loved is being taken away from them and it doesn’t make sense. You can try to tell the child that it is only for a moment and they will get him back but in that moment, words are insufficient.

In some ways we have many things in common with the child at the airport. Those of us who have lost a child are suffering from separation without understanding. We just want our loved one back. We are told that it is just for a short time but it feels like so much more. Just as the child wonders why his father would allow this to happen, we are left to wonder why our Heavenly Father would allow this to happen. We are left with the choice of trusting the one that loves us or trusting our own understanding. Our own understanding of our loss will never be adequate because we have no understanding beyond our own perspective. God knows the whole story. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust the Lord with all of our hearts. 

Just as the child in the airport must trust his father that loves him,we must do the same. The child must be separated from the one he loves for a short time but he will have the remainder of their journey together. We too have been separated for a short time but the rest of eternity awaits. Trust your Father.

Response

Why is it difficult for us to trust beyond our own perspective?