The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. Deuteronomy 33:27 (NLT)
As a child, I feared the ocean. Most summers were spent in England – mum’s homeland – where, after visiting grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, our family would relax on the beaches of Margate or Frinton-on-sea. Though my brothers never hesitated to run into the frigid waters of the North Sea, I was more reticent. It wasn’t just the temperature that frightened me, but those rolling waves so daunting to a small child. It wasn’t until my father went in, his arms wrapped around me, that I was able to release my fear and experience the many joys the ocean had to offer. My father knew what I had failed to grasp: yield to fear and miss out on the fun or surrender myself into his loving arms and experience enjoy.
Trust is not an overnight achievement. It’s a daily surrendering of my will and my plans to the One whose ways are far better than my own. In resisting, I deprive myself of the blessings of His presence. In surrender, I find fullness of joy.
Prayer: Lord, at times your plan confuses me and evil seems to be winning. Help me to trust even on the darkest days, knowing you are not asleep but you are working out your plan. Help me to step into your purpose for this season of life fully trusting that your arms are undergirding me every inch of the way. Amen.
Thought: “Restlessness and impatience change nothing except our peace and joy. Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on Him who has all things safely in His hands.” Elisabeth Elliott