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“It’s hard to learn to trust if your confidence has been shaken.”

A thought by Maria Goff (2017-03-07) from her book, Love Lives Here: Finding  What You Need in a World Telling You What You Want (Kindle Location 533). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Have you found that true in your life? 

Maria had a life filled with some trust issues but then she met, Bob her future husband.  Here she was, someone with trust problems andF their second date was to go rock climbing.  She said, “Rock climbing seemed a little ambitious for a second date. Typically, couples go to the park, see a movie, eat frozen yogurt, or watch a sunset. But this was Bob.”

She says, “We strapped into our harnesses and Bob scampered away somewhere around the rocks. He said he was going on ahead to ‘top rope’ me. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but it sounded like it involved me climbing up to him. Fifteen minutes later, I could see Bob leaning over the ledge above me. He threw the rope down and one end landed at my feet. On the end of the rope was a figure-eight knot for me to clip my carabiner into. I could tell he knew what he was doing, which only underscored the fact that I didn’t.”

She goes on, “I called up to Bob, my voice quivering, ‘I don’t think I can do this.’  ‘Sure you can,’ he said optimistically with a laugh. ‘Just make one move at a time. I’ve got you.’”

Later she says, “It wasn’t the strength in my arms and legs but the confidence I found in Bob that kept me going. I knew climbing this cliff would be impossible to pull off on my own. I wouldn’t be able to trust my experience because I had none. I couldn’t trust my strength because I had little. Instead, I needed to trust the rope, the harness, and a person far above who kept saying the same three words to me: ‘I’ve got you.’ All I could do was reach as high as I could and let my feet follow. I let the words ‘Just make one move. I’ve got you’ take root in my heart. Without a doubt, that was when I fell in love with Bob.”

She says, “Someone told me once that trusting God is like letting go. I have a clearer picture of what trusting someone means after rock climbing with Bob. Perhaps letting go is part of trusting, but I think it involves a lot of hanging on too. It means making moves when you can’t see all the handholds. It’s feeling the slack being taken up on the rope as you climb toward someone you’re learning to love unconditionally. It’s climbing toward a confident whisper from Jesus saying, ‘Trust Me, I’ve got you.’”

By the way, she made it to the top and you will too if you put your trust in Jesus!


Is that what you need to do today?

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