Have you ever done a trust fall? It seems a simple thing: just turn around and fall, relying only on the faith that your partner will catch you. That faith can be terrifying. It can feel out of control. Even though you know in some intellectual place that someone is there catching you, you can feel like you’re falling. You know someone is in control, but in those moments, it can seem like no one is there.
This Coronavirus thing can feel a little bit like a trust fall. Every day there are new updates, new additions. The government tells us one thing, the news another, and the doctors yet another. With all the information, no one knows quite what to think. Disagreements abound. Through it all, we feel out of control. We feel like we’re falling, like there’s nothing to catch us.
The devil wants us to believe that there is no one there for us. Through these trials he tries to bring doubt. "God does not care about you. He is not there." In all of this, though, God is with us. Like in a trust fall, we must remember that even though we can’t see Him, He is there to catch us. He uses these things to build us up.
God never leaves us. In Isaiah 41:10, He says, “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (NKJV). Even in this crazy, topsy-turvy time, He is there. He is always with us. Hebrews 13:5 says that “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Because of this, we can be content in all circumstances (Heb. 13:5). Even in the middle of all this crazy, we do not need to live in fear. It isn’t easy to have peace, and peace does not equal ignorance. We should not ignore what is happening.When we know God is with us, though, and we choose to trust Him, we will be freed from the crippling fear that tries to convince us we are alone. Like the hymn says, we are “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” Tough circumstances can lead our hearts astray and cause us to walk away. How can a good God allow things like this to happen? How can He be in the midst of this trial? But He is with us. He will never leave us. If we cling to this truth, trials like this one will grow us, not cripple us.
God allows hard times so we can grow. James 1:2-3 says “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Trials can build patience. I think I can safely say that all of us are having to learn some patience right now. Staying home is hard. It’s difficult to be separated from your friends. It’s hard to be away from those we love when health seems so uncertain. God is in the midst of even this, though. Each trial He allows to come our way has a purpose. C. W. Welch says “though [this trail was] an attack of an enemy, by the time it reaches me, it has the Lord’s permission and therefore all is well” (quot. by Myers 124). God allows bad things to happen in order to grow our faith.
At the beginning of March I prayed for God to give me a word to focus on in the month. This is an exercise I started in January, so that I could grow in my faith through this year. For both January and February, the words God gave me were things I knew I needed to work on, things that made sense to me in the stage of life I was in. In March, however, I felt that He wanted me to focus on trust. I was a bit confused. I knew I needed to work on trust, of course; I don’t think there is a time that, as a Christian, I have not needed to trust Him more. I was confused, however, because I didn’t see a direct circumstance this applied to. Coronavirus had not yet come to the U.S. It wasn’t affecting my life. It seemed distant. Half a month later, we weren’t allowed to meet in large groups. A week after that, we were stuck at home. I found myself wondering how on earth I could possibly live like this. I need my people. I need my places and my things. Then I remembered that word, pinned on my bulletin board: Trust. God had given me this word for this time. I realized that while the things of this earth might pull at me and try to win my allegiance, the only thing I truly need is God. He chose this time to reveal once again what it means to truly trust Him.
Though it can feel like a free-fall, God has ordained this time for a purpose. He stands just behind us, waiting to catch us. Though we cannot see Him, He is with us. When life seems most out of control He gives us the greatest opportunity to trust Him. As a result we can say, “Lord, I don’t understand why this is happening. I don’t know when it will end. But in the midst of this, I trust You. Teach me, Lord.” And when we pray this prayer, He hears. He will show us His will. He can use us in such a time as this.
Works Cited:
The Bible. New King James Version, Thomas Nelson, 1982.
Welch, C. H. quot. in Myers, Ruth. 31 Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew. Moltnomah Books, 1994.
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