My wonderful husband, John, just celebrated a significant birthday and I was asked to write something about what my experience has been in knowing him all these years. As I thought about what to write a smile came to my face and the words “Trust Me” came to mind. It’s kind of a joke between us now because of all the times he said,” trust me,” and then we proceeded to get into some challenging situations.
One of the first times I had to trust him was when we were still dating and we went on canoe trip down the Pine River in Michigan. I had been in a canoe before, but never on a narrow, swiftly flowing river like this and never with John. When those first rapids were before us, I was sure we were going to crash and I wasn’t sure that John was going to steer us around the big rock in front of us. So I decided to steer from the front, which didn’t work too well. Gradually I learned that as the person in front of the canoe my job was to provide the power and trust John in back to take responsibility for steering us around the obstacles.
Another time when John would say, “Trust Me” was when we were camping with our young children and we wanted to go on a hike. He would look at the trail map and say, “I think we’ll take this trail” and I’d say, “Are you sure this trail isn’t too long for their little legs.” And he would say, “Trust me, they’ll be fine.” And I learned to say, “O.K. but if it’s too long and they can’t make it, YOU are going to carry them back.” And one of my favorite pictures of all time is of John returning from a hike with Jeremy in a backpack, Josh on his shoulders and Juli in his arms.
So what’s the spiritual point in all of this? Well just like over the years I’ve learned to trust my husband, about most things, so I have also had to learn to trust God. There are things that have happened in my life, like losing two of my children that I really don’t understand. But over the years, because of God’s faithfulness and love, I have come to the point where I can trust Him even when I don’t understand.
I’m sure when Jesus told his disciples that he was going to be betrayed, beaten and crucified and that he still wanted to go to Jerusalem, they must have wondered if He knew what He was doing. In Matthew 16: 21-23 we read “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Then Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but the concerns of men.”
In the past I’ve thought, Jesus, don’t you think you were a little rough on Peter, calling him Satan? But I think I understand now that it was a huge temptation for Jesus to not go to the cross and he needed to be vigilant in putting those thoughts out of his mind and focusing on His Father’s will for His life.
When I was meditating on this, I had a picture of Jesus, at a quieter time, wanting to take Peter’s face between his hands and look him in the eye (like I did with my children at scary times) and say, “Trust Me – this is all part of an amazing plan to buy you back from the clutches of Satan, sin and hell.”
Jesus dying didn’t make sense to Jesus disciples because they couldn’t see the big picture. A lot of things don’t make sense to us also, because we can’t see the big picture. But I want to encourage you to thank Jesus for being so steadfast in trusting His Father and going to the cross to die for our sins. And finally I pray you’ll imagine Jesus, when you come up against hard things in your life, taking your face in His hands, looking you in the eyes and saying “Trust Me.”
Jan