When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:4 ESV
This short devotional was the result of a writing challenge in my Christian writers’ group. We were asked to write a 500-word devotional – then cut it down to 350 words! I discovered I could actually write something short and like it. And perhaps my lovely readers may be relieved also.
The little door into the storage room was tempting. Light pooled on the stairs as I descended toward the promise of adventure.
It was a lie.
At the foot of the stairs, the darkness closed in. My heart began to pound. Panic rose.
Then a square of light appeared. A hand stuck through. And my mom’s voice called down, “Janet, come toward me.”
“Come get me, mommy! I can’t see.” And truly, the darkness swallowed all features of the room and hid the staircase from my sight.
“Trust me. Just walk toward me.” Her hand wagged a few times.
I fixed my eyes on the pale hand. Backlit by the warm house lights, my mother’s hand was a lighthouse.
I put out a foot and set it down. A stair tread met my foot. Step by shaky step, I rose higher. The square of light grew larger, my mother’s form more distinct. At last, fingers grasped my arm and pulled me into the bosom of the house.
In the dark I trembled. In the dark I learned to trust.
Trust requires vulnerability.
When God asks us to do something uncomfortable, He invites us to trust. But He doesn’t ask us to trust in the act we are called to do, but in the One who called us to do it.
Have you ever walked across a swaying rope bridge? What caused you to take that first tentative step? Was your confidence in the strength of ropes and wood planks, or in the guide who called you to walk across? Why? He has walked ahead of you. He knows where you are and where He has called you to be.
When we are in the darkness, fear and trust battle for control. God invites us to trust Him and take our first shaky step toward Him. With our eyes fixed on Him, our fear is replaced by confidence in the One who called us. Like my mother’s hand, He is your lighthouse.
Dear Father, please help me trust you and turn my fear into confidence as I trust in You. Amen.