I know what you’re thinking. “Isn’t it a little too early for snow?” Perhaps. But if you look closely you might be able to tell that this photo is about so much more than snow. Much more than sledding. Much more than winter coats and gloves and rosy cheeks.
When I see this photo I see a very young boy plowing down a hillside on a saucer facing backward and he’s LOVING it. Yes, when I see this photo I can’t help but describe it in one word.
TRUST!
I must admit that I was a little afraid for him. Afraid he might decide to lean a little too much and tumble off the saucer. Afraid that blindly flying down a hill would cause him to scream all the way down. But not Wyatt. He had all of the confidence in the world.
He had the confidence because the daddy he loves and the daddy he trusts is the one that gave him that gentle shove in the direction he needed to go.
And when you trust your Daddy you don’t need to be afraid of that direction.
How easy it is for me to forget this. Forget that when God sets a path for me, even though it might seem a little daunting to me – a little steep, a little fast, a little…backward – that the trust is what keeps me moving in the direction He wants me to go.
Let’s be honest here, my first inclination is to get worked up and send myself into freak-out mode. The unknown isn’t something most of us like to curl up next to and get comfortable with. It’s a place we’d rather hear about but never experience for ourselves, thank you very much.
I am simply astonished every time I read the twelfth chapter of Genesis. Not only did God tell Abram to leave his home but He told him to leave the people he loved and his country. Imagine having that kind of encounter with The Lord that you were to just pack up and relocate to a new land. And this isn’t some rare request that we see only appear in scripture. God asks this of people every day.
We may not understand the reasons. We may feel hesitant or disappointed at letting go of a particular chapter. We might feel scared by any number of factors surrounding the particular situation. But God commands us to “fear not.” He doesn’t want us leaning on our own understanding that we so often incline our obedience toward. He wants us to trust in Him. In His plans. In His ways.
If you look at the picture again just take note of that smiling little face. To trust is an action that’s tightly wrapped into an emotion. Trust produces confidence. Trust produces joy. And joy is written all over this little guy’s face.
So remember to TRUST! Trust just as Wyatt trusted his daddy when he surrendered his comfy position at the top of the hill. And trust just as Abram trusted his Father when he allowed Him to take him to a land that he had never known…
