The risk of trusting God

Brennan Manning alludes to this in his prolific work, Ruthless Trust. Arguably one of my favorite books, and clearly my favorite author. I was sorting through several things tonight and realized what I was really fearing was what we call the fear of the unknown. A fear stranger to no one. I found myself coming to the realization that I wish I knew answers to some of my questions or that I needed answers of my questions to rest. But what if some of those answers come or some of those circumstances come to pass, then what. I knew there was more. “If I knew, then that would eliminate the risk of trusting you…” As soon as those words left my hands and found their way into my journal, a sobering reality came over me.

What I really realized was I wanted to eliminate the risk of trusting God. For being in such a state is a vulnerable place and I wanted simply to be done with it. But we are called to trust.

“Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God. Fear of the unknown path stretching ahead of us destroys childlike trust in the Father’s active goodness and unrestricted love.”
- Brennan Manning

That clarity and desiring that clarity was the last thing I was clinging to and the very thing I had to let go of. We are invited to trust. A life of not seeing yet believing is the precious life we are currently being invited into, a journey that invites us deeper into the very heart of God, one that requires total and complete surrender, full and utter abandonment to every last thing we might try to cling to that is not the living God. We are invited to a life that requires total dependence on our Father, as in Him we live and move and find our being. Though we fear it is an uncomfortable place to live, it is a place of inexpressible joy and freedom, of life and peace. For there, in that place of ruthless trust we are surrounded by the richness of His promises and His unfailing love.