The Shape of Fear: Devotion for June 29

My son's friend went through a phase where she loved doing trust falls. Without warning she'd announce, "Trust fall!" and throw herself backward, fully expecting my son to catch her.

One day she gave the usual warning, leaned back…and landed flat on the ground. She hadn't noticed that my son had stepped away to throw his soda bottle in the trash. The result was a neck brace for several weeks.

It's a funny story now—at least for the rest of us—but it also feels a little too familiar.

Most of us have experienced our own version of a trust fall. We trusted a person, a relationship, a job, or a dream, only to discover that what we depended on wasn't there to catch us. Maybe that's why trusting God doesn't always come naturally. We've been disappointed before.

I've been thinking about that while reading Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. One image she uses has stayed with me. She writes that waiting, trusting, and hoping are "like golden strands interwoven to form a strong chain." Trust is the central strand, strengthened by waiting and hope.

That's a beautiful picture. Then I came across Maynard Dixon's painting Shapes of Fear.

At first glance, it seems almost empty. Four figures stand close together, wrapped in heavy cloaks that hide both their faces and their bodies. We don't know who they are. We don't know what they're afraid of. They could be anyone. Maybe that's the point.

Fear has a way of making us withdraw. We hide behind our worries, our disappointments, our unanswered questions. We begin to believe we're alone, even when we're standing shoulder to shoulder with other people carrying the same fears.

As I looked at the painting, I couldn't help wondering if Dixon wasn't painting more than four people. Perhaps he was painting all of us. There are good reasons we struggle to trust God. We wonder where he was when life hurt the most. We ask why prayers seemed to go unanswered. Sometimes it feels easier to keep God at a distance than to risk another disappointment.

Jesus understood that about us. That's why he said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."

Notice he doesn't say, "You have nothing to fear." He says, "Trust me." The circumstances may not change overnight. The waiting may continue. The questions may remain unanswered for a time. But trust, hope, and waiting are woven together into something stronger than fear.

I don't know what fear you're carrying today. Maybe it has a name. Maybe it doesn't. But I do know this: Christ has never stepped aside and left us to fall.

My prayer is that, whatever you're facing, your chain of trust will grow stronger as you wait with hope.

~ Pastor Laurie 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. –Proverbs 3:5-6

Featured art: Shapes of Fear, Maynard Dixon, 1930-32