When I was a Team member at Warren Willis Camp, every week we would take our Small Groups to the Ropes Course early in the week to create a sense of strong communication and teamwork. I have served as a counselor for four years and have worked with elementary, middle school and high school individuals in this formidable time as they ask questions about faith, the Bible and how we are to follow Jesus in today’s world. In every Rope’s Course activity, we have what is called the Trust Fall and it can be done two different ways. One way is in a circle where you close your eyes, link up your hands, fold in your arms and plant your feet. Once you close your eyes, you lean back in the circle and hope and pray that your fellow campers catch you. The other way of doing this activity is up on a 6-foot ledge that you fall from and hope that you fall into a group of campers and adult volunteers that catch you like you are crowd surfing at a concert. Both experiences require some trust and both experiences bring up some anxiety for folks because we are conditioned early on to look out for ourselves and to not just fall blindly where we cannot see. They also teach us about Trust and relying on grace.
When I think about this Lent Week Three focus, I am reminded of this image of the Trust Fall. This classic activity at camp is the foundation for all that we do in faith, because much of what we hope in is outside of our control. When we trust Jesus with our callings and career choices, we don’t know where we will end up. When we trust our marriages and child-rearing to Jesus, we may feel more vulnerable than we would like. When we trust Jesus with our finances, we may worry about scarcity or lack of security. When we trust Jesus with our anger and bitterness, we may not get to have the final word.
And so why do we do it? Why is it often times difficult to trust and what does it mean to rely on grace?
If we carry through with the metaphor of the Trust Fall, our faith in Jesus means that we are sometimes not in control. By closing our eyes and locking our hands we are signaling that we don’t know what happens next and we can’t control the outcome. This is a scary notion and one that takes trust to see it through. The lack of control is an essential part of trusting Jesus because He orders our steps and walks beside us in uncomfortable situations. I remember the words of a seminary professor who told us that Jesus came to comfort the afflict and afflict the comfortable. I feel that I am the latter one in that example and I have lived a mostly comfortable life. And so trusting that Jesus will walk with me through situations that I don’t choose and that I might not feel ready for is a part of that trust. Remember Jesus never asked us to believe in Him, but to follow him. When we rely on grace, we are choosing to follow even if it all doesn’t make sense.
Stick with the Trust Fall example for a moment longer, and picture the first way of falling in a circle, surrounded by the group of other campers. I fall in whatever direction the group gently nudges me. While I trust the community of faith that surrounds me, really relying on grace is the peace we feel when we know that whatever we walk through, we have a community of Jesus followers that surround us, support us and hold us in prayer. And that is the gift of grace. When we can’t do it alone and we run out of steam, it is the community of Jesus followers that gently nudges us, directs us and protects us. I have watched this happen over and over again in the churches I serve and in the faith communities that I am connected to because this is the incarnation of grace. And by relying on God’s Grace, it stretches us and reminds us that we are all connected.
And so I ask you to think this week about where you are struggling to trust. Is it in your fear of the unknown? Are you struggling to trust a person, a leader, a system? Are you struggling to trust yourself or friend or a loved one? Name that, know that and bring it to God in prayer. And then I invite you, as you pray over that area of distrust to look for the people that might be able to hold you up and support you as you find your way. That is where grace enters in and that is how God’s Spirit strengthens us through community.
Praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.
Psalm 28:6-7