God Is Deepening Our Trust

During the Abide worship night a couple of Wednesdays ago, I was reminded of something that gave rest to my soul.

I grew up racing go karts in Red Bluff, California. We lived locally in Central Point but for 16 weekends straight during fall and winter we made the 3 hour journey to go racing. I remember the beautiful scenery of the Cascade mountains during the treks down there. Whether it was sunny, foggy, or rainy, it was easy to spot beauty. But this was only on the way to get to the track. Once we had spent the entire day and into the night racing, completely exhausted from competition, we were faced with the journey home in the pitch black darkness. The price of comfort and leisure of a hotel was never in our minds because my Dad had every dollar accounted for to ensure our family race team would be able to have the necessary equipment for competition.

But this kind of penny pinching comes at a risk, especially driving in the winter time and at night. My Dad was a solid driver, I never worried about whether he would get us home safe or not. A majority of the time I would be sprawled out in the back seat, quick to sleep after a race while he faced the journey home on his own. But as I grew older in age, the more aware I became of my surroundings. I had now experienced a bad car wreck and vehicles breaking down on the side of the road. I was no longer just a young boy that didn’t have a concept for the reality of driving especially, late after a race.

I remember this one night like it was yesterday. A major snowstorm had hit before the races were over. I remember as we were pulling out of Red Bluff on to I5, there was a warning over the radio about a storm that had hit up North. I was a little nervous because I had never encountered the reality of driving in the snow at night. I remember waking up a few times and asking my Dad how much longer, because I had realized that the journey should have been close to being over soon, but what I didn’t take into consideration was how dramatically slow my dad had to go in the snow. After falling asleep once again, I remember instantly waking up in terror. It was one of those moments where your body automatically shoots up and you think you are about to die. I thought for sure we had wrecked, or that we were about to wreck, or that I was about to die somehow. I couldn’t grasp onto my surroundings and what was taking place. As I was in this moment of terror, I heard my dad’s calm voice say, “You are okay buddy, you are safe”.

To this day, I remember peace instantly pouring over me like warm honey, after hearing the calm voice of my father. The funny thing is now that I am 29 years old and have been involved in many bad driving situations, I know that the situation with the storm he was driving through that night wasn’t easy. However, in that moment of speaking safety over me, the calmness in his voice pierced through the terror and melted it away.

In the midst of this crazy storm of 2020, we have a Father that is continuously speaking peace over us. He isn’t worried deep down; He isn’t frantic; He isn’t unsure. He knows the battle is won and that his Son Jesus has conquered sin and death. I feel like in this current year, God is building an immense amount of trust within each one of us. A deep trust that isn’t tossed with the wind and waves. One that will not easily be shaken, one that is eternal.

We have to anchor our souls in the fact that our normal is to operate out of the authority that Christ has given us. We are not victims of circumstance, our Father in Heaven is behind the wheel and He has everything under control. “You are okay, you are safe.”