Our teenage daughter left home and for three years lived either on the streets or with various people who took her in. Although we received wise counsel from a support group for parents of troubled teens, we had other friends who patted me on the hand and said, “Don’t worry. She’ll come home.”
I didn’t think this was wise comfort. Because I have volunteered with the homeless, I know that not everyone comes home. Who was to say what my daughter would choose? That advice would have encouraged me to trust in outcomes, to trust that my faith would somehow force certain results from my daughter and from God.
I couldn’t do that. Although I felt very confident in God, I didn’t feel confident about my friends’ prescribed outcomes. I didn’t trust that our daughter would get a job or change her living situation. I trusted God. I asked God for those things, but I didn’t trust in those results. God could be my comfort and strength without my telling God what to do. (She did come home and made an impressive turnaround.)
TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - What expectations are you holding on to? Can you still trust God even if X never happens? If a certain job or living situation or relationship doesn’t work out, are you still able to delight in this God who loves you tremendously?
If your desires (or, more specifically, you) are the idol of your soul, consider how you could begin to give that up. Try saying this prayer and see if you’re on the journey of it being authentic: “I trust you, O God. I want to simply rest in your life as you give it to me. Show me how to be at peace, even when others who are less deserving seem to do better than I do. Help me look to the heavens and exclaim, ‘Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. I’m thrilled to dwell in your house, O God, forever.’”
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