As a kid, I loved going to the circus. I marveled at the daring performers in their death-defying acts. Walking out of the arena carrying a glow-in-the-dark toy I’d convinced my grandpa to buy for me, I’d wonder, Which performer do I want to be? Sometimes it was a rope dancer; sometimes, the lady in charge of the poodle act, but more often than not, it was the high-flying, sequin-studded female trapeze artist. The reason for my choice was obvious. It was the costume. Bedecked in jewels and beads and oozing with confidence, the lady seemed invincible. She always had two or three impossibly muscular men catching her as she flew weightlessly through mid-air, and she never missed a beat. It was like a miracle happening right before my eyes. How did she do that?
I read once that the secret to a successful trapeze performance is the flyer. When she’s in the air between the trapeze bars, if she grabs for the person who is supposed to catch her, she will fall. The trick is for the flyer to simply hold her arms up and allow herself to be caught. This requires complete trust.
While I’ve never tried my talent on the flying trapeze (Full disclosure: I’m a little scared of heights), I can see a strong application in my land-laden life and my ability (or inability) to trust God.
One of the only things we can be sure of in life is change. Change is scary because it means letting go of what’s known and heading towards the unknown. A new job, a new home, a new church. It’s like being in mid-air, between two trapezes. But that’s where trust happens. Between the bars. Mid-air. As long as we keep holding on to the old, we will never move ahead to the new. The hardest part for me, however, in any sort of “mid-air” transition is not trying to be in control. Just keeping my arms up, trusting God to catch me. He’s the One who knows what he’s doing, who knows where I need to be—not me. I just have to let him catch me.
Many people equate trust with predicatability. Or certainty. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. Trust means you don’tknow…otherwise, it’s not trust. Our God is trustworthy, and we need to learn to be more like the high flyer on the trapeze—letting go of the old and trusting God to catch us exactly where we need to be with the new.
I’m trying to learn how to trust God in this scary journey of writing. Why is it scary? Because, as I explained in one of my first blogs, I’m “hangin’ out there naked,” for all to see. To disapprove of my writing. To not read it. But this is where God has caught me, so this is where I am. I’m sure I’ll have to fly through the air a few more times in life, whether it’s in my writing journey or in some other aspect of life. And hopefully, with practice, I’ll get better with not knowing and just trusting.
What about you? Will you share in this dia-blog? How are you trying to trust God? I’d love to know, and I’d love to pray for you.