Seasons of Trust

“…Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalm 62:8)

Walter’s Wisdom (Are we having fun yet?) Trust and lack of fear are not the same thing; trust and courage come together. With trust, you may still feel afraid but you do the courageous thing. What exactly are we trusting? That nothing bad will happen to us? Trust must be deeper than anything to do with the events in our lives (yet we do trust that God can and often will intervene in these events) That what we think are God’s plans will turn out as we expect? Trust must be deeper than death and suffering because the trusting regularly experience these things Trust must be deeper than our conceptions of God because these conceptions will sometimes be wrong With trust, any ride is an adventure

Psalm 62 1 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. 2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. 3 How long will you assault me? Would all of you throw me down — this leaning wall, this tottering fence? 4 Surely they intend to topple me from my lofty place; they take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse. 5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. 6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. 9 Surely the lowborn are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie. If weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath. 10 Do not trust in extortion or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

As life shakes us, trust has to take on different faces and forms at different stages of our lives and for different challenges, but we often hold onto old or incomplete/partial ways of trusting in God instead of moving on to new ways.

Seasons of Trust

Spring – an exciting season of beginnings and new life. The invitation of this season is to say YES to the life and growth that is springing up in us. Summer – a season of growth and also of hard work, when all the growing things need to be tended. The invitation of this season is to say YES to the ways that our trust is challenged and stretched by new experiences.

Autumn – a season of letting go. The invitation of this season is to say YES to letting go of natural, old or incomplete ways of trusting, and risk trying new ways. Winter – a season when trust seems to die, or at least go underground. The invitation of this season is to say YES to the death of our old forms of trust and wait for new trust to be reborn.

BE PATIENT AND KIND with yourself (and others!) as you grow and change Keys to growing in trust and negotiating the changing Seasons of Trust EXPECT what trust looks and feels like to change, as you change, and as life changes and shakes you. “Life is a process, not an event!” NOTICE WITHOUT JUDGING your movements towards trust and the obstacles that keep you from trust BE HONEST with God, yourself and others: “Pour out your hearts to him, o people!” TRUST IN GOD beyond your perceptions of God, your own ability to trust, your feelings of trust, your own experiences of trust BE BRAVE and try out some new ways of thinking, feeling, acting... and trusting! BE PATIENT AND KIND with yourself (and others!) as you grow and change

Above all, trust in the slow work of God We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of progress that it is made by passing through some states of instability --- ... and that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you. Your ideas mature gradually --- let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don't try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow. Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I am the Lord your God, I go before you now I am the Lord your God, I go before you now. I stand beside you I’m all around you And though you feel I’m far away I’m closer than your breath I am with you More than you know

I am the Lord your peace No evil will conquer you Steady now your heart and mind Come into my rest And oh, let your faith arise And lift up your weary head I am with you Wherever you go

Come to me, I’m all you need Come to me, I’m everything Come to me, I’m all you need Come to me, I’m your everything

in the wind and the waves And I am your steadfast, I am your anchor, in the wind and the waves And I am your steadfast, so don’t be afraid Though your heart and flesh may fail you I’m your faithful strength And I am with you Wherever you go

Come to me, I’m all you need Come to me, I’m your everything Come to me, I’m all you need Come to me, I’m your everything

Don’t look to the right or to the left, keep your eyes on me You will not be shaken, you will not be moved I am the hand to hold, I am the truth, I am the way Just come to me, come to me Cause I’m all that you need

“…Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalm 62:8)