The day started out bright and sunny with so much promise. Loping along on my little horse alongside my brother and dad. The day was beginning to unfold and there were many adventures left to be had.
I was living every little 6 year old girl’s dream. Well, I’m not sure every little girl dreams of living completely off the grid in a tiny, chicken wire, stucco house but it was the one of the biggest highlights of this gal’s young life.
We lived well over an hour from the nearest town and spent every day of the summer horseback. It was glorious.
On this particular day we were out checking fence lines. Life wasn’t the hurried mess we often find ourselves in in this day and age. It was just a day of glorious adventures with my family.
I was never one short on words, especially when I was young. So the questions flew out of my mouth almost as fast the wind blew through my hair. Dad always humored me well answering my questions and making me feel completely loved and safe with him all the time.
We were miles and miles from home as the clouds started to roll in. In the wide open country of SE Montana you could see storms coming from many miles off. Dad decided it was best if we headed for home and hustled a bit in doing so.
The sky was growing darker by the minute, the wind was beginning to howl and the temperature took a drastic turn south. My little girl heart just knew to stay close to my dad as he would know the way.
It wasn’t too long before the rain started to pick up and the drops got larger. I lowered my head and trusted my horse to follow my dad’s. Suddenly something hit me on the top of the head. Then another and another. Ouch, it kind of stung. I had spent enough time outside to immediately know the hail had arrived in full force.
They started small but quickly grew in size and amount. My dad pulled his horse up and my brother and I followed suit. There was a cutbank we had been running alongside and my dad spotted a badger hole. He took a quick look inside and then had my brother and I stuff ourselves in there the best we could. He leaned over the hole covering his head the best he could and shielding us from the pounding hail.
Okay, I have to admit, I’m not sure which I was more scared of at the time. The hail outside or what might still be inside the hole with my brother and I! I just closed my eyes and trusted my dad.
[Tweet “The love our earthly parents have for us is merely a shell of the way God loves us.”] Dad had to know we were scared about going into a badger hole. But, he knew what was best for us and we had to make the choice to trust him or not.
[Tweet “Trusting God is a choice. It’s not always an easy choice but we can learn to trust our Heavenly Father.”]
3 ways to learn to trust God.
Get to know Him:
We need to spend time getting to know God. We won’t trust someone we don’t know. So we need to get into His word and discover the heart of God. Once we know Him personally it makes more sense to trust Him.
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Numbers 23:9 (ESV)
Learn from past experiences: Â
Just as I had learned to trust my dad from him proving himself trustworthy in prior experiences the same can be said for God. As we go through life we’ll have opportunities to put our faith in Him and learn to trust Him more each time. We need to recall those past experiences and thank God for them often so our trust in Him can grow.
Oh Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You plan them long ago, and now you have accomplished them. Isaiah 25:1 (NLT)
Tell Him about our fears:
When I first went into the badger hole I was too scared to tell dad I was scared. Guess what, it added to my fear! Â Once I told dad I was scared he was about to help reassure me. When we keep our fears in the dark they grow even bigger in our mind. [Tweet “When we throw open the curtains and bring our fears into the light we expose the lies.”]
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
We go through so many things in life where we aren’t sure what’s scarier, what we feel on the inside or what’s happening on the outside.[Tweet “We learn by following God closely through the different storms of life, He is trustworthy!”]
I’m sharing this post with several other blogger’s at these Faith Linkups. I encourage you to check them out. If this post resonates with you and feel it would help others please feel free to share. Easy to share buttons below. ~Laura~
Laura,
What a lovely analogy 🙂 Yes, the more I know God at a heart level and His Word, I learn to trust God more…Blessings 🙂
Thank you Dolly! Blessings to you as well.
Laura this was so good! Loved your story and application. Could picture myself right along with you all and easily relate it back to my relationship with the Lord:) Great job!
Thanks for the encouragement Gretchen! It was fun to write. I loved living there. Blessings to you!
Trust is truly all about relationship, and you’ve made that so abundantly clear here.
Thank you!
Thanks for the encouragement Michele. Blessings to you!
Love your story and how it relates so perfectly to our learning to trust God! Truly, as I learn more about Him, I can be confident in resting in what He provides for me. I’m trying to teach my children, too, to look back over all that God has done for them and in our family, and to know going forward that He will continue to be faithful to us.
Thank you! It’s so important to remember all God has done for us. Reminds us of His faithfulness! Blessings to you!
Laura, Your childhood experience was a perfect word picture of the love of our Heavenly Father.
I literally said out loud “Wow!” when you gave me the following ahh haaa moment: “When I first went into the badger hole I was too scared to tell dad I was scared. Guess what, it added to my fear! Once I told dad I was scared he was about to help reassure me. When we keep our fears in the dark they grow even bigger in our mind.” I confess that I don’t think I every told God I was scared or fearful, and this coming from someone who suffers with bouts of anxiety!
Thank you so much for this great and timely encouragement today!
Thanks Karen! I’m so glad it encouraged you. Blessings to you!
This resonates. You know what’s funny – if we ever think we have the trust thing all figured out, we don’t. We have to learn to totally rely on God.
Stopping by from all of those linkups – #DanceWithJesus
It’s so true, it’s a constant learning process. Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings to you.
Yes, fear does keep us trapped in doubt. Even though God has demonstrated His love for us in many ways, we sometimes think He may be unwilling to grant our desires or He may delay when we want those things already. This leads some believers to strike out on their own, for instance on the issue of marriage, to much regret later. Thanks for sharing.
So true Edith! I’m so glad you could stop by and share your wisdom. Blessings to you.
Trust is so important. I found I learned to trust God when I had no where else to turn. I was utterly out of options. I now have learned to trust before I get to that place. Thank you for your post.
So many of us learn to trust first by going through the fire. Glad you could stop by and thanks for the encouragement. Blessings to you!
I am big on learning from past experiences, and actually keep bag of rocks, each written with God moments. The bag is pretty large, and when I am going through a very difficult time, I pull them out to remind myself to trust. Love your practical tips!
What a great idea Crystal! I have journals with past experiences but a physical reminder would be wonderful. Thanks for sharing! Blessings!!
What a great post, Laura! It takes time to really start trusting our heavenly Father. I am so glad your dad gave you the first glimpse of the care and wisdom of our Lord God. Thanks for linking up with Grace and Truth.
Thanks Aimee! I’m certainly blessed. Blessings to you.