"Do you trust me? Do...you...trust me?" Aladdin reached down to Jasmine and asked if she trusted him. He gently reached out his hand and asked her this question when he was dressed as Prince Ali Ababwa...and when he was the lowly Aladdin, a peasant boy. She knew then that it was Aladdin dressed as the prince. She knew she could trust him.
Lately, I've been picturing God the same way. He has been reaching His hand down to me and asks, "Do you trust me?" I hesitate ever so slightly. He asks again, "Well...do you trust me or not?"
I am leaving for Israel in 6 days. I am heading to Jerusalem and Gaza for 10 days of ministering to Muslims, Christians, and Jews in one of the most volatile lands in the world. Constant unrest between Israel and Palestine creates constant friction. Frightening reports of suicide bombers, blown up buses, shootings, and riots pepper the news.
I just returned from Peru on July 17. It wasn't a stretch for me to go down to South America. It was familiar. I speak Spanish. It's relatively safe. We were visiting sweet Compassion children and taking a (somewhat) cushy bus ride to get to the outskirts of the jungle. The worst thing I feared was a parasite. I hadn't asked for financial support for a mission trip for at least 2 years. I wasn't worried about the money and it came it pretty easily.
But Israel seems different.I knew I had to go when I was asked in April, in June, and in July. I knew I had to go when I found out it was a medical trip. I knew I had to go when I realized how it would build my faith. Raise $3600 in 2 and a half months? (Gulp!) Would it be possible? I knew I was rationalizing why I shouldn't go. And yet God kept reaching out His hand asking, "Do. You. Trust. Me?"
And so I trust Him. I trust Him with my safety; with my life. My life is not in my own hands; it never has been. I have no more control over what will happen to me on the way to the grocery store tomorrow than I do over my physical safety in Gaza.
"But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God. They're like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers—Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, Serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season." - Jeremiah 17: 7-8 (The Message)
God has called me to Israel for 10 days. He has asked me to trust Him and hold His outstretched hand.
"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness whine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." - Psalms 37:5-6
Someone told me not to fear...to dial God's 911. It is so reassuring:"You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night in Shaddai's shadow, Say this: 'God, you're my refuge. I trust in you and I'm safe!' That's right—he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you—under them you're perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm. Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day, Not disease that prowls through the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon. Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right and left, no harm will even graze you. You'll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance, watch the wicked turn into corpses. Yes, because God's your refuge, the High God your very own home, Evil can't get close to you, harm can't get through the door. He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go. If you stumble, they'll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling. You'll walk unharmed among lions and snakes, and kick young lions and serpents from the path." - Psalms 91: 1-13
I know I am God's. I know that we have a purpose in Jerusalem and Gaza. I trust that God holds me in the palm of His hand. And so I go out, not always boldly, but in faith.
I look up into the face of God and see His outstretched hand. His kind eyes ask, "Do you trust me?" And I take His hand and walk confidently to Israel 6 days from now...
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