Do You Trust Me?

Disney’s Alladin was released in 1992.  Let that sink in for a minute.  1992.  Nineteen-freakin-ninety-two.  Now go take your Geritol, clap off your lights and go to bed. 

Despite feeling like a geezer when I think about Alladin, it is one of my favorite Disney movies.  One of the most critical scenes is where Alladin asks Jasmin “do you trust me?” (this actually happens twice in the movie).  God asks us that same question every day “Do you trust me?”.

I was thinking about this as our boys (one a freshman in college, the other a freshman in high school) were headed back to school after Christmas break.  And I was thinking about it in context with this verse:

9 If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? 10 If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? 11 As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?  Matthew 7:9-11 (The Message Bible)

This is important to consider from the perspective that The Wife and I have as well as from the perspective of our children. 

As parents, we want to protect, comfort and provide for our children.  Unless you’re auditioning for some sick reality TV show, you probably want the same for your kids.  For their entire lives we have tried to shield them, encourage them, instruct them and provide for them the best we know how.  These things are less and less in our control (or what we perceive to be control) now and will only continue to trend that direction over time.  As a parent, that is an uncomfortable feeling to which God says: “Do you trust me?”.Do you trust that God loves them more than you love them?

For our boys, when it comes to their mother and me, I hope they are certain that above all else they are loved.  That we give them bread and not sawdust.  That we give them fish and not a snake.  That we give them roller blades and not razor blades (Scratch that last one.  It’s a bad Christmas story.).  They are now taking more and more ownership of their relationship with God and developing their own answer to His question: “Do you trust me?”.  Do you trust that God loves you even more than your parents love you?  Do you trust Him to give you wisdom?  Do you trust Him to be your provider?  Do you trust Him to be your comfort and your protector?

While it is a challenge to loosen our grip on that perceived control, it is fulfilling to see relationships change.  Part of that is seeing how our relationships with the boys change as they grow and mature.  But part of it is how each of our relationships with God changes as part of this process.  A process where we all seek to discover the grace to trust Him more.