Trust When You're Tangled

I spent the weekend with some lovely ladies at a retreat this weekend.

It was so nice.

The setting added to the escape. To be in the woods, to walk by a stream, to see the beauty of creation, did a LOT to center me - to put me back in place. I was able to briefly hike down a narrow beaten path to a small stream and experienced the calming babbling of it's waters. I witnessed the dance in flight of a beautiful red cardinal, and watched some rolly-pollies and ants enjoy the dark, damp earth below my feet. The foliage of the trees and plants gave such life to that little nook in the woods and shielded the hot sun while still allowing the magnificent rays to dance through the leaves.  I was all... by... myself... A very lovely time it was!

Through words, prayers and love from some wonderful women, God spoke some amazing wisdom into my life this weekend, too. The lesson of the weekend was to Trust when you're "Tangled". The sweet movie Tangled, a recent adaptation of the Rapunzel story, depicts the life of a girl caught in the same quandary in which we often find ourselves: tangled in and trapped by the circumstances of her life, wanting desperately to find that purpose and passion she was meant to fulfill. Like Rapunzel we are sometimes stuck, and have to learn to break free from the tangled mess of our lives to find our way. How do we break free from entanglement - when things like illness, job loss, addictions, anxiety, debt, doubt, death, divorce, discipline problems, difficult family, depression get us in a frenzied funk? ... Proverbs 3:5-6 holds the answer: That's when we must Trust. A verse most of us have heard, read and memorized long ago and over and over becomes new again when we discover how relinquishing control to Him through our complete trust of Him will release us from the tangled mess around us.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

It just happens that this passage has always been my go-to verse, my answer to "What's your favorite verse in the Bible?" or "What is your life verse?" I have always know that this passage pretty much holds the key to life.

But truly, actually, faithfully applying it, now that's another story. Sure, I trust the Lord. Sure, I know that my own understanding of things isn't completely reliable. Sure, I acknowledge His presence in my life. But that basic level of application, leaves much divine direction untapped, and leaves my life wanting and wavering.

The level of trust this passage calls us to is a deep, complete, no-matter-what kind of trust. I means we have to relinquish control, even - and especially - when things aren't going the way we want them to go. When life swirls around us, and uncertainty abounds, we have to reach down inside us where the Spirit abides and believe that what He has planned will be okay... and not just okay, but exceedingly, abundantly, immeasurably more than we can even imagine or desire! (Ephesians 3:20)

Rapunzel in Tangled wanted desperately to see the full beauty of and know the mystery behind the floating lights she saw every year from the small window of her tower. Her perspective gave her only a glimpse of the majesty that truly was. Those colorful lights were actually thousands of floating lanterns launched by the king and queen, her real parents, and the people of the kingdom, on her birthday each year to remember the daughter, the princess they had lost. Now that was exceedingly, abundantly, immeasurably more than she could imagine! But she had to wait to be set free from the circumstances that had her tangled in order to discover the truth and her destiny as princess.

And sometimes - many times - we have to wait, too. Trust and wait. Trust God. And wait on His plan to unfold.

To our dismay, there is no easy fix or magic trick to trusting God this way. But what I believe I have discovered is that the more we practice it, the easier it will become. And then the more life throws at us, the better equipped we will be to trust in Him and His ways.

I have experienced a few trials and troubles in my life, and I know that I am guaranteed more along my journey. So my prayer, based upon the truth God revealed to me this weekend, is that I will be bold enough to trust Him deeply and completely- through the good times and bad. And that by living out Proverbs 3:5-6 I will know Him more fully, and experience life more abundantly no matter the circumstances around me.

That is my prayer for all of you reading this, too! :) ... Trust when you're tangled!