Thirteen years ago, we left Ringgold Georgia and the first home we ever purchased. We also left our church Rodney pastored, which sat along State Line Road, separating Tennessee and Georgia, but on the Chattanooga side. A beautiful area we had grown to love was now being replaced with the rural area of the northern part of the Carolinas. The moving trucks all packed and loaded, we drove out the following morning. I felt sick in the pit of my stomach. There was so much I was leaving behind! But there was only one reason I was going!

Trusting the Lord with what I was leaving, on top of where I was going, felt like walking a tightrope. And I can promise you I was not gifted in the art of funambulism! Yeah, a new word I learned. 😉

My devotional from Streams in the Desert 1, shares a rather profound statement from Luke 24:21, “we trusted” (KJV).

This particular devotional goes on to say, “I have always felt so sorry that in that walk to Emmaus the disciples had not said to Jesus, ‘We still trust’; instead of ‘We trusted.’ That is so sad—something that is all over. If they had only said, ‘Everything is against our hope; it looks as if our trust was vain, but we do not give up; we believe we shall see Him again.’ But no, they walked by His side declaring their lost faith, and He had to say to them, ‘O fools, and slow of heart to believe!’”

Likewise, many times I have been slow of heart to believe. Many times, I have staggered leaning on my understanding of a situation and not trusting in the Holder of all things. Sadly, how many times have I ran away from the only One Who could provide the security and HOPE?

The New American Standard Bible says, “we were hoping.” In other words, all hope had been lost!

Oswald Chambers insightfully states, “Faith is deliberate confidence In the character of God Whose ways you may not understand at the time.”

Yes, countless times we don’t understand. I didn’t understand THAT North Carolinian move. We had relocated for new assignments before, but it always seemed to make sense. This move was different, and on top of it, all my emotions were raging! Yet through THAT move the Lord taught me some very personal lessons. It was like whitewater rafting in which I was certain I wouldn’t survive. But He held tight and proved His faithfulness to His character and plan.

What’s needed is practicing mental agility, yes, Funambulism. The Latin word for “tightrope walker” is “funambulus,” from the Latin funis, meaning “rope,” plus ambulare, meaning “to walk” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). While you won’t catch me practicing the tightrope, I do hope to practice the mental alertness that comes from hanging tightly to the Words of Truth.

Deliberately, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and never lean on your own understanding! –Proverbs 3:5

Remember the character of God never changes and His ways are not our ways, I am teaching you today, so that your trust may be in the Lord! –Proverbs 22:19