Bring Everyone Along: Trust

by Lisa Allgood, Executive Presbyter

“Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me.”      – John 12:44-45 NLT

Picture yourself in a darkened room with candles scattered around casting soft shadows and flickering light, gentle melodic instrumental music playing softly in the room. You’re sitting on a soft pillow, completely comfortable. There’s no noise from the outside.  You feel cocooned, safe, peaceful, quiet, contemplative.

Welcome to this guided meditation for letting go and trusting God as we lean in to Bring Everyone Along into the Kingdom.

In this session, we will focus on slowly letting go of the need to be in control, on the need to maintain tradition and comfort, and to instead trust God as the architect and catalyst of our life and of our church.

This is all part of the process of letting go.

Let the muscles in your body relax — even the muscles in your face. Your jaw. Your eyebrows. Your shoulders, all the way down to your fingers. And slowly allow yourself to drift away to the sound of soft music — to the sound of your soul.

Gently close your eyes and take a deep breath in. Now let it all out — every bit of it.

You are in great hands. You always have been.

Pray. Listen. Receive. Trust in your Teacher. 

If you rely only on your own abilities, they become constraints. Let go.

Letting go is scary. It means you have to trust someone to catch you. But think about how you already trust without thinking. You trust the sun will come up, even if it’s cloudy. You trust the stars will be out at night, even when you can’t see them.

Breathe the trust into the fiber of your very being that God, our Teacher, our Creator, our Lord – knows best. He is faithful. He is unchanging. And He has asked us to Bring Everyone Along.

When it comes to trusting God – especially when it comes to our churches – we  throw up our own barriers – because we are afraid. We are afraid of new people, new ideas, new traditions.  Of losing what’s comfortable for us. Sometimes we are afraid we will fail.

On and on with fears we go. And honestly, this kind of talk stunts our own spiritual growth, not to mention the health of our churches.

God can’t work through us when we set up barriers. We need to change our thinking.

Paul says, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer that way.”

We walk by faith – in complete trust – and not by sight.

Let go and let God empower you. Trust becomes easier when you understand how much God loves you and wants only the very best for you. Let go. Let God.

And let’s Bring Everyone Along.