Health & Healing Ministry

For the past two months, I have been sharing with you a summary of the book and presentation, "Seven Spiritual Gifts of Waiting", by Rev. Holly Whitcomb. This month I would like to conclude with the last and probably most important spiritual gift, trust in God. Have you ever encountered cancer or other serious illness survivors who actually speak of their illness with gratitude because it instilled in them the ultimate gift of not knowing, the ability to trust. As Dr Whitcomb notes, "When we can't control things and when we can’t predict the future, we begin to live in trust." We begin to let go of our fears and, hopefully, trust in the boundless love of God. Waiting may cause fear but is also an opportunity to trust that God is at work in our particular situation. It is a time to remember to "let go and let God."

Trust in God is an invitation to trust in love. In the Lord’s Prayer, which we repeat weekly in church, we state, "Thy will be done." Waiting gives us the chance to trust God as the one "who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment" (1 Timothy 6:17). Many of us, however, may still hang onto the notion that God’s will for us is grief or suffering. Why do we still have this sense that after a period of good fortune or much happiness "the other shoe is going to drop"? It just might be God’s will that we experience joy and satisfaction. Many of us need practice in believing that God is really on our side and will never fail us. Minister and counselor Wayne Muller suggests that when we think of the words, "Thy will be done" we substitute the words, "Thy love be done." Try it the next time you are waiting for something important. "Thy love be done" can change your ability to trust in God and improve the quality of your waiting.
Trust in God is an invitation to pray. Sometimes waiting can be overwhelming. It can all seem so confusing or complicated; more than we can handle. Waiting can present us with a choice; to give in or to give it up to prayer. Perhaps, you have heard the suggestion, "Offer it up. Offer it up." Waiting gives us a chance to "offer it up" to God, even when we don’t think we know the "right words" to pray. Waiting can stretch us beyond our routine prayers. Romans 8:26 teaches us about God’s abiding with us and reminds us that "we do not know how to pray as we ought, but (the) Spirit intercedes (for us) with sighs too deep for words." When Quakers are asked to pray, they say simply. "I will hold you in the light." This prayer of absolute trust in God’s love and wisdom certainly is a contrast to the "wish list" of desired outcomes we often present to God. This kind of prayer is a prayer of surrender to the plan God thinks best and to His unconditional love and grace.

Finally I'd like to share with you the following story from "A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul", author unknown. For me it summarizes what our life can be when we trust in God.

The Bike Ride
At first I saw God as an observer, like my judge, keeping track of the things that I did wrong. This way, God would know whether I merited heaven or hell when I died. He was always out there, sort of like the President. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I didn't really know Him at all.
But later on, when I recognized my higher power better, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride, on a tandem bike, and I noticed God was in the back helping me pedal.
I don't know when it was that He suggested we change places, but life has never been the same since….life with my higher power that is, making life more exciting.
When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring but predictable. It was always the shortest distance between two points. But when He took the lead, He knew delightful cuts, up mountains and through rocky places, and at breakneck speeds. It was all I could do to hang on!
Even though it looked like madness, He kept saying, "Pedal, pedal!"
I worried and became anxious, asking, "Where are you taking me?" He just laughed and didn’t answer, and I found myself beginning to trust. I soon forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure, and when I'd say, "I’m scared"; He'd lean back and touch my hand. He took me to people with gifts that I needed; gifts of healing, acceptance, and joy. They gave me their gifts to take on my journey. Our journey, that is, God’'s and mine.

And when we were off again, He said, "Give the gifts away, they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, to the people we met; and I found that in giving, I received, and still our burden was light.
I did not trust Him at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck it. But He knew bike secrets, knew how to make it bend to take short corners, jump to clear places filled with rocks, fly to shorten scary passages.
And I'm learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, my higher power.
And when I'm sure I can't go on anymore, He just smiles and says, "Pedal…."

Waiting. We cannot escape it. We have and will be waiting all of our lives for one thing or another. There are little and big waits, gratifying and difficult waits. We can learn from them all. As Rev. Whitcomb concludes,
"Waiting teaches us to embrace our own resilience and courage, to believe that others
will reach out to help, and to know that God’s love will always find us."

Peace & joy,
Bonnie