Trust Fall

     Have you ever taken part in a "Trust Fall" exercise? It's a fun team building activity where the goal is to build confidence and trust in those you work or spend time a major portion of your time. The whole idea is that as you are standing facing away from your teammates you just go dead weight and literally fall backwards into their locked arms where they catch you and keep you from hitting the ground. If you haven't ever participated in a trust fall activity it may sound like it would be an easy thing to do, but it is much more of a challenge to just fall backwards when you can't see the sturdy arms locked together by those that have "got your back" so to speak.
     Why is trusting in those with work and spend time with anyway? Why would businesses and organizations take part in "team building" activities such as a trust fall in the first place? The most obvious reason is that we thrive in an environment where we feel safe and protected. Having the confidence that our ideas and our efforts won't be laughed at or disregarded without proper consideration helps us to go out on a limb a little bit further when it comes to creativity and vulnerability. Having a sense of trust is critical for the kindergartner as she makes that first attempt to read in front of her teacher, trust is essential for the athlete who wants to master a new move or technique from their coach, and trust is a determining factor in whether a business will succeed or fail. Maybe a trust fall isn't a bad idea at all?
     In our relationship with God faith is at the core, and to truly experience faith we must be willing to trust. In much the same way as a trust fall exercise, trusting completely in God may be a little easier to say than it is to do. For me I trust that God is there and I trust that his plans are not mine and that His thoughts are much bigger than mine, so I don't fall backwards in my "trust fall" with God. If I'm going to fall into the arms of Jesus I'm going to fall forward! I'm not going to back up, I'm not going to back down! I trust that God is God and I am not and I will not turn around and go back just because I am afraid of what might happen. If I fall I am falling forward, are you coming with me? As an old friend of mine Terry Easton used to always say, "If you're waiting on me, you're backing up!"
Press on!  
"I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 
Philippians 3:10-14.
Coach Carter