Any volunteers? For around ten years, all hands would go up in response, as the Bible teacher visited my 6th grade classroom to teach his weekly lesson. This one was always my favorite!

Students didn’t know what they were volunteering for, but all hands would immediately fly up in the air and wave around desperately, begging to be chosen.

Once the volunteer was selected, and stood before the class, the teacher would say, “Do you trust me?” The response each year was, “Yeah, I trust you,” followed by the teacher repeating, “Are you sure you trust me?” After the student affirmed again, out would come the blindfold from the teacher’s briefcase.

That is when the students who weren’t chosen breathed a sigh of relief, and the volunteer began to wish maybe he or she had not raised their hand and waved it in the air quite so fervently.

The ‘trust’ question continued to be asked after the blindfold was applied. Then, the student was directed by their trusted Bible teacher to hold out their hand.

This is when some trickery was added, as the teacher began motioning for the rest of the students to start screaming comments like, “Ooohhhh! Don’t do it! YUCK! Gross!”

Then, the final, “Do you trust me?” as students continued shrieking, begging their classmate not to do it. “Yes,” was the usual response at this point, but in a much softer and less confident voice.

The candy bar would then be placed slowly into the blindfolded student’s hand, but only briefly touching it, before they LET GO and dropped it to the floor. This usually also involved screaming, jerking around, and leaning every direction possible to avoid receiving it.

They didn’t trust him. They thought they did. They planned to. They even wanted to. Darkness came. Voices persisted. Fears appeared. Doubts crept in. They let go.

Sounds familiar to me.

The truth is — sometimes we may all be candy bar droppers.

Could it be asked of a parent to trust God to watch over their children, no matter the difficult circumstance that child may be facing?

Could it be asked of the inmate to trust God, even though they may feel desperately isolated?

Could it be asked of the grieving soul to trust God, even though their days seem endless?

Could it be asked of a college student to trust God, even though their professors and acquaintances may not?

Could it be asked of the broken hearted to trust God, even though they are in the darkest valley of their lives?

Yes, it could. Yes, it is. Our lives are filled with situations where the need for trusting God completely is great.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

Mmm…mmm….mmm. I love verses that end with a promise!

Do we trust Him?

Enough to not let go?

Or do we lean to our own understanding?

If the Lord is directing our paths, His Light overshadows the darkness, His Voice overpowers the voices around us, and our fears and doubts are overcome.

Don’t let go of Jesus, because He sure won’t let go of us…

Contact Ann at annfarabee@gmail.com or visit annfarabee.com