Summer Sampler: You Can’t Trust What You Don’t Know
Welcome to the Summer Sampler Series! This summer, we are celebrating the beautiful, diverse ways God is working in and through the women in our community. Psalm 107:2 declares, “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.” Every week, our Summer Sampler series will feature a different author sharing a personal glimpse into the story God has been writing in her life and ministry lately. These are authentic, honest reflections of faith, encouragement, and everyday ministry experienced “along the way” of regular life. So, grab a cool drink, pull up a chair, and join us this summer as we celebrate His presence in our everyday lives!
By Sharon Gamble
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and
the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV)
What was it in my husband’s personality that made him want to toss his children up over his head and catch them again? It used to frighten me when we were young parents. Our girls were not frightened. Oh no. They loved it. I can remember their laughter and giggles … and my worry … even now! Despite my fears, however, he never once dropped those precious girls.
As our daughters grew older, they would stand on the bed and shout, “Catch me, Daddy!” Again, every time they leaped with total confidence toward their daddy’s big, strong arms, Ray would catch them. Oh, to have the faith of a little child, confident that my Father God, my Abba, will not drop me!
Why did our daughters willingly leap into their daddy’s arms? Because they knew him. They knew he was much stronger and bigger than they were. They knew that he loved them and had no intention of hurting them. They knew his eyes were trained on them, ready to catch them and hold them tight. The thrill of the jump was not terrifying for them because they trusted the one to whom they jumped.
Oh, to have the faith of a little child, confident that my Father God, my Abba, will not drop me!
Paul, in Philippians 3, speaks of his longing to know Christ. Paul wanted to understand Christ’s power. A power so big He did not stay dead when He died. Resurrection power. Paul wanted to share in Christ’s sufferings. He recognized that this was a huge part of Christ’s life, and he didn’t want to miss understanding that part of who Christ was, either. Paul wanted to be like Christ to the death and share in eternal life with His Savior.
Can you imagine knowing Christ so well that death and suffering held no fear? That was Paul’s desire. That is also mine. I want, someday, to cross from this life to the next in joy because I trust the One who will catch me as I leap from a mortal to an immortal body! And in the suffering along the way … I want to see it as a sharing – a fellowship – with the One who suffered most for me. He, of all people, knows what it feels like to hurt. And He suffers with us, in fellowship, never leaving us even in the hardest of times.
So, dear friends, let’s make it our goal to know Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2) The more we know Him, the more we will trust Him, no matter what our futures hold. When the One we are trusting is God, we can jump with joy!
Father, I truly do want to know You better and love You more! Help me to study, to learn, to be with You in quiet so that I come to know You, the One who made me, intimately. Thank You that there is no fear in Love. You are trustworthy. I praise You in Jesus Name, Amen.
Sharon Gamble is the founder of Sweet Selah Ministries, a ministry devoted to giving women encouragement and tools to take time out of their busy, busy lives to “be still” with the One who loves them most. She is currently walking through a hard time in her personal life, as her husband has been diagnosed with brain cancer. As she walks this path, she is truly trusting in the God that she knows. She is speaking at The Living Water Conference in September, if God allows, and will share more there about how knowing God makes trust a bit easier when the path is hard.