Verse:
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
– Moses, Psalm 91:2
Thoughts:
Current events in our world present uncertain outcomes which, in turn, trigger our instincts to survive at all costs. To survive, we’ve been conditioned from the beginning of time to fight, flee, faint, or freeze. We do those things for one reason – they work! Something threatens us, survival instincts instantly trigger fear, and we react in one of those four ways.
But could we also consider adding trust as a fifth and potentially more effective reaction to uncertainty? Trust moves the burden (and illusion) of control away from myself and onto someone/something else. When I trust, I do not need to fight, flee, faint, or freeze. I can act responsibly, knowing that the outcome is already certain to the thing/person I trust.
In Psalm 91:2, Moses makes a Trust Statement for himself by saying, “When I’m feeling threatened, God is my refuge and when I’m being attacked, God is my fortress.” And isn’t it interesting that Moses starts with, “I will…”? Like, “I know it’s coming. And when it comes, I know what I’m going to do.”
For me, choosing to trust means that I can let go of my fear of losing my job, not being able to pay my bills, COVID infections in my family or friends, and ultimately even dying myself. It means that I can choose to trust things outside of myself: that everyone around me is sanitizing and distancing properly, that intelligent people will produce a vaccine, that our government’s moves will help the economy to survive and bounce back, that my leaders are making good decisions, and that ultimately, even if the worst should happen, I will be safe in the arms of God.
My path may not be your path, but I can boldly say that in times like these, learning to trust is freeing, empowering, and an attractive alternative to the fight, flee, faint, and freeze struggle to which we unconsciously subject ourselves.
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