License Plate Message
“I remember sitting parked by the roadside once, terribly depressed and afraid about my daughter’s illness and what was going on in our family, when out of nowhere a car came along down the highway with a license plate that bore on it the one word out of all the words in the dictionary that I needed most to see exactly then. The word was TRUST. What do you call a moment like that? Something to laugh off as the kind of joke life plays on us every once in a while? The word of God? I am willing to believe that maybe it was something of both, but for me it was an epiphany. The owner of the car turned out to be, as I’d suspected, a trust officer in a bank, and not long ago, having read an account I wrote of the incident somewhere, he found out where I lived and one afternoon brought me the license plate itself, which sits propped up on a bookshelf in my house to this day. It is rusty around the edges and a little battered, and it is also as holy a relic as I have ever seen.”
– FREDERICK BUECHNER
I was reminded of this word and quote on my run this morning. It’s also what I need most right now, and perhaps you might as well. Trust. Trust in God. Trust in the goodness of life and good, even though we often don’t “believe” it, or feel it, or envision it. And there lies the invitation – to trust from the heart. To trust with my heart. To trust the heart of God for my present and future – working all things for good. Surrendering, I trust. When I trust in my own mind, my own understanding, my own knowledge, and brilliance I get afraid and lose hope. The power for me in trusting in someone greater than myself, who has my best interest at heart and to trust with my heart, is a powerful invitation and remedy. I guess there is nothing new under the sun, as it says in the old, good book: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge God and God will direct your steps.” Prov. 3:5-6
Beloved God, help me to trust.
I want to trust.
I will trust.
Now in this moment,
I trust.
05/13/2019 at 2:12 pm
Wonderful! Glad to hear it. Thanks for sharing Mary. Keep on looking for those love letters.
05/04/2019 at 8:58 pm
These posts are a true testimonies to Gods love and mercy . They are more helpful to me then 10,000 sermons .
I’ve experienced the same so many times . These signs that we see are love letters from God.
07/29/2018 at 3:02 pm
I love that story Alex! Thank you for sharing. The divine synchronicity of seeing the license plate twice! I’ve heard it said that “Trust would settle every problem now.” I believe it! Now just time and time again to practice it. Here’s to you on your journey of trust. I’m rooting for you.
05/01/2018 at 9:16 pm
WOW. Something VERY similar happened to me! I was stressing out and crying out to God one day because I was so worried and a car pulled up in front of me that had the license plate “TRST ME”… I wasn’t sure if this could be God but a few weeks later that same car with that license plate pulled up in front of me again! This time I got a picture of it.
04/04/2017 at 11:20 am
Yes. These days I’m learning again to trust God in, with and through my heart rather than in, with and through my mind that is so often full of thoughts that bring fear. To move from my mind to my heart and feel God’s love there is helping me to trust more. And to learn to be gentle with ourselves too – by simply recognizing our mistrust and gently returning to trust again and again and again…
04/03/2017 at 8:55 pm
I know this word all to well. Such a difficult thing to do at times; I wonder why that is. When you do trust and all works out in the end, it is a wonderful moment…it’s just getting myself to do it time and time again that is the struggle.