My Heart is at Ease

“My heart is at ease knowing that what was meant for me will never miss me, and that what misses me was never meant for me.”  Sufi Prayer

This beautiful prayer reminds me of Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge God, and he will direct your steps.”

Recently I’ve been growing in my understanding of what it means to trust God.  I’ve been taught all my life to trust in God, but no one, as I recall, has ever taught me how exactly to do that.  I’ve heard all kinds of expressions like, “Surrender, let go, be filled with the spirit, and trust in the Lord,” but again no one has explained to me how to do that in a practical and pragmatic way.  What does it really mean to trust in the Lord?  And how can I do that in a way that makes a difference in my life?

Based on the proverb above, I think trust has to do with something I like to call the 7 A’s:

Accepting that God is good and God’s plans are good.
Attuning my heart to God rather than just my mind.
Asking God and inviting God to lead.
Allowing and opening my heart to be led, while not having to figure out how.
Attending – to signs, nudges and messages that arise and looking for them.
Affirming – thanking and living in gratitude for all the small and big ways God’s spirit leads.
Action – taking small steps as I’m led, trusting all the way.

Are these steps? No, they all happen together all at once, all the time, like a mobius strip of trust without beginning or end. And all of this making life an adventure and more like play as I live in the flow of God’s spirit knowing and experiencing that, “Life happens through us and for us, rather than by us.”