“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalms 27:13-14 NIV
On our recent trip to Alaska, one of the excursions we chose included panning for gold. The description declared every participant would leave with “guaranteed gold.” We were skeptical, but it was intriguing. Why not? It sounded like a fun experience.
We traveled from the port by bus and arrived at a tent camp, something like what the gold rush prospectors would have experienced. After a brief theatrical presentation, one of the actors led the group over to waist-high troughs filled with water, silt, gravel…and guaranteed gold. We were instructed to take a pan. He then described the process of dipping the pan through the water, lifting some of the silt and gravel, and carefully tilting the pan, allowing the tiny real gold flecks to remain behind as the water carried the rest out. He assured us that if we trusted the process, the gold would be heavier than everything else and would most definitely remain in the pan. At that point, he showed us how to partially fill a small zip-lock bag with water, pick up a tiny fleck on a wet finger, and transfer it into the bag to take home as a souvenir. So, we each began our attempts to pan out that guaranteed gold.
Tom was next to me and, before too long, was transferring several tiny flecks of gold into his little bag. Although I heard what the instructor told us, it was difficult for me to make it happen. I felt awkward and uncertain. It didn’t come easily. I heard what was said but wasn’t sure how to do it. I quickly grew frustrated. What was fun about this?
I handed my pan to Tom, and shortly after, he was transferring more tiny flecks of guaranteed gold from my pan into his little bag. The guide had said more than once to “trust the process.” But trusting the process took more patience than I had. So, I stopped trying. Tom understood the process, had the patience, and successfully retrieved all the little flecks of gold from his pan and mine.
What does panning for gold have to do with trusting God when you can’t see the answers?
Be patient with the process. One thing I have learned about myself is that I like to skip to the end. No, I am not the one who turns to the end of the book to read the last page while I am still on page 55, in the middle of the story. If I am reading a story for entertainment, I don’t have that temptation.
In a story, the author has already done the hard work of figuring things out, walking through the details, making the hard decisions, and persevering through the challenges. I don’t have to.
But when I am in the middle of my own story, I must do the hard work. What I want is to skip from page 55 to the last word. I want to skip the process and get to the outcome. In Alaska, I handed my pan to Tom. But that shortcut is not an option in life.
In a story, I can just enjoy the results of the process the author has already worked through. But life doesn’t work that way, does it? Or does it?
If I believe that God has already worked through the details, why can’t I enjoy the story He has already written? I’m not sure. But it must be possible. Wouldn’t that be trust?
Follow through on what you know. The gold-panning process was one I had never been through before. I didn’t know how to hold the pan in the right way, with the right amount of water at the right angle to wash away the silt and leave behind the gold. But the instructions I received were based on decades of others’ experiences. I knew that, but I didn’t possess the perseverance to trust that those instructions would work for me. I had to appropriate that truth for myself…But I didn’t.
When life gets challenging, I must trust the truth that I know about God’s character. Remembering how I’ve experienced His goodness in the past can give me hope to persevere through what’s happening now. But I have so much more than my own experience to go on. I have all the stories of God’s faithfulness contained in the Word of God, and centuries of testimonies that confirm its truth. Just because I haven’t experienced it in my current situation doesn’t cancel that truth. I must appropriate that truth for myself. It can be a challenge to trust the process and act on a truth I have not yet experienced, but isn’t that what trust is about?
Trust leads to confidence. Tom trusted that the process would work and settled into the task of learning what to do, even though he hadn’t done it before. His physical aptitude for the process added to his confidence, but that wasn’t the only thing. This was something he wanted to do, and he was already committed to making it work. He came into the experience determined to succeed. I hadn’t made that determination.
Trusting God when I can’t see the answers means that I walk into uncertainty determined to believe Him. I decide in advance that no matter what happens, I will hold fast to the belief that God is good and is working everything together for my good. Deciding in advance gives me the confidence to face the challenge. If I had approached panning for gold that way, perhaps I would have been more successful.
Dear friend, you may be going through a challenge right now, and, if you’re like me, you might want to skip to the end. You and I know that isn’t possible. Unlike my panning for gold experience, you can’t hand your challenge to someone else to manage for you. But you can persevere. You can be patient, follow through on what you know, and find the confidence to trust the process. I’m praying for you, my friend.
Dear Lord, You know all that my friend is facing right now. You know the pain and uncertainty. Help my friend to remember how they have experienced Your faithfulness, and the truth that is already in their heart. Give them the grace to decide in advance to trust You, because when they trust You, they can trust Your process. Amen.
Key Question: How can I trust God when I can’t see the answers?
A Scripture to Consider: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalms 27:13-14 NIV
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