Key Bible Verse: But when I am afraid, I put my trust in you (Psalm 56:3). Bonus Reading: Psalm 56:1-4, 9-13

I was about 12 when I took the terrifying and exhilarating plunge of learning to water ski. In between swallowing my body weight in lake water and torpedoing beneath the surface when I forgot to let go of the towrope, I managed to get vertical on the skis. What a thrill it was!

My dad's advice struck me as ridiculous: "If you start to fall, lean into it, not away from it, and you'll come back upright." Preposterous!

But as I was skittering along the water on wobbly skis, I began to tilt. And somehow, before it was too late, I was able to engage my father's preposterous-sounding advice and lean toward the fall. It was the hardest, most counterintuitive thing I'd ever done. But darned if it didn't work, and to my surprise—up I popped back on my feet again!

Astonishing, isn't it?

When we're falling and the surface is rushing up at dizzying speed to meet us, two conclusions rush to our consciousness: either God isn't really all that good after all, or He's simply not big enough to enforce His good intentions. So we grasp desperately at anything that promises to restore control.

But grabbing on to what seems most natural is the worst thing you can do. Lean into the fall!

—Jerome Daly in When God Waits

My Response: A counterintuitive instruction of Jesus I need to lean into is …

Adapted from When God Waits (WaterBrook, 2005) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Lord, You've never let me down in my past. So help me to really rely on You for my present and future.

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