by Pam Condie
I know I’ve focused on “trust” in some of my previous blogs. At the risk of seeming to be repetitious, I want to do it again – talk about “trust”, particularly trusting God – no matter what.
How often have you been told “Trust me, it’ll be right”? And you’ve either gone ahead and trusted that person (and lived to tell the story!) or you’ve shaken your head and wisely said, “No way!” I wonder what stories you could share around those experiences.
I’ve been married to a wonderful man for many years, and we’ve shared some great life adventures together. David’s response when I’ve raised doubts about the wisdom of taking certain paths, has inevitably been, “Trust me…it’ll be all right”. Well, since we’re both still alive and active, the outcome would seem to be self-evident. I trusted him…and everything turned out to be fine. Eventually!
Some of those incidents were not without a bit of trauma, though. To be honest, we regularly shake our heads as we laugh together over some of the crazier things that I followed him into. We both agree that God has been amazingly good to us both. Because, honestly, there has been more than one occasion when we wondered if we really would live to tell the tale!
One memorable event occurred when we were living in Mt Isa circa 1971. We had two very young children (Stephen aged two, and Joanne aged five months). This part of north-west Queensland had been in drought for many years, and there hadn’t been any rain in the 18 months we’d been living there. The Leichhardt River was dry. In fact, the local bowling club was situated on the dry riverbed! Anyway, the drought broke – and did it ever rain! For the first time since we’d been there, the river was flowing. And it was even cascading over Lake Moondarra’s dam wall.
We were both very keen to see this particular sight, so we bundled the two children into the back of the car (an Austin 1800) and drove out to the Lake. Now, we had only planned to be gone for a couple of hours at the most, but when we reached the spot where we expected to drive to the dam viewing point, our way was blocked by a wide expanse of flowing water – the overflow from the Leichhardt in full flood! Of course, today, we all know the danger of driving into flooded rivers. But this was then. When David said we could drive across and have a close-up look at the spillway, I did say something along the lines of not thinking it was a good idea. And, as you’ve guessed, David gave me the classic response, “Trust me. It’ll be right.”
Well, we drove across okay and watched as the water cascaded over the dam wall. But on our way back through the flooded river overflow, the car stalled. The water flowed up the exhaust pipe and the engine wouldn’t re-start. Hmmm. I was not a happy camper! As we sat there, the water started seeping into the car around our feet. Definitely NOT happy now! Quick discussion. David said he’d wade back to dry land, walk to the caretaker’s house and ring the RACQ. I’d be fine waiting in the car with the children. “Trust me, darling. It’ll be right.”
My faith that it would be all right was certainly tested as I waited in our car, stalled in the middle of a flooded river, with water slowly seeping in around my feet, wondering how long it would be before help arrived. A little while ago, as I was re-reading the Exodus narrative, I was struck afresh just how often God effectively says to his people, “Trust me. It’ll be right.”
When the Israelites left Egypt and set off on their journey to freedom and the Promised Land, their faith was soon tested. At that very first hurdle with the Red Sea before them and Pharaoh’s Army rapidly closing in from behind, they did not believe it would be “all right”. They panicked. Abused Moses. Lost faith in Yahweh. And then came a real “But God…” moment.
The situation seemed hopeless. Go forward and drown in the impassable Sea. Or wait and be slaughtered/recaptured by the Egyptians. Ahhh…but God had said, “Trust me. It’ll be right.” And, as we all know, it was. God parted the waters of the Red Sea, his people crossed over safely, and Pharaoh’s troops were utterly destroyed as the waters roared back in behind the Israelites (Exodus 14:5:31).
When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego defied King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree to bow down and worship his statue they knew they would be thrown into the blazing furnace. They told the Babylonian king that it’d be all right. They trusted God to rescue them. But, even if God does not, they continued, it makes no difference. It’ll still be all right. Because we trust God, no matter what! (Daniel 3:16ff).
I don’t know about you, but I find these biblical narratives challenging. How willing am I to recklessly obey, regardless of the consequences, when God says, “Trust me”? And yet, our God is faithful - always. God has never promised that our path through life will be easy. Some faithful believers have lived incredibly challenging lives while others appear to have had life fairly easy. But no matter our circumstances, God says, “Don’t look at how your neighbour is going. Keep your eyes focused on me. Trust me. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.”
How do we respond when we’re faced with those “trust me – it’ll be right” situations? Paul says that he learnt to be content no matter what. His secret was that he trusted God, regardless of his circumstances. He could do whatever God asked of him because Jesus gave him the strength to see things through. He trusted God…and it was all right.
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength (Phil 4:12-13).
Trust God…it’ll be right.
Pam’s been involved in Girls’ Brigade as company captain, State Training Co-ordinator, Girls’ Leadership Course Director, and State Commissioner. She was awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia in 1999 for service to youth leadership development in Queensland. She spent 14 years on the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) Australia Board including over 4 years as Board Chair and recently completed an 8 year term on the Board of Queensland Baptists. She currently serves as the President of the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force Association (Qld). Pam holds both a Bachelor Degree and a Graduate Diploma of Theology and has recently completed a Doctor of Ministries. She will commence working as denominational archivist on 1 July 2020.
Pam is married to David. They have three adult children, two of whom are married and have blessed Pam and David with grandchildren (now all young adults).
Pam also served on the State Award Committee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in Queensland for 10 years and worked for the Award as a Project Officer. In 2015 Pam and David went to PNG with MAF where David served as Interim Engineering Maintenance Manager for the PNG programme for nearly 18 months
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