March Conquer Corner - TRUST

In March, we will focus on the core value of Trust, which is key to our success at MTN OPS. We believe in being reliable, respectful, and honest, and in building relationships of trust in all that we do.

Lately, I have reflected more deeply on my relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ. More than anything else in life, I desire to be trusted by Him. When a choice is placed before me, my greatest desire is to please the Lord and strengthen the trust in the relationship I have been building with Him throughout my life.

Not only do I want Him to trust me, but I also want Him to know that I trust my all in Him. I do not only believe in Him, I believe Him. I demonstrate that belief by hearkening to His words. To hearken means to listen and obey, not to hear and delay. I often ask myself: Am I acting in the faith and trust I claim to have in my Savior?

Recently, my wife and I have had the sacred opportunity to place our trust completely in His tender care for our daughters.

Our oldest daughter returned home after serving 18 months as a missionary for our church in Brazil. I remember clearly the faith, but also the anxiety, leading up to her departure. I left home as a young man to serve in Mexico, but sending a daughter is different. It stretches your heart in ways you never quite anticipate.

At 18, these young disciples submit their applications, with no control over where they will go, what language they might learn, or what specific assignment awaits them. They leave behind personal affairs and dedicate all their time and attention to serving the people the Lord places in their path.

I will never forget the moment Hallie opened her mission call and read: João Pessoa, Brazil. Our hearts burst, and so did our eyes with tears.

Eighteen months later, as she returned home, we were overjoyed. To hug your child again after that time is something words struggle to capture.

What we could have never guessed was that on the very day Hallie arrived home, just 30 minutes after walking through our front door, our second daughter, Kenzie, would open her mission assignment and read: Natal, Brazil.

One daughter home. One daughter leaving. The same region of Brazil. The same sacred work.

We were overcome with joy, but also with the familiar anxiety of sending another child into the world. It is not a goodbye, but a “see you later.” There is nowhere else I would rather have my children go at that season of life. Yet as a parent, it pulls at your heart in every direction.

How do we let her walk away? How does she find the courage to turn and go?

The answer is always the same. It is Jesus Christ.

If it were not for our love for Him, our desire to follow Him, and our trust in Him, it would be impossible.

I witnessed a miracle with each departing missionary. After the tears and the tight embraces, something changed. Their trust in Him was rewarded with courage, strength, confidence, and ability. Not their own. His.

His courage.
His strength.
His confidence.
His ability.

They could turn and walk away because they were not walking alone. They were walking wholly and completely with Him.

One of my favorite hymns that captures this trust is the song “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go.” It reflects the kind of trust my daughters placed in their Savior. It reflects the trust parents must place in Him when they send their children. And it reflects the trust I hope my Savior knows I have in Him.

Wherever He needs me. Whatever He asks. I will go.

So trusting my all to Thy tender care,
And knowing Thou lovest me,
I’ll do Thy will with a heart sincere; I’ll be what You want me to be.

As we focus on Trust this month at MTN OPS, I invite you to consider where the Lord may be asking you to trust Him more fully.

To conquer more, He will inevitably invite us to go, be, and do more than we are currently doing. I know from personal experience that we can trust our all to the One who conquered all.

Let us be trustworthy in our homes. Trustworthy in our work. Trustworthy in our commitments.

And above all, may we trust Him completely.