Friday, 25 November 2011

• Father and Son: Lessons in Trust

  Two people walk side by side on a sandy beach.  One is a young child; brown hair hazel eyes and a spring in his step.  He walks hand in hand beside his father, older wiser, and also stronger.  The father knows what’s best for the child, he keeps him from the deep waters, and the dangers that lurk in the dark parts of the ocean.  They have walked together along this beach for a long time now and the father and son love each other very much. 

  One day as the two were walking the little boy tripped and fell twisting his ankle.  He looked up at the Father in pain and began to cry.  The Father leaned down and looked at his ankle.  After a few moments he spoke.  “This will heal and you’ll be able to walk again but it will take some time.  And you will be stronger when the time comes.  Until then I need to carry you.”  The Father leaned down and wiped the tears from the little boys eyes then gently scooped him into his arms.  Then he began walking down the beach once more.  For a long time there was no sound but the gentle crashing of the waves and the light sniffles from the boy’s still runny nose. 

  The boy began to get very antsy after a while and then he spoke.  “I wanna get down now.”  “But your leg isn’t healed yet,” the Father said, “it will only make it hurt worse.  Please let me carry you until it’s healed.”  The boy spoke again more frustrated and more angrily.  “I wanna get down!  I’ll show you that I can do it all by myself!  Watch!”  The son pushed the Father away and brought his legs down to sandy ground.  As his hurt ankle felt the weight of his body he grimaced in pain but didn’t look back to show it.  “I can do it,” he muttered to himself, “He’ll see, I can do it all by myself.”  The son struggled and limped as best as he could but the pain got worse and worse.  He kept walking forward and didn’t look back.  He couldn’t let the Father know how badly he was hurting.   He didn’t hear any footsteps and assumed the Father saw how well he was doing and went somewhere else.  But the pain began to get worse even unbearable.  The boy begin to lose his balance and tripped on several occasions.  “I can do it,” he said, “I’m alright.”  But then he came up to a pile of rocks.  He stopped in front of it and took a long sigh before beginning his climb.  The ankle did not do well.  As he stepped on the first rock it slipped and twisted his foot causing much more pain and he began to fall forward.  His knee met the rock gashing it open and he brought his hand down on a sharp one causing a deep cut. 

  The boy rolled over on his back.  As he lay there in terrible pain he began to sob.  “Daddy,” he cried, “dad where are you?”  Through his tears the boy saw someone running towards him.  The father wasn’t far behind and he was sprinting to where the boy lay.  The father pulled from his back pocket a bandage and began to dress the wounds on his son’s knee and hand.  “I’m sorry,” sobbed the boy.  “I’m sorry that I thought I could do it without you.”  The father gently shushed him. “It’s ok,” he said, “I’m here for you no matter what.  You know that right?”  The boy wiped his face with his good hand and nodded his head.  “Ok then, let’s try it again.”

  The father gently lifted his son and started across the rocks.  Each step was careful and slow and the boy winced in fear at every step until at last they reached the sand on the other side.  The father continued walking with his son in his arms.  For a long period of time neither one of them spoke.  The only sound was the crunching of the sand under the father’s footsteps and the slow and steady crashing of the waves.  Finally the boy broke the silence with a question, “When will I be strong enough to walk on my own again?”  The father didn’t say a word or even acknowledge the fact that a question was asked.  The son thought his dad didn’t hear him, so he asked again, “When will I be strong enough to walk on my own again?” The father gently looked into the eyes of his son, smiled, and said, “When the time is right.”  The son grew frustrated with that answer and asked, “but…when will that be?”  The father still smiling turned his head away from his son and said, “Trust me.”  

  What does this story tell you about trust?  Who in your life do you trust the most?  How have you learned to trust God?

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