Trust the Anchor, Trust God!

          My missionary gave me another topic to study and write about.  The topic she gave me is trusting in God and aligning our will to His.  I don’t know what it is about this topic that is giving me difficulty.  I mean it is pretty darn straight forward.  You either trust God or you don’t, you either align your will with His or you don’t.  I have attempted to write out a few things on trust but I keep erasing it.  It seems that the topic is so straight forward that all I am writing is the cookie-cutter Sunday school answer.  That doesn’t work for me, because I like to research and look at things on a deeper level.  So obviously I am missing something.  I am not discovering what I should discover.  Or maybe the problem is I am not looking at myself and my relationship to trust and aligning my will with Gods in the equation.  Maybe I don’t want to.  It’s easy to write about trust, like I said above it is pretty straightforward, but in my case it is harder to put it in to practice.

So let me get out the cliché Sunday school stuff first.  This mortal life is in essence a test of trust.  We are given two places to put our trust: 1) ourselves and/or others which is the arm of flesh or 2) our Savior Jesus Christ. Which of these we choose is in actuality the supreme test and will ultimately determine our lot at judgment day.  So what is trust?  Trust is the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth of someone or something.  Trust is a dependence on something future. Trust is not the same as faith.  Trust is what we do with the faith we have gained. 

The Bible, especially the Old Testament is full of the word and concept of trust.  In Psalms alone the word trust or the concept of trust is mentioned 39 times.  However, when I think of a scripture about trust, the first one that comes to my mind is Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding.”  We are directed to trust in the Lord because he knows all.  He has overcome all.  His view is boundless.  We are told to not place our trust in ourselves or other men because our view is so limited and incomplete.  We are mortal men and women with an imperfect and lacking view due to our nature.  “For the natural man is an enemy to God and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man….”  I like how it was stated this way in a BYU Devotional given by Nora Nyland in 1997:

Trust in the Lord leads to a more mature perspective.  Implicit in the instruction to lean not unto our own understanding is the possibility that we will never, in this sphere, possess the full perspective of eternity.  With trust, however, we may be willing to acknowledge that there is another, more accurate perspective. 

Trust is not a passive action.  Trust requires action.  Trust necessitates us to move, to act.  The more we exercise trust the better we become at it.  Now is the time for the cliché analogy: 

Let me use an analogy from rock climbing.  The type of climbing I do is called sport climbing.  In sport climbing permanent anchors have been drilled in to the side of the rock along the route.  A climber places a harness on themselves and the rope is attached to the harness.  As the climber ascends the wall he or she attaches the rope to the anchor with gear called a quick draw.  If this is done correctly and the climber falls the harness, rope, quick draw, and anchor all work together to keep the climber from falling to the ground.  All the gear is important and must be in top working condition for the climber’s safety to be ensured.  I would argue though that the central piece is the anchor.  If the anchor is faulty from the beginning no amount of preparation the climber does in preparing his own gear and attaching himself to the anchor will do any good if the anchor fails.  So ultimately after the climber does all he can to ensure his gear is proper he is placing all of his trust solely in the anchor. 

That is a big test of trust! In fact it is so big you either have to be completely insane to climb or wholly trust the anchor on the wall, which to add another level of trust was more than likely placed there by someone you do not know.   Now this analogy is abounding in gospel comparisons:  The anchor is God, the rope is the iron rod (the word of God), the quick draw is our actions, choices and covenants which attach us or detach us from God, the harness is the foundation of the gospel and the climbing route is the straight and narrow path.  But in limiting this to the topic of trust, the only way I have been able to “blindly” trust the anchor is through practice, through action, through putting it to the test if you will.  I trust the anchor because of prior research of the climbing area and inspection of the route before the climb begins.  If an anchor looks old, or the rock is crumbly around the anchor I do not attempt that route.  I move on to better more sure routes.  Climbing is scary, you have to place your trust soley on the anchor and also on your own preparation and abilities. 

I had not climbed for many years when I started back up two years ago.  I met a great partner who I trusted implicitly.  He would be analogous to a stronger friend in the gospel.  He retaught me a very important skill which is called cleaning the anchor.  After you complete a climb and reach the top anchors you have to remove your gear from the top of the climb, in order to rappel back down.  To accomplish this you have to literally untie yourself from the rope, your safety net, and hook only in to the anchors through gear you bring with you on the climb.  If you mess up, if you skip a step, you can fall.  We practiced this over and over on the solid ground.  I felt comfortable on the ground, I knew I had all the steps.  In practicing we would verbalize out loud each step I did to ensure nothing was missed and that it was engrained into my brain.  The time came for me to put what I had practiced to the test.  I climbed the route with no problem, I was on the straight and narrow way.  When I got to the top I was safe, I was attached to the rope and the rope was attached to the anchor.  Now was the time for me to put my faith to the test.  To put what I had learned and practiced below to test.  Practicing would be analogous to reading the scriptures, to living the gospel, to doing all you can to prepare.  Now I had to put my trust in the anchor, in God, solely. I had to remove my own protection, I had to take the “natural man” if you will out of the picture.  You can see where this is going.  That is scary.  That is a lot of trust in the anchor, in all of the gear and in the preparation you have done, which includes the fact that the person who prepared you knows what they are talking about to begin with.  In other words are you getting your gospel from the right source to begin with, are you building on a secure foundation?  Well obviously the anchor did not fail and I did all the steps correctly and was able to safely clean the route.  The more I have done this the more it has become second nature.  The more I trust myself because of the preparation I have done and the more I trust the anchor.  However, this does not imply that I become lax in any of the steps required.  Because the moment I do, it could be the last moment for me.  This is just as in life.  We build a secure foundation, we do all we are supposed to do, we study, pray, obey the commandments and we trust the anchor, God!  But if we become lax in one of those areas due to the natural man we fall.  A true anchor never fails.  It’s not God who fails us, it is us failing to do one of the required steps.  

This was a difficult task at first.  I didn’t want to trust the anchor, I didn’t want to trust all my gear and my preparation.  I questioned it all, I was scared.  Do I do this in my personal life towards God?  Yes, yes I do.  Do I question the anchor of God, do I question the foundation, ie: the harness, do I question the rope, ie: the word of God, do I question the teacher, ie: my climbing partner?  Maybe that is why I had difficulty at first writing about this topic.  Because it is scary to put your trust in an unseen thing.  To trust that the counsel and direction I am being given through my Bishop, through the Prophet, and through the scriptures are correct and true.  The only way to gain that trust as I mentioned above is through action.  Trust is not a passive action.  Trust requires action.  Trust necessitates us to move, to act.  The more we exercise trust the better we become at it.   

I must learn to place my personal trust firmly in God.  This should be easy to do, for he is omniscient and omnipotent. But I struggle, I am reluctant.  Through writing this though I have discovered that the key is practice.  Once concept at a time, line upon line.  Building faith and practicing trust provides a sure foundation for life.   A good source in the scriptures to see this is 2 Nephi Chapter 4.  Specifically verses 16-35.

16 Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.

 17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.

 18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.

19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.

 20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

 21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.

 22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.

 23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.

 24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.

 25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.

 26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?

 27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?

 28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

 29 Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.

 30 Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

 31 O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?

 32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!

 33 O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.

 34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. 

35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.

Elder Stephen Nadauld in a 1997 devotional stated: 

My dear young brothers and sisters, put away your fears, put your away your anxieties, put away your sins and your pettiness.  Believe in his plan, trust in God.  Put not your trust in the arm of flesh.  Lean not on your own understanding.  But be believing; come desiring that the Lord will encircle you about in the robe of his righteousness.  Study to increase your faith, study the Atonement, study the Resurrection, study the plan of redemption, study the relationships between faith and trust and humility. With faith and trust in place, a wonderful thing can happen.  You can set aside your self-absorption, quiet your anxieties and fears and fill your souls with love.  The Savior’s message is clear, understanding the doctrine should lead to practical application.  Practice service, practice lifting and building and strengthening others, provide assurances, rehearse the evidence one to another.  What a remarkable transformation takes place when we allow our faith to lead to trust.