Do you trust me? It’s a common movie trope, but as a true child of the nineties, it stands out best to me from the movie “Aladdin”. The hero of the story, Aladdin, has just fallen for Princess Jasmine, and as they are about to share their first sweet smooch, in come the villainous guards clumsily clunking through the dilapidated entrance of Aladdin's home. In a flash, he jumps up on the window ledge, reaches out his hand to the princess, and asks “Do you trust me?” Jasmine is forced to make a decision- stay put and live the status quo life she knows needs to change, or make one wild leap of faith and trust it will all work out?
Maybe I’m crazy, but to me the moment is oddly reminiscent of the Bible’s Joshua. He was taking over for Moses in leading God’s people. It was a huge calling with giant shoes to fill. The task must have been completely overwhelming!
God wasn’t exactly making it easy on him either. As he faced the Jordan river, trying to figure out how to cross it with so many lives at stake, God gave him these instructions to pass on to the people- “Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’” (Jos 3:8).
I can almost hear the critical comparisons- “When we crossed the Red Sea, Moses parted the waters before we got in! The river is in flood season, we could get washed away! Why should we trust Joshua?”
As the pressure mounted, it would have been easy to dismiss God’s plan in lieu of something more “practical,” like waiting out the flood season or building a bridge. But God doesn’t often work in practical. It leaves far too much room for us to give ourselves credit for our good decision making, and ignore God’s gracious provision.
I think that’s why God seems to prefer to operate in the wild and revolutionary. When it works, there’s only one place to put our praise, and it isn’t on ourselves! The difficulty is that it takes a lot of trust from us! He shows us an impossible road forward, thrusts His loving hand out to us, and says “Do you trust me?”
Joshua took the leap, and God revealed His power in a miraculous crossing, and showed the people they could trust Joshua was hearing clearly from the Lord.
This story has a ton of relevance for me right now. My family is going through a huge life change. God is calling us to leave something familiar and comfortable to follow Him into the unknown. I don’t know what will happen, but I want to put my money where my mouth is. I want to follow God into unknown territory, grabbing on to His outstretched hand and saying “Yes, I will always trust you!.” Then, just like Jasmine, leap.