Trust.
Thoughts on traveling to Africa — and through life — by faith
Tomorrow morning, I will step on a plane to fly 13.5 hours to Ethiopia.
If you’ve traveled internationally like this, you likely know the mix of emotions I’m feeling:
Excitement.
I cannot wait to be back in Africa for the first time in 12 years. But more importantly, to see my good friend Belay and his ministry, Hope for the Fatherless, in their element.
Anxiety.
There are a whole lot of steps on a trip like this. Passport. Visa. Multiple airlines. An extensive packing list. Sleep — or at least an attempt at “airplane sleep” — on that long flight.
Sadness.
This will be — by far — the longest I’ve been away from Becca and our five kids. Those hugs goodbye were hard, and I will miss them all like crazy.
So, in the midst of all of this, I find myself needing to be reminded of some fundamental truths. It seems that traveling alone can be a good time for this sort of thing.
Get Jeff Dillon’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
The truths I keep coming back to are these:
- God is faithful.
- God is with me.
- God is with my family, even when I’m not there.
- God knows what they need, far more than I do.
- God has called me to go and live on mission.
- God has purposes that are so much larger than I can see.
- I can trust Him.
It’s that last one that I keep coming back to.
Trust.
The Greek word for “faith” is pistis, which literally means “trust.” Sometimes I wonder if we miss the depth of the meaning of this word when we talk about faith without the picture of trust.
The concept of “faith” is important, but it often feels elusive or ethereal — like walking on water or praying for healing. Or sometimes we can view it as a sort of big-picture understanding that everything is going to be okay.
Those things aren’t untrue or wrong, but thinking about trust brings these things down into the practical — to the very reality of today.
When I think about trust, the image that comes to mind is my 10-month old son sleeping peacefully in my arms. He doesn’t only have faith that I’m going to take care of him, he trusts me — fully, deeply. To the point that he is able to fall asleep even if the world is spinning and screaming around him (hey, the kid has four older sisters, what do you expect?)
That is the kind of faith I want to have. That’s the kind of faith I want God to remind me of on this trip. And it’s the kind of faith I want to live with every day.
Wherever I go. Whatever I face. However I’m feeling. My prayer is that God would give me the kind of faith that allows me rest deeply in His arms.
Yes, even if it’s airplane sleep.
