Chapter 3 - Seeing God in Our Friendships

Trust is one of the most significant ingredients in the friendship Joy and I share: trust. I trust in you. Trust, believe in, put my confidence in is another way of saying, I have faith in you. The definition of faith is translated from the Greek word meaning "to leave it in the care of, lay it all on the line, even to death." Faith is not a struggle, it is a rest resulting from leaving all in our Heavenly Father's care!

A trusting child leans in confident repose upon the father's shoulder. We lean upon our God, rest, trust in repose upon Him.

Petra didn't always trust God. She was a self-proclaimed atheist from the time she was 16 until she was 35. She had reason to be. The day she ran away from home, her father knocked her into a bathtub where she cracked the back of her head open. He then pulled her out and held her against a wall by her throat until she passed out. When she came to, she quietly packed a tiny suitcase, while her father stood over her telling her she was a whore and a tramp. She quietly walked out the front door.

Petra never said a word-not that she was leaving for good nor that she was running away. Nothing. He followed her about two miles in silence. That day she walked 18 miles. Her grandmother wouldn't take her in, and her boyfriend's parents would not help. So after spending a night next to a tree in a city park freezing, she walked all the way back home. Her father had locked all the doors which had never been locked before.

So Petra climbed through a window, got a tent, pillow, and blanket, then walked all the way back to town again. She did have $400 saved, so she spent the next six weeks living with her meager belongings. Yet God knew Petra, kept His eyes on her, and was with her even in the dark places. He made darkness His secret hiding place. (Ps 18:11). Her alcoholic parents never tried to look for her, even though she continued to attend high school. Later her mother told her they 'couldn't find her.' But she knew they never tried. When her boyfriend's parents found out she was pregnant, they let her live with them.

Petra was too afraid of drugs to deal or use them, but she thought about it. As a single parent, there were times they had nothing to eat and no working car. So she walked 12 miles round trip to work. During their lowest moments, Petra noticed an unusual pattern emerging. Some money would come in the mail. She found money blowing down the street. She even found money in the lake. God's rhema was working in Petra's life. Jesus said to Peter, "Go down to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find there a shekel. Take it and give it to them to pay the temple tax for Me and for yourself" (Ma 17:27). Petra knew she was being taken care of by a Higher Power.

Petra's defining moment happened one night when she was driving very drunk. A state trooper pulled her over, took her license, saw she was in bad shape, and said he'd be right back. It was her breaking point and a pivotal point in time. Petra prayed the only way she knew how: "OK, God. You know I think you're bogus and the only way I'm EVER going to believe in You is if You get me out of this, I will believe in You. I can't say I'll go to church or go around blessing everyone all the time, because to me that's just weird. But I will pray, I will change my life around, and I will believe in You."

What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. The state trooper returned to her car and told her there was an emergency down the road and he had to leave. His last words to Petra were, "Take the side street home and slow down."

As the state trooper walked away, he turned around, looked at Petra, winked and said, "God bless you." She cried like a baby all the way home. She had chosen God's way through her own brokenness and saw God with her. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their distress and troubles. The Lord is close to those who are of a broken heart and saves such as are crushed with sorrow for sin and are humbly and thoroughly penitent (Ps 34:17, 18).

Petra now lives each day with greater purpose. She has forgiven her parents and lives to serve others in all she is and does. She lives God's greatness in her. She is learning to trust God.

When our trust is rooted in God, then we can trust others. The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever leans on, trusts in, and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high (Pr 29:25). This is the kind of trust Joy and I share. It takes work and it's worth it.

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