Is God as Reliable as my Rocking chair?

We were in the midst of our morning Rosary and Emma was wandering about the living room, distracting us as usual. Finally someone asked her to sit down. She danced her way across the living room rug and stopped in front of a child size rocking chair, Elsa’s actually. Without looking behind her to make sure that the chair was ready to catch her – she just plopped her little bottom down and landed comfortable in the soft chair. I could only see her head over the top of the it and her delicate ankles beneath it as she pushed with her tiny toes to rock the chair.

Would she still have this confidence if someone habitually pulled the chair out from under her as she sat, or if the chair tended to collapse as she sat on it? Obviously not.

Her complete confidence in the chair got my mind working and I thought about how we all have that same confidence in chairs. Without a thought we simply plunk ourselves into a chair completely confident that its arms will enfold us and the frame will catch us. We never suspect that someone is going to possibly pull the chair out from under us, or that the legs will simply crack and collapse from our weight.

This confidence has built up over time, from our continued use of chairs and the reliability they have shown us, day after day, hour after hour, and year after year. Yet, I wondered, why have I not had this complete faith in God? Is it because when I do lean on Him, He collapses from my weight? Or pulls away in jest the way someone will occaisionally tease us with a chair? Or is it because, unlike my daily use of chairs, I have not used God’s invitation to rely on Him daily? And so, I have not built up confidence in Him as I have with chairs?

This really left me with a lot to think about.

(image found at: www.tvacres.com/chairs_edithann2.jpg)