Vacation … It’s always good, and it’s always too short. But I find an inherent danger in taking vacation. As I relax and unwind, I find my mind wandering to what it would be like to do this thing or that, to live in this place or that. Take, for example Missoula, Mont. There’s an exit on I–90 that has a trifecta of my favorite eateries—a Cracker Barrel, Fuddrucker’s, and Starbucks—set in a pristine valley, surrounded by evergreen–covered mountains, all resting under the big open sky. I could live at that exit.
Add up a lifetime of vacations and other trips, and my “wish list” grows longer: great American cities like St. Louis, Dallas, Seattle, and Atlanta. Choice destinations like Monterey, Hawaii, London, Guernsey, and China. Each place represents an ideal. Each destination fulfills a dream. I could live in any one of those places.
At least in my imagination.
Come Monday, whichever Monday it might be, there’s always the return to reality. The electronic and paper inboxes are full. The voicemail light is blinking. Decisions need to be made. Updates need to be shared. Appointments need to be kept.
Reality. We talk about it with a tone of voice as if it were a bad thing, even a dreadful thing. But it doesn’t take long for me to be reminded that reality is my purpose. Reality is my reason. Reality is my mission. The Divine Hand formed me to be who I am. The eternal, omnipotent God called me to do what I do. The empowering Holy Spirit provides the gifts I need to meet the demands of the moment.
God has created each of us for reality. And he asks us to trust Him to lead us through it. Brennan Manning, in Ruthless Trust, says that it requires “heroic courage to trust in the love of God no matter what happens to us.”
Trust matters, not just in the big things, but in the workaday world we face. It matters in the ordinary moments. Its antithesis is a barren desert of anger, bitterness, and—ultimately—isolation. But its presence is a treasure for today and a legacy for future generations.
Trust seems to be a simple concept to grasp. But demonstrating trust, doing the act of trust, especially when you can’t plainly see the way or clearly embrace the answer, can be hard. Like on your first day back from vacation, when your supervisor instructs you to fire a young employee in whom you see potential. Like when you’re faced with yet another job transfer from this city to that, with resistant teenagers in tow. Like the day you’re driving home from the freedom of vacation—back to reality—and find the perfect exit in a beautiful, Big Sky town.…
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track.
—Proverbs 3:5–6, The Message
John Van Cleef is a Salvation Army captain and admistrator of the San Diego Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center.
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