(Paul Merrill writes here every First Friday)

A lesson I’ve been learning again is how to trust.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Paul’s request for us to not worry in Philippians 4:6-7. He gives a great alternative – pray. When we worry, we bring the problems into our own court and say to God, “I can handle this one.” When we pray, we’re giving that worry (or those worries) to Him and saying, “You are the only one who can handle this. So I’m giving it to you!”

When I was a kid learning to swim, I realized that if I fought the water, it would not hold me up. I’d panic and end up sucking in lots of water through my nose and thrash wildly and start to cry. But when I relaxed and let the water lift me up, I could start to glide through the water.

But trusting in God to lift us up in the swimming pool of life is not a call for us to be lazy. Jesus told a parable about talents. The master rewarded the servant who made the most use of the resources he was given. The one who sat back and did nothing was punished. Notice that he worried. He was concerned about losing the resources he was given, so he buried it. He was so focused on himself and his perceived limitations that he didn’t step back to think about what could be done.

Back to Philippians. After telling us to pray, Paul tells us how to pray. Two things: tell God what we need and then thank Him for all He has already done. What a great way to have a positive outlook! If we reflect on what God has done, we’ll remember that He can rescue us. Again.

The reason trusting is on Paul’s mind is that he has just launched a new consulting firm, Greener Grass Media. He can help you with social media, marketing and website visual design, just like he’s helped Jon with some design projects.