Is your first reaction faith?  Mine is.  But mostly in myself.  I mean – we’re being honest here, right?

There’s a famous story that circulates within our immediate family.  It’s typically resurrected during holidays and family get-togethers as all good family stories do.  In the first grade, I was being tested for the “gifted” program.  The test administrator asked a series of questions.  After hearing half of my answers, she placed her question sheet on the table, leaned back in her seat and asked, “If I were to place you in the cockpit of a fighter jet, do you feel you could fly it?”  To which I responded, “If you gave me enough time!”

I’ve always had a natural confidence.  My father has the same confidence so there’s no mystery to its source.  We’re both jack-of-all-trades personalities.  We have little desire to master anything but (with enough time) can learn to be competent in most things.  And more importantly, KNOW we can.

In Acts 20, Paul was speaking to a group in an upper room.  He had gotten a little long-winded and a young man named Eutychus fell asleep and fell out of a window and died.  This seems like a place we should pause due to the tragic nature of the situation.  But Paul didn’t.  So I won’t.  Paul walked to the place of the accident, bent down and said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”

The story is amazing in itself due to the miracle factor but I was taken by the immediacy of Paul’s response.  I think most of us would say something like, “Call a doctor!”  Paul’s reaction seems to indicate his trust was so well-placed, he assumed healing.  I want to assume God’s provision before trusting my own abilities.  It must all come from trust.  If we’ve spent enough time handing over the small things, it has to become natural at some point to KNOW he’ll handle the big ones.