For about 10 years,  mourning doves nested outside our back door.   The sweet cooing of the birds and the chirps of their young, filled my morning devotion and prayer spot with joyful, mourning sounds.  Several times a day, I’d venture outside the sliding glass door to view the tiny babies or the hovering parents.

The year after Hurricanes Frances and Jean, the mourning doves were replaced by the ringed-turtle dove.  We are told that the winds blew these lovely, wanderers into our area.  Then the second year of their nesting, I lowered the plant where the nest was perched.  The birds decided they couldn’t trust this lower spot.  They nested but later left the eggs and the nest.

Trust is a foundation stone of life.  Whether you are a newly-migrated, ringed-turtle dove searching for a nesting area, a small child grasping the hand of his dad, or a woman in her 40’s who reaches across the bed each night to touch her spouse, we need someone to trust.

Whom can you trust? In the book of Acts, chapter 12, Luke writes about one fateful night after Peter had landed himself in jail.  He had been arrested for preaching the good news of Jesus.  They incarcarated him, placing him between 2 guards.  In the night, an angel woke Peter up,  told Peter to get up, get dressed, put on his shoes and follow the angel.

After Peter had escaped jail.  He went to the house where the church had gathered to pray for Peter’s release.  He talked to Rhoda a servant girl.  The young girl was so surprised to see Peter that she rushed upstairs to tell the church.  Even though, they had been praying for his release, the prayers didn’t believe that Peter had been released.

Obviously, the church members had not learned to trust God, yet.  Here are some tips we can use to learn how to trust the Lord.

First, we need to stop worrying.  Worry will kill you and make others want to kill you.  Peter was not worried.  He wasn’t lying awake concerned about being able to escape.  He was asleep when the angel executed his rescue.

Second, we should truly look for God to give us miracles.  Too often we ignore unexpected good and godly things which happen to us.  We can recognize when God is helping us.

Third, we can tell others about what God has done for us.   Trusting God means that we live different from other people.  At any moment, we should expect a Peter to arrive at our door.