If You Stand on Quicksand, Well...

You know the movie, The Princess Bride, right? Of course you do. As Wesley and Buttercup make their way through the fire swamp, they encounter one of the dangers known as lightning sand, which is like quicksand only you sink faster. As you can see in the clip here, Buttercup assumes she's taking a step onto solid, trustworthy ground, but is quickly swallowed by the lightning sand. (Not to spoil it for you, but her sweet Wesley rescues her.)

I recently read something from Ed Welch that referenced quicksand:

"You will trust in something or someone; that's part of being human. You will trust in...your spouse, your wealth, your loved ones, your cunning, or your health--or you will trust in the Lord. Trust in things that are untrustworthy, and you are trusting in quicksand. You are trusting in things that cannot sustain the weight of your trust. And fear, of course, will be the result. Trust in the Lord, and you are secure." - Ed Welch

That, my friends, is profound. I have warned others and myself not to put our trust in other people, money, comfortable sturdy houses, etc. Trusting in good gifts from God rather than God is dangerous and idolatrous. But notice what Welch points out there. It's not just dangerous. It's not just foolish. It's not just idolatry. It is the very source of our fear and anxiety. If you trust in something "that cannot sustain the weight of your trust" you will fear! When we do that, we're trusting in things that cannot deliver us. So of course we're going to be afraid. Buttercup put her faith in what appeared to her to be solid ground (just like our false sources of trust appear trustworthy). But it couldn't support her. And neither can the things we trust in.

So I guess that's not actually all that profound. People have been saying it for years ("On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand"). But something about the way Welch put it struck me. It's not just bad to trust in something/one other than God. That misplaced trust actually leads to fear. When afraid, grasping for something other than the Lord will make us more afraid because that thing/person cannot support the weight of our trust. Only God can. May we trust in him alone!

(I've recommended his work before, but again, Ed Welch has some of the best stuff I've ever read on fear and anxiety. His book Running Scared is excellent in this regard. The quote above comes from a workbook that condenses Running Scared into a 7 week study called When I Am Afraid. I'm not all the way through the workbook, but I highly commend both works to you.)