At our house a favorite game is to arrange a surprise, then go get mother. "Shut your eyes and don't peek, and we'll lead you," my children say. Now, I'm eager to see the surprise, and I trust them. But, do you know, it's one of the hardest things to close my eyes tightly and trust myself entirely to those little hands. Why, I might fall over a stool, or trip on one of the dozens of toys scattered over our floors. But if I as much as let one eye slip open a bit I'm reproved with "You're peeking, Mommy! You're peeking!" and of course that is against the rules of the game. So I squeeze my disobedient eyelids together again, and once more fearfully follow my guide.

Sometimes we are like that in our relations with God. We say, "Take my hand, and I will follow Thee." Then we pull our hand away and demand to know why He is leading us in this particular way. Perhaps the trouble is that we do not entirely trust ourselves to His leading. We feel that we have to keep checking on Him. We are afraid. What is the remedy for our fear? Well--

It had been a truly relaxing transatlantic crossing. The sea had been smooth, the weather just right, the food was good, the companionship excellent, and the travelers were thoroughly enjoying the journey.

But one day in a few minutes everything changed. A raging storm blew up, and soon the ship was a tossing, wallowing monster. The passengers hastily took themselves to their staterooms, doing their best to fight off seasickness while worrying about the future of the ship, which seemed doomed to be wrecked by the fury of the storm.

That is, all the passengers worried except one small boy. In a sheltered part of the deck he played quietly, unconcerned by the pitching of the ship and the raging of the gale.

One of the passengers, wondering at the calmness of the youngster, took it upon himself to try to coax him below decks. The boy resisted the call to leave his play, so the passenger asked, "Aren't you afraid?"

The child looked up from his play briefly. "No, I'm not scared. Why should I be? My dad's the captain of this ship."

He knew and trusted his father and that was enough for him.

Perhaps this is the answer to our problem. We need to learn to trust God. We need to have the same faith and trust that Job had. "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," he said. He knew that whatever God did with his life, it would be the best thing for him in the long run. Even if he should lose his life, it would be because He knew that some good would come of his sacrifice. And God rewarded that faith. Instead of taking Job's life, He restored him to health and gave back to him more than he lost in that hard time of affliction.

When we can say, I will trust Him though He sees fit to take my life, then we will be able to hold His hand and trust His guidance completely.