Trust

 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6......"Trust and obey, for there's no other way." John H. Sammis

Back in the 1960's, there was a popular daytime game show called, "Who Do You Trust?" I don't remember much about the parameters of the show, but I do know that winning on the program came down to a matter of trusting your partner in the process. Many a contestant stumbled because....they just couldn't bring themselves to trust the other person.

Trust is one of the biggest issues in life, and the question asked in that game show is one that can be asked of each of us; Who do you trust? We stumble at that. We've been conditioned by living in a fallen world amongst our fellow fallen people. Too often our trust in someone has brought great disappointment, grief, and pain. Therefore, we develop a cynical, suspicious attitude, and view life through a very jaundiced filter. We have a difficult time trusting others, so we end up trusting in ourselves. The problem is, we're just as untrustworthy as all of those around us. The long list of disastrous choices each of us has made is proof of that. The result is that most end up resigning themselves to some level of hopelessness, feeling themselves more victims of circumstances beyond their control, yet desperately trying to control their lives, and the lives of others around them. These paths slowly eat away at us from the inside out. Someone said that most men and women live lives of "quiet desperation." This is true, and is even true in the lives of those who profess faith in Christ. Where is that quiet desperation showing up in your life?

The greatest obstacle to any life of faith is the issue of trust. Will we trust the God we say we believe in? It was said of the Pharisee's, the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus' day who denied that He was the promised Messiah, that they didn't believe the God they said they believed in. Despite all the evidence presented to them, all the prophetic promises fulfilled in Him, they rejected Him. The reasons for this were many, from His not coming as they thought the Messiah should come, to their desire to retain control of the system they led. They did not believe and they did not trust the Messiah they said they were believing for and trusting to come.

What is your level of trust in Him today? How far will you go with Him until your trust in Him starts to become suspect? Someone said there are depths within our hearts that we will not allow His Lordship to reach. We cannot bring ourselves to trust Him there. What level is it for you, and for me? Peter told Jesus that he would follow Him wherever He went. The rest of the disciples said the same. They were sincere....until they found that He was going to His death on a cross. It was at the cross that their trust failed, where they failed. They discovered that their faith, their trust, when powered by their own strength, would not be sustained. The cross exposes us. It always has. It always will. Where does it expose us now?

Crucifixion was and is a horrible death. The one being crucified has lost all control and power. All they can do is yield themselves up to an awful death. Christ did this, as His Word tells us, "for the joy set before Him." The joy of knowing that His death, and sure resurrection, would break forever the power of sin and death over all who would believe upon and live for Him. For all who will come to their own cross, and at that place, have what Oswald Chambers called their "white funeral," the death of their will that they might live in the power of His. It's the way of trust. It's the way of obedience. It's the way of those who truly believe. Is it your way, and is it mine?

Days are upon the western church that most of our brethren in other regions have long been experiencing. Days when our very survival may, indeed will depend upon whether we will trust the One we've been saying we trust. Whether we will believe the Lord we've been professing to believe in. Days when the simple yet powerful words of Proverbs 3:5-6 will need to be literally lived out, and all along the way, we will hear His whispered question, "Do you trust Me? Will you trust Me?" Will we trust Him with our lives, our livelihoods, our families, our present, and our future? Will we trust Him in the midst of all the unknown, all the obstacles, threats, and "dangers, toils, and trials," that great hymn speaks of. Will we simply, as that other hymn states, "trust and obey, for there's no other way." The heart that can't trust always thinks there is.....their way. Our way. The heart that trusts knows there is only one way...His way. Which way will be ours?

Blessings,

Pastor O