Can You?

 Desires, hopes, wants. We all have them. And we're very vulnerable in them. It's in these that we are most severely attacked by the enemy. Jesus understood this. So often in His Word, He approached people in need, desperate need, with the simple question; "What do you want Me to do for you?" I think He wanted them to express not only their deepest desire, but even more, would they, could they, trust Him with that desire, that hope, that dream? He still wants that from us.

John 14:1 relates Jesus speaking to His disciples; "Don't be troubled. You trust God, now trust in Me." There seems no end of things we are troubled over. Money, children, jobs, ministries. Needs of every type and kind. Impossible situations and the real perplexities of everyday life. We have hopes and desires in all of them. There are results we're hoping and longing for. Jesus asks, "What is it that you want in this?" and, "Will you trust Me to bring it about?" In the way and time He sees best? 

Will we? Will we trust Him to work in the midst of our deepest desires and needs and really bring about His best for us? What desire is it that we hold closest to our heart, and will we trust Him with it? Will we trust Him with that treasure? I heard someone speak on this verse and they put a twist to it I'd not heard before. They said that Jesus calls us to trust both He and the Father, and that what we need to do is bring that desire, that treasure, and place it between the Father and Jesus.....and leave it there. In trust. Leave that person, situation, need, that deep and heartfelt desire....and leave it between Almighty God and the One who tells us He's the Author of Life. Leave it with Them. Trust it to Them. 

Hope and trust are so closely linked together. Dutch Sheets says that the Old Testament word for hope meant "cord." The root of the word he says is to "bind together by twisting." He writes, "Hope connects. It binds us together with God." When we bring our treasured desires and hopes to Him, leaving them with Him, between Father and Son, we don't just walk away. We stay bound together with Them, connected to Them. We are not alone and we for certain are not without hope. We are not troubled because we trust God and we trust Christ. 

Can you bring your treasures in whatever form to Him, to Them today? Can you believe and can you trust? Can you leave it with the Father and the Son and rest in the hope that connects you with both? God the Father and God the Son. Nothing can touch or harm that which is left there. It's safe. Trust. Believe. Have hope. Be at peace.....Be at peace....Believe God.....Believe Jesus....and.....trust.

Blessings,
Pastor O