Lessons in Trust - Part 3

Intro:
One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, "Hey Dad! Catch me!" I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and them yelled "Hey Dad!" I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.

When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???"

He responded with remarkable calmness: "Sure...because you're my Dad." His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted.

Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987

Read:
Proverbs 3:5-14

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

11 My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

13 Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, 14 for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.

Think:
I once heard: "If you cannot understand the hand of God you can trust the heart of God." Pretty cheesy, I know, but true. Sometimes we do not understand our circumstances or what God might be doing with our lives. Sometimes we worry and get fearful of what we do not understand.

The Psalmist invites us to consider the value of trusting the Lord with all our heart. What keeps us from a childlike trust of the Lord? Our own understanding and wisdom. Really it is our focus. What we are looking at will determine our worry level.

Story is told of two brothers that approached the lion exhibit at the zoo. The older brother strolled up to the exhibit without any fear but the other was afraid.
Older: "What are you afraid of?"
Younger: "There's a big lion in that cage! "Aren't you the least afraid?"
Older: "No ... we are looking at two different things. You are looking at the lion ... I am looking at the cage!"

Really, what we look at will determine our trust level. We all have had times where our circumstances got the better of us. We've all taken our eyes off of the Lord and found ourselves sinking (see Matthew 14:22-32, especially v. 30). Verse 7 above tells us to not be wise in our own eyes but to fear the Lord and turn toward Him.

Last week we said that we would trust God if we had all the facts. We'd accept the diagnosis, the breakup, the breakdown, the difficulty, the job change, the difficult child, the loss of a loved one, the rejection of a friend, the loss of money, the overlooked promotion, the bouts of depression ... the list of difficult things is endless! Point is, if we had God's perspective, God's wisdom, we'd accept whatever circumstance we had and trust the Lord with it.

If you knew that your cancer would lead your family to Christ, would you accept it? If you knew your rejection at school or work glorified God, would you endure it? If you had all the facts and you KNEW that God was in the middle of it, would you not accept it?

The OT says, "when times are good rejoice. When times are bad consider, for the one that made the one made the other." God is in the midst of your life and circumstances. Right now he knows you and loves you. There is nothing going on in your world that he is unaware of. You may not have the facts but he asks you to trust him any way.

That is the way of wisdom. That is the childlike response. That is the heart that will sing out into eternity with trust. Come what may, Lord ... we will trust you.

Do:
Can you ID a couple of difficult things in your life today? More importantly, can you identify what you are looking at? Are you looking at the Lord or at your circumstances? Are you consumed with you in the process or do you see some praise bubbling up?

Have you come to the end of yourself yet? This usually is a process that takes time! Many of these things we work through have a side benefit that they teach us to not be wise in our own eyes!

Stop and turn your attention to the Lord. Accept his discipline. Gain wisdom. Ask him for some of the "facts" to help you understand. He just might give you some of that wisdom.

Like the boy in the start of this devotion, turn to the Father and jump toward him. He will always catch you. We have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer we who live but Christ lives in us. The life that we now live we live by trusting him, the one that loved us and proved it by delivering himself up for us (Galatians 2:20, my edition).

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Lessons in Trust - Part 2

Intro:
There is an old story of a father who took his young son out and stood him on the railing of the back porch. He then went down, stood on the lawn, and encouraged the little fellow to jump into his arms. "I'll catch you," the father said confidently. After a lot of coaxing, the little boy finally made the leap. When he did, the father stepped back and let the child fall to the ground. He then picked his son up, dusted him off, and dried his tears.

"Let that be a lesson," he said sternly. "Don't ever trust anyone."

Read:
Proverbs 3:5-10

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

11 My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

Think:
Life is full of broken trusts. Maybe none as harsh as the experience of the little boy in our opening story! It is hard to imagine that level of broken trust.

The world is a trust breaking place and there are none that can escape the pain. As long as there are people involved there remains the potential for pain.

Trust can only be broken where there is someone involved and something to lose. You need someone and you need something to break a trust. You have to get close enough to someone to have them hurt you.

Sometimes we get burned. Even Jesus got burned while on earth!

Michel Card captures this in his song, "Why?":

Why did it have to be a friend who chose to betray the Lord?
Why did he use a kiss to show them? That's not what a kiss is for
Only a friend can betray a friend,a stranger has nothing to gain
And only a friend comes close enough to ever cause so much pain

The only person that is completely trustworthy, the only person that always does what he says, the only person that has never failed is God the Father. He is holy and incapable of breaking his word. He is holy and unlike his creation in this way. He is holy and does not change. He is not like a shadow that shifts and moves with the sun. He is constant.

And so we have a challenge before us this morning. On the one hand we are accustomed to the pain of broken trust. We have varying levels of protection built up from years of growing up. We know that anyone at any time can betray our trust. YET on the other hand we have the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ calling out to us from the pages of Scripture to TRUST him.

Trust that he is good ... all the time. Trust that he is taking care of us even when we cannot see it. Trust that he love us perfectly and will not allow us to experience anything beyond what we can handle. Trust that he is more concerned with our holiness than our happiness. Trust that he is working to conform us to Christ even if that includes discipline. Trust that his plan is what we would accept if we had all the facts!

Trust him even when you do not understand. Trust him even without the facts.

If you are honest, this is difficult. Maybe that is why God says to not lean on our own understanding. Maybe that is why we are to check our defence mechanisms at the door. Maybe that is the key to really knowing the Father. Maybe trust really is the deal.

I, this day will choose to trust the Lord. He has never broken a promise. He never will. I may not like each and every outcome but I know God will work all things together for my good and his glory.

Can you trust him like that today?

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Lessons in Trust - Part 4

Intro:
How do you trust someone you do not know? Can you trust someone you do not know? What would it take? Would the recommendation of another friend be enough for you to trust someone you do not know?

We've seen examples in this series where trust was seriously abused (e.g. the story of the father that didn't catch his son when he jumped), how does that effect the ability to trust others?

For my money, trust is built on a track record over time.

When we come to the Scriptures we see a record of these very things in the person of God the Father and our Lord Jesus. The Scriptures almost beg us to trust Him based on His consistent track record over a long period of time.

Read:
Proverbs 3:5-8

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.

8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

Think:
The alarming thing in this passage is that invitation to trust the Lord. This should not be something we have to be commanded or invited to do. It should be a natural response to God's track record over time.

I can envision a friend inviting me to trust someone I have never met or worse yet, a friend urging me to return trust to one that has broken that trust ... but this invitation is alarming and even absurd.

The fact that we are encouraged/commanded to trust the Lord with all our hearts tells me something about my God. He is obviously very patient! If His track record over time is unquestioned, if He has only sought my good, if He pursued me when I ran away, if He is willing to sacrifice His son to be able to know me then He has proven his trustworthiness. His track record is solid. His word is his bond. He is golden. He is all these things and yet I need to be reminded to trust him! The fact that He call us to trust him when that trust is obviously warranted tells me that He is patient and gracious toward us.

If we maintain that God has a solid track record over time and if this is necessary to build and keep trust then we should have no issue with trusting God with all our hearts.

So, why do we struggle with trusting Him at times?

I am sure there are many answers to this difficult question but I want to pose just two potential options. God has given me new life in Christ. God has given me a new heart that seeks Him. God has loved me like no other has, can or will. God has proven to meet my needs.

So, why do we struggle with trusting Him at times?

Expectations.

And entitlement.

God has not given me a new BMW. I only make $42k year. I have not found a job yet. God let ___________ (fill in the blank) hurt me.

We've come to expect things from God that he has never promised. We can get a spirit of entitlement where we expect God to meet our wants as if they were needs. Incidentally, this is an attitude we resent in our children but excuse in ourselves. God said He would meet our needs not our cable bill or credit card debt. God said He would clothe us not give us the latest fashions.

God never said we would not be hurt in relationships. In fact, if we are to love others in this fallen world we will experience hurt, pain and broken trust. Somehow we expect God to rescue us from those things.

Does God have a proven track record over time? Yes! Is he trustworthy? Yes! Is he a genie in the sky giving us what we want? No! Will he shield me from all pain? No!

Do:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Reflect on his track record over time (the Bible) and what he has done in your life (salvation, protection, provision) and thank him. Ask forgiveness for things you might have charged God for that he is not guilty of. Ask him for abilities to trust him this week.

Samuel Rutherford, a pastor from the 1600s, said, "Welcome, welcome cross of Christ. If Christ be with it, it is well." Can you make the same claim? Do you trust Christ like that?

Seek first Him, and His kingdom. Be willing to say, "My kingdom GO!" so you can experience His kingdom come.

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Lessons in Trust - Part 1

Intro:
Years ago, Monroe Parker was traveling through South Alabama on one of those hot, sultry Alabama days. He stopped at a watermelon stand, picked out a watermelon, and asked the proprietor how much it cost. "It's $1.10," he replied. Parker dug into his pocket, found only a bill and said, "All I have is a dollar."

"That's ok," the proprietor said, "I'll trust you for it."

"Well, that's mighty nice of you," Parker responded, and picking up the watermelon, started to leave.

"Hey, where are you going?" the man behind the counter demanded.

"I'm going outside to eat my watermelon." "But you forgot to give me the dollar!

"You said you would trust me for it," Parker called back.

"Yeah, but I meant I would trust you for the dime!"

"Mack," Parker replied, "You were't going to trust me at all. You were just going to take a ten-cent gamble on my integrity!"

Haddon Robinson.

Read:
Proverbs 3:5-10

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 Then you will have healing for your body
and strength for your bones.

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with the best part of everything you produce.
10 Then he will fill your barns with grain,
and your vats will overflow with good wine.


Think:
Can you relate to the story at the beginning? Do you sense that sometimes we trust God for a "dollars" worth of issues but keep the "dimes" for ourselves? I do that. It is easy to trust God with the big stuff (the dollar worth) like salvation, acceptance, the filling of the Holy Spirit, etc. But sometimes it is so hard to trust God with the little stuff (the dime worth) like relationships with friends and family, enough money to make it through month, job situations, etc.

I heard someone once say, "Why pray when you can worry?". Though it is funny it is no less true! It is so easy to worry and not pray.

Proverbs enters the world of worry with some strage words. TRUST. Trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

The call is for childlike response to the situations we find oursleves in. Easier said than done. God calls us to trust Him when we lose our job. God calls us to trust Him when our reputation is being drug through the mud. God calls us to trust Him when we have a wayward child.

The call is for trust in a person. We are to trust the Lord. Not our circumstances or our efforts. We are to trust the One that would die to be with us. That would always give us what is best for us. The One that has answered the prayers we often forget to pray. The one that is with us when we get that diagnosis.

The call is for a reckless abandon to this Lord. We are to trust Him with all our hearts. That is the seat of emotion. That is where passion comes from. That is me when no one is looking. God wants it all.

The call is for uncommon sense. Yes, uncommon sense. We are called to trust the Lord and not our own limited understanding. We are not to lean on this. That implies that this is a comfortable and even natural posture for us to take. We are trained to lean on our own understanding. The call is for us to lean on God. This is often not in line with common sense. It requires waiting and watching.

Can you trust God with the "dime" worth of your life today?

Do:
It strikes me that one of the key indicators that I am trusting the Lord is prayer. If I am trusting then I am waiting. If I am trusting then I am watching. If I am trusting then I am expecting. If I am trusting then I am praying.

If your prayers were heard over a loudspeaker would they show that you are trusting the Lord?

What are you anxious about today? Have you taken it to the Lord and left it there? He will bear both you and your burden. He will take care of the dollar and the dime. You can trust Him for it.

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