"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act." (Ps. 37:5)
We often talk about having faith in God, but do we really trust in Him? In this psalm, David says that God will act in our behalf. But notice when He does, when we commit ourselves to absolute dependency in Him through the proposition of faith.
The Bible talks about faith, and describes faith, and gives us many illustrations of faith, but it never really defines faith. A careful study of Hebrews 11 suggests that a working definition of faith might be something like, taking God at His word and then acting upon it. Romans 10: 17 lets us know that faith is built upon the word of God. It is resting in the truth that God has committed Himself to act upon.
We speak of having faith. Many times, however, we have a vague willingness to really trust God. We pray and say that we are trusting Him, but we really hold on to the issue that we are needing to exercise faith about just in case. Faith becomes real when we surrender absolutely to God and God alone. We become so committed to the trust in Him that if He does not act we have no other option and we are at risk.
Look again at the promise of this verse. "Commit your way to the Lord." That is the command. Surrender fully the matter at hand to God's care. Turn loose of it, completely. "Trust in Him." That is not simply a restatement of the first phrase. It is the assurance that the command here means depend absolutely on God alone. Look at the absoluteness of the promise. God will act. It does not say He might act, but He will act. When does God act? When you have surrendered completely to His sovereign control. Will He do what I want? He will do what is right and what is best.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Do You Really Trust Him?
"And Jesus sent out the twelve to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal. and He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money, and do not have two tunics. And whatever house ou enter, stay there, and from there depart." (Luke 9:2-3)
Have you ever really considered this passage before? Jesus is sending the twelve disciples out to preach the message of the Kingdom. There is nothing surprising about that, it is what He had called them to follow Him for. Look at the instructions that He gives them. "Do not take anything with you. Nothing."
Imagine for a moment your employer sending you out of town on business. He calls you into the office and says, "I need you to go out of town for a couple of weeks. Don't go home and pack. Don't take anything with you. When you get to the town that I am sending you, just stay with anyone that will take you in. Don't carry a change of clothes, not even clean underwear. And listen, don't take any money or credit cards with you. Don't worry about anything, I have prearranged for all of your needs to be cared for."
In our materialistic culture this whole concept is ludicrous and foreign to our way of thinking. Why did Jesus give the disciples this command? I believe that Jesus wanted the disciples to learn to trust Him completely. Jesus wanted the disciples to fully rely on God and not their own abilities to provide for themselves.
So let me ask you to be brutally honest with yourself. Do you trust God absolutely and completely? Are you living your life so dependent on God that if He does not come through, you are in big trouble? What if God asked you to do what He asked Abraham to do in Genesis? God said, "Abraham, come and follow me." "Ok, where are we going Lord?" "I will tell you when we get
there."
It is pretty easy to say, I believe God will take care of me. It is pretty easy to say I am fully dependent on God. So put yourself in the disciples sandals for a moment. Jesus says, "Go out and preach my Kingdom. Go, right now. Do not go home and pack. Do not take anything with you, not even some money." Now, not the Sunday School answer, but the truth. What would you do?
Have you ever really considered this passage before? Jesus is sending the twelve disciples out to preach the message of the Kingdom. There is nothing surprising about that, it is what He had called them to follow Him for. Look at the instructions that He gives them. "Do not take anything with you. Nothing."
Imagine for a moment your employer sending you out of town on business. He calls you into the office and says, "I need you to go out of town for a couple of weeks. Don't go home and pack. Don't take anything with you. When you get to the town that I am sending you, just stay with anyone that will take you in. Don't carry a change of clothes, not even clean underwear. And listen, don't take any money or credit cards with you. Don't worry about anything, I have prearranged for all of your needs to be cared for."
In our materialistic culture this whole concept is ludicrous and foreign to our way of thinking. Why did Jesus give the disciples this command? I believe that Jesus wanted the disciples to learn to trust Him completely. Jesus wanted the disciples to fully rely on God and not their own abilities to provide for themselves.
So let me ask you to be brutally honest with yourself. Do you trust God absolutely and completely? Are you living your life so dependent on God that if He does not come through, you are in big trouble? What if God asked you to do what He asked Abraham to do in Genesis? God said, "Abraham, come and follow me." "Ok, where are we going Lord?" "I will tell you when we get
there."
It is pretty easy to say, I believe God will take care of me. It is pretty easy to say I am fully dependent on God. So put yourself in the disciples sandals for a moment. Jesus says, "Go out and preach my Kingdom. Go, right now. Do not go home and pack. Do not take anything with you, not even some money." Now, not the Sunday School answer, but the truth. What would you do?
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