5-20-2018

Good Morning All,

            Proverbs 3:5; “Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.”

    Trust is a very important but fleeting experience.  Most people have the Reagan theory-trust but verify.  That really isn’t trust.  Trust is so crucial to some business teams and partnerships that companies send them to “trust building” seminars.  These seminars have “trust building” exercises.  One of these exercises involves one member standing tall with his arms crossed before him.  He then falls backwards; trusting one of the other members of the team to catch him before he hits the floor. 

    You have to trust one of your fellow employees.  They may catch you or look at each other and say, “I thought you had him!”  That is when you find out who your friends are.  You have to wonder about ever trusting those guys again.  I would think that falling to the floor in a heap would really test your trust of the other guy.

    Our verse today speaks of trusting the Lord with all your heart.  That can be easier said than done.  It might be easy if your life is going, for the most part, in the direction.  But what if it isn’t?  Think of John the Baptist.  He did everything that God asked him to do and he was imprisoned by Herod.  As he languished in the prison, he asked Jesus, “Are you the One?”  Jesus answered yes.  Yet John remained in prison and eventually was executed there.  Trusting in the Lord can be tough.

    It can be very tough when we face those monumental tasks; those struggles that have no easy answer.  When facing the declining health of a family member or our own, trust can be a scarce commodity.  When it seems that every time you turn around, you get knocked down again and again; trust can seem like just a word.  When the people who you love and thought they loved you leave you with nothing but painful memories, trust can feel almost painful.  The thing we need to remember is that in most of these situations, we aren’t really trusting God as much as we are really trusting in our own understanding. 

    We may think we have it all figured out but we really don’t.  So much happens in this world that we think we can directly influence or change.  The truth is that the world is nothing but chaos and the only order is found through God.  Anytime we look to the world for answers all we get are guesses or hunches at best.  God is our only source of truth.  God is the one who controls what happens.  Things go according to God’s will; we may not like it at the time but God’s will is always the best.  We have to trust that; that has to be the basis for our faith and our hope.  Trusting in God is our only true security.

Dear Father, too often we trust our own instincts and desires only to have them fail.  Give us the courage and the faith to fully trust in your grace.  Give us the assurance that all things work for good for those whom you love.  Give extra assurance to those who are wrestling now with questions of trust.  Give them peace Lord.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret