“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 3:5; 16:3 (NLT)
and just to share that Pastor Tolbert Lovelady at River of Life Fellowship in Seaside, Or, USA preached a word about that... saying that "Daily...the Lord Jesus Suffers..." Say what? you may think as I did...Does Victorious Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father at His throne does He ..."suffer"? well truly Jesus suffers daily the same mocking, joking, disbelieving comments, Oh yeah that didn't stop happening when He won that great Victory for us...but tribulation as He said would continue and in that the persecution of Him through us...believers...continues...being abused accused ( we know where that is from Amen?) and martyred..in a public amphitheatre on display for all to be entertained by...disgrace , and shame were the garments they wore and we do too...and we wear them as the ones gone before us ...treasured garments of praise. A re-presentation of the white washed garments won by and washed in the Blood...Jesus' and In that we can trust...
Trust....like Faith...something we treasure ...and indeed a universal truth and keystone of our lives...even the staunchest atheist has that in common with us...and we see that Trust, Faith and Hope through a different perspective...One of A Loving Father...
The notion of trust can, at times, be a bit of a knotted twisted phenomenon. To some degree, the very fabric of our daily life is held together by trust. We ALL trust that the chair we sit down in will hold us, or that the brakes in our car will engage when we depress the brake pedal. This type of trust—the kind that weaves its way through our day to day activities—is often exhibited on a subconscious level. However, there are other times when trust is more conscious and demonstrable. This happens when we take tests, trusting that we will be able to recall all that we have studied and learned. Or when we trust a co-worker to get our Starbucks order correct. This is a more feelable, tactile kind of trust. And, it is this type of trust that is required as we follow Jesus in the areas He has called us to live, breathe and create in...
And we can see, there is a balance that is necessary in the work we do. It is a balance between trust and faith and working. Not only has God called us to our work, but He is actively equipping us and empowering us to carry it all out. Therefore, we work—and work hard! We work hard in order to see the flourishing of that which God has called us to Do...to co-create. After all, we are wired to work, to build...name those animals! be fruitful and multiply!... to work ever after by the sweat of our brow to gain fruit from the land and resources, and and... This is part of how God has created us.
However, we must couple this capacity to work hard with a even harder working trust in God. For most of us, Work comes easy. Trust, on the other hand, is a bit more um tricky. Trust and faith takes our sense of control away from us. It forces us to look outside of us, to something—or Someone—else. As such, trust is vital to our relationships and our relationship with God!
We hustle and bustle and work with an ever-present understanding that it is in God we are trusting, not our own efforts. All of our ideas, all of our brainstorming, all of our creating must be done with a trust that it is God who is at work in all our labors...Jesus said in Mathew 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
The notion of trust can, at times, be a bit of a knotted twisted phenomenon. To some degree, the very fabric of our daily life is held together by trust. We ALL trust that the chair we sit down in will hold us, or that the brakes in our car will engage when we depress the brake pedal. This type of trust—the kind that weaves its way through our day to day activities—is often exhibited on a subconscious level. However, there are other times when trust is more conscious and demonstrable. This happens when we take tests, trusting that we will be able to recall all that we have studied and learned. Or when we trust a co-worker to get our Starbucks order correct. This is a more feelable, tactile kind of trust. And, it is this type of trust that is required as we follow Jesus in the areas He has called us to live, breathe and create in...
And we can see, there is a balance that is necessary in the work we do. It is a balance between trust and faith and working. Not only has God called us to our work, but He is actively equipping us and empowering us to carry it all out. Therefore, we work—and work hard! We work hard in order to see the flourishing of that which God has called us to Do...to co-create. After all, we are wired to work, to build...name those animals! be fruitful and multiply!... to work ever after by the sweat of our brow to gain fruit from the land and resources, and and... This is part of how God has created us.
However, we must couple this capacity to work hard with a even harder working trust in God. For most of us, Work comes easy. Trust, on the other hand, is a bit more um tricky. Trust and faith takes our sense of control away from us. It forces us to look outside of us, to something—or Someone—else. As such, trust is vital to our relationships and our relationship with God!
We hustle and bustle and work with an ever-present understanding that it is in God we are trusting, not our own efforts. All of our ideas, all of our brainstorming, all of our creating must be done with a trust that it is God who is at work in all our labors...Jesus said in Mathew 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Psalm 127:1 tells us that, “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.” We can produce the best product or offer the most incredible service, but if God is not involved in it, it is utterly useless....and you will get no rest.
In the midst of our busy-ness, we trust that it is God who has called us to create, and it is God who will accomplish what He Wills in and through our co-creating. His Will....indeed! This is what the Apostle Paul was getting at when discussing the different labors involved in the Corinthian church. In 1 Corinthians 3:7, he says, “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” You go Paul! He saw the work of planting and watering as absolutely necessary. However, he also had a deep trust that, regardless of who was doing what work and how, it was ultimately God who was bringing about the flourishing growth. This is the type of trusting in His Will that we need to exhibit in our works as well. We work hard, but we also trust boldly and purposefully. At the end of each day as we (I know I have many many times) ponder on what happened and we have to come to terms with the fact that we have to be able to say that we did our best today...and we have to rest in that...Jesus gave us His "Rest"..." And in John 14 after he gave His Spirit he said in verse 26 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."
In the midst of our busy-ness, we trust that it is God who has called us to create, and it is God who will accomplish what He Wills in and through our co-creating. His Will....indeed! This is what the Apostle Paul was getting at when discussing the different labors involved in the Corinthian church. In 1 Corinthians 3:7, he says, “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” You go Paul! He saw the work of planting and watering as absolutely necessary. However, he also had a deep trust that, regardless of who was doing what work and how, it was ultimately God who was bringing about the flourishing growth. This is the type of trusting in His Will that we need to exhibit in our works as well. We work hard, but we also trust boldly and purposefully. At the end of each day as we (I know I have many many times) ponder on what happened and we have to come to terms with the fact that we have to be able to say that we did our best today...and we have to rest in that...Jesus gave us His "Rest"..." And in John 14 after he gave His Spirit he said in verse 26 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."
Wow...so I chuckle and look up at the cartoon again...how flighty we can be...just a panel or two away from losing focus...falling, tripping, failing...
So I gain pass on an affirmation taught and reinforced by Pastor Lovelady...and I encourage you to not just speak it out but think it out loud and strong...as you head to work, head to bed, head to wherever God is leading you...Say, think, pray or shout..."But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1st Corinthians 15:57!
And so as you go please feel free to sing or hum along with Merle Haggard ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhK5Iry9oEg
God Nite or Day to you all....
Pray that He would help you to trust Him deeply in these areas of His Will...and
Pray that He would help you to trust Him deeply in these areas of His Will...and
Rock and Roll!...Jesus is the Rock...and we ROLL!
No comments:
Post a Comment