Trust

Trust

Learning to Trust
"Dear God, what am I supposed to do?" asked missionary Marge Elam. "I am so worried for my little girl. I am not able to hover over her to protect her."
"The night was warm and quite dark. I could hear several alligators not far from the house calling back and forth in their strange creaky way. Nightbirds, frogs and other night creatures added their sounds as a background to my prayer. I soundlessly left my bed and felt my way to the hammock where my eight-year-old slept.
"'Lord, she has to ride her bicycle alone two miles through the jungle to go to school. There are many wild things out there, and always snakes.'
"While looking down at the faint outline of my sleeping child with her small white face pillowed on her bent arm, a memory went across my mind. It was the other day: her eyes were large with excitement, her voice almost squeaked, 'Mom, it was the biggest, fattest snake. Its body stretched all the way across the road. I did not know what to do, so I just pulled up my legs and rode my bike over it.'"
"I could actually hear the thump of my own heart in the darkness. Then, I heard a voice. It almost seemed to come out of the darkness, but I knew it was inside of me. He said, 'I was able to take care of your daughter in the United States, and I am able to take care of her here as well.'After that, I was able to sleep the night through and every night since for 17 years. I knew that if He was able to take care of one eight-year-old girl, He was able to take care of everything else."

Feeling Sorry for Yourself
So you think you have problems. Who doesn't? That is no reason for you to quit the church or abandon the Faith. "You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord-that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful" (James 5:11).
Put yourself in the shoes of Job for a moment:
HE LOST HIS WEALTH. In rapid succession three messengers came telling Job of the destruction of his property and servants by bands of robbers and by lightning.
HE LOST HIS FAMILY. A fourth messenger came telling of the death of all of Job's children. Seven sons and three daughters were crushed in a moment when the house fell.
HE LOST HIS HEALTH. Job was smitten from head to foot with most loathsome ulcers. He was constrained to sit down among the ashes and scrape himself with a potsherd.
HE LOST HIS FRIENDS. His servants turned their backs on him. The children in the streets despised Job and mocked him. His friends told him that his sufferings were because of his wickedness. And his wife nagged him to curse God and die.
If you take any of these trials separately they would be great, but view them collectively and one is almost overwhelmed. But in the midst of calamity, "Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped" (Job 1:20).
And you know what? Job learned that the Lord is very "compassionate and merciful."

Message of the Robin
Martin Luther said, "I have one preacher that I love better than any other on earth. It is my little tame robin which preaches to me daily. I put his crumbs on the window sill. He hops on the sill and takes as much as he needs. From there he always flies to a little tree close by, lifts up his voice to God, sings his song of praise and gratitude, tucks his head under his wing and goes to sleep, leaving tomorrow to look after itself. He is the best preacher I have on earth."

Ours to Obey, His to Make Way
A pilot was having trouble bringing his plane down to land. From the control tower, he was given instructions. "But there is a pole there," he objected. The answer came back, "You take care of the instructions; we will take care of the obstructions."
So with the child of God. In the Word, he or she has God's instructions. God will take care of the obstructions. It is ours to obey the instructions from God's Word.

Learning to Fly
When an eagle wants to teach its little ones to fly from the nest high upon a cliff, hundreds of feet up in the air, it prods one of the little eaglets and with its beak noses it out of the nest. The eaglet starts to fall, and the great eagle flies underneath, puts its wing out, catches the little one on its back and flies a mile into the air. When you can hardly see the eagle as a point in the sky, it turns sideways, and down falls the little eaglet, fluttering maybe a thousand feet. Meanwhile, the eagle circles around and underneath the eaglet; the eagle catches the eaglet on its wings and carries the eaglet up in the air again. After dishing the young one out again and letting it go, the eaglet comes down farther and farther-sometimes within a hundred feet of the ground. Again the great eagle catches the little one on its back and they go up another mile. The little eagle is at perfect rest, and little by little it will learn to fly. The eagle knows when the eaglet is tired; it spoons the eaglet into the nest, noses out the next one and starts off again.
God says, "That is the way I take care of you." But you may say, "I do not like to have my nest stirred up. I like everything cozy and tidy, and I just like to stay in my baby ways where I am." But God loves you. That is why He will not let you stay as a baby; He wants you to learn to fly. Sometimes you have to be carried aloft, and you may have a horror of having to go by yourself, but it must come if you are to grow.

Abraham Lincoln's Testimony
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, was born in 1809. A well-known writer says: "The worldwide interest in President Lincoln, from the time he left his home in Springfield, Illinois to take the presidential chair at Washington in 1861, and the universal and real sorrow for his untimely death on the 15th of April, 1865, are very pronounced. Even to this present day there exists among the different nationalities of the earth a great interest in this wise and benevolent ruler. President Lincoln had endeared himself to the hearts of millions by his human sympathy, great wisdom, and kindly acts toward friend and foe alike in the most critical and difficult periods of the history of the United States, and after his death this was more fully realized and appreciated by all."
When Lincoln left Springfield, in 1861, on his way to Washington to take the Presidency of the United States to which he was elected, he made the following farewell address: "My friends, no one not in my position can appreciate the sadness I feel at this parting. Here I have lived for a quarter of a century, here my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. A duty devolves upon me which is greater perhaps than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. He never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained him, and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support. Again I bid you all an affectionate farewell." These simple words, addressed to his friends and neighbors, plainly show a reliance upon God, and indicate a work of God in his soul at that time.

Trustworthiness
A Louisville Kentucky woman, very active in church work, had walked over to the edge of the swimming pool to watch the youngsters at play. She was thoroughly enjoying their fun when a 13-year-old boy ran up to her and asked, "Say, lady, do you go to Sunday school?"
"Why, yes I do," she replied, a bit surprised.
"Then," he said, "please hold this quarter for me while I go into the pool." When the Best Defense Is Fleeting
A beautiful lesson comes to us from Proverbs 30:26. "The conies are a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks."
The cony is a weak, timid little animal like our rabbit or hare. He has no means of defense in himself, so when his foes, the vulture or the eagle, come in sight the cony does not turn at bay and do all he can to defend himself before he flees. If he did he would be torn to pieces in an instant by his fierce enemies of the air. Nay, the cony has learned a wiser course than this. He knows he is a "feeble folk," so he rushes straight to the rocks. He lets the rocks defend him without attempting any defense whatever in his own strength, which is but weakness.
Likewise it is with us. Our only course is to learn the cony lesson, to fly straight to our Rock, Christ Jesus, in prayer, and trust the Rock to keep us.

Bless Me, God
Do we really understand when we say "Bless me, God?"
The word for bless in the Greek New Testament is eulogéo, which means to speak well of.
We are really quite daring when we ask God to speak well of us. When we bless God we are eulogizing or speaking well of Him, and He indeed is worthy of being well spoken of. But how dare we ask Him to speak well of us? In the Bible, God's words are God's actions. The Lord created the world with His word. So when we ask God to speak well of us, it is the same as asking Him to act in our lives.
So many of us have the wrong idea about the blessing of God. We have a tendency to believe that God should hold a rubber stamp and automatically approve our plans.
"How can you look so pleasant tonight?" a man asked his friend. "You have had a score of interruptions this afternoon, when you had plans to accomplish so much." "That is all right," was the answer. "Every morning I give my day to Christ. I take what He sends. These interruptions came in the way of duty. Why should I complain about the service He has appointed?"
Would you really ask God to bless you if you knew that He might interrupt your planning?

God Is My Refuge
Do you have that kind of inner resource? When life is under attack, do you have a fortress with inner provision that can withstand the siege? Between the two World Wars, the French built an 87-mile-long defensive wall called the Maginot Line-the great wall of France that defended its border with Germany. Three lines of defense were incorporated into the wall. The first were strong houses, small fortified barracks designed to sound the alarm. The second line of defense was deep, reinforced bunkers to delay enemy attack. But the third line of defense was called ouvrage, deeply buried multi-storied forts every four to six miles. Below the barracks, at the deepest level, were the storehouses of ammunition, food, and above all else, a constant supply of water from deep wells.
When the Germans did move against France, they did not even try to attack these final forts. Not a single one of the ouvrage was ever overcome or taken by the Germans. Why? The Germans knew the soldiers in these bunkers could survive and resist almost indefinitely because of the deep, endless supply of water.
All of us need fortifications for life. But every line of defense is inadequate unless deep within us there is a resource hidden, abundant, untouchable. When the assault of life's enemy comes, we need not fear if that Source is within us. Absolute trust in God means that Source of life can never be taken, despite rejection, poverty, loss of vocation, misunderstanding. Jeremiah himself experienced all of that and more. Yet what was true for him can be true for you. Jesus said it best: from within, streams of living water.

"For the Lord Your God Will Be With You Wherever You Go"
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9 NIV).
It was Palm Sunday, 1987, when a dear woman was waiting for service to conclude and looking forward to an afternoon when the entire family would enjoy a rare day together. As the final song was beginning to flow from the congregation, she knew something was wrong. Pushing past the other family members, she made it as far as the outside steps. It was Tuesday when she awoke and found herself in the hospital surrounded by her family and physician. A visit to a neurologist was suggested.
The neurologist found an aneurysm in the major artery of the brain. No symptoms: no headaches, no blurred vision, no motor problems-never been in better health. Still young in years, still eating correctly, still exercising-yet within a touch of death. She had two choices: 1) live with the knowledge of the aneurysm and hope for the best; or 2) have brain surgery.
How does someone handle news like this? How would you handle it? How did our friend handle it? Where is God at a time like this?
The tears came first, then the resolve to stay busy. So she went back to work and did not tell anyone about it. She discussed it only with family and a trusted physician. Her decision-surgery. She began to review life and wonder why, and at the same time, be thankful for what God had already provided.
Then the panic attack came. Would the surgery leave her paralyzed, blind, or even dead? All were possible. There were long talks with her husband far into the night-there was inability to sleep-it was real-it was happening and it was happening to her!
On one of those sleepless nights she walked downstairs, picked up her Bible, looked at a red ribbon imprinted with suggested topics: sorrow, worry, loneliness, courage -and picked courage. The passage was Joshua 1:9, and the words jumped out at her: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord Your God will be with you wherever you go." Tearing a piece of paper from a note pad, she copied the verse and clasped it in her hand. The sense of panic then drained away.
The piece of paper remained with her during the days leading up to the day of the surgery. Surgery day found her with no fear of the surgery or the future. The piece of paper remained in her right hand as she was moved into the operating room. The final exam by the attending nurses revealed the paper.
The piece of paper with the verse had served its purpose. She told the nurse to throw it away. But in her beautiful wisdom, the nurse responded, "I have to take it now; but when you wake up, you will find it taped to your palm."
Twenty-six hours later two smiling nurses appeared. "Did you find your verse?" Slowly she opened her fist. The tattered scrap was secured with surgical tape. Reading it would not be possible for a long time, but the words are etched forever in her memory: "...for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
Only He can give us the courage to face life and death. May we be moved to call upon His power and promises daily.

Pedal
At first, I saw God as my Observer, my Judge-keeping track of things I did to know whether I merited heaven or hell. He was out there-sort of like a President. I recognized His picture but I did not know Him.
Later on, when I met Christ, life became a bike ride. It was a tandem bike, and Christ was in the back helping me pedal. I do not know just when He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since. Christ makes life exciting.
When I had the control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points. When He led, He knew delightful long cuts-up mountains and through rocky places-and at breakneck speeds. It was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said "Pedal!" I worried and was anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and did not answer, and I started to trust.
I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure. And when I would say, "I am scared," He would lean back and touch my hand. He took me to people who gave me gifts of healing, acceptance, joy and peace for our journey. He said, "Give the gifts away." So I did to people we met. And I found that in giving I received, and our burden was light.
I did not trust Him at first to control my life. I thought He would wreck it. But He knows how to make bikes bend to take sharp corners, jump to clear high rocks, fly to shorten scary passages.
I am learning to be quiet and pedal in the strangest places. I am beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face. And when I am sure I just cannot do any more-He just smiles and says, "Pedal!"

How Do We Hallow the Name Of God?
In the Lord's prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9). To hallow the name of God is to regard it as holy, to treat it differently from all other names.
One of the ten commandments warned, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name" (Exodus 20:7). Those who hallow the name of God take special care to avoid light, meaningless and profane reference to God in their daily speech.
We must realize, however, that hallowing the name of God is not just a matter of vocabulary. Many people fail to hallow God's name, who would never think of using His name in a vulgar or obscene context. They simply do not take God seriously in the way they live. Every day is consumed with activity that does not take God into consideration. Problem solving becomes a matter of relying on human resources. God is nowhere to be found in the picture. Which is the more serious breech of God's command? To speak God's name profanely? Or to give lip service to Him in church and then ignore Him in everyday life?
Several years ago, J. B. Phillips wrote an interesting book which he titled, Your God Is Too Small. In the book he wrote about some inadequate concepts of God, and Mike Cope suggests that our God is "too middle-sized." We affirm a lot of things about God. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. He is majestic and glorious. He is the God to Whom we must give account. We are invited to draw near to Him. Our doctrine of God is right on target.
But when it comes to practical living, then we are not sure God is capable of doing all those things He has promised. Cope suggests we do not believe what we know. You can talk about Him in Bible class, but when you are struggling with the mortgage payments or a sick child or the loss of a job, Bible-class talk about God tends to sound rather hollow. That is because we believe in a middle-sized God. He is big enough to judge us in eternity, but not big enough to help with the job problem. To hallow the name of God means to treat His name with respect, not only in the way we talk, but also in the way we trust. The Painting of My Life
Brian J. Waldrop relates this slice of life:
"Flipping through the channels of my TV the other morning, I stopped to watch a painter skillfully painting a dese rt landscape. As the man proceeded to color the canvas in deep browns, reds, and yellows, the picture really started to look good. I felt that the painter ought to stop. To me, the picture looked complete.
"As I was thinking those very words, I cringed to see the artist add a dark blackish color of paint to the canvas. As I had feared, the dark blob looked awkward and out of place. But as the man continued to add texture and other colors to the blob it began to take shape. When the painter was finished, the part of the picture that I thought was ruined looked great! It was exactly what the painting needed to make it beautiful and complete.
"As I sat there watching the program that day, I was really surprised to find myself cringing at many of the moves the artist made with his brush. I got to thinking how typical this is of my Christian life. Many times in my life, after much struggling and hardship, I have come to a place where I am comfortable. As I am basking in the goodness of the Lord, God has chosen to institute a change I neither expected nor wanted. During this time I cry out, 'No, Lord, You are ruining the picture!'But often, as I allowed God to continue His work on the canvas of my life, to my surprise the picture would begin to look pretty good. Finally, I would thank Him for the addition or subtraction to my life.
"There have been times, however, that the change never looked good to me and perhaps never will. During these times I must remember that God is still painting. The picture has not been completed yet. I must travel on in faith knowing that when I see Him face to face, my painting will be beautiful.
"In the meantime, I can take comfort knowing that every situation, though it may be ugly and bad, is paint that the Master Craftsman can use for good.
"Paul stated it this way, 'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose' (Romans 8:28 NIV).
"Lord Jesus, take my life and create a masterpiece!"

Never Moved a Mountain
Our thanks to an unknown author for the following lyric testimony to God's providence:
Lord, I have never moved a mountain and I guess I never will. All the faith that I could muster would not move a small ant hill. Yet, I will tell you, Lord, I am grateful for the joy of knowing Thee, and for all the mountain moving, down through life you have done for me.
When I needed some help You lifted me from the depths of great despair. And when burdens, pain and sorrow have been more than I can bear, you have always been my courage to restore life's troubled sea, and to move these little mountains that have looked so big to me.
Many times when I have had problems and when bills I have had to pay, and the worries and the heartaches just kept mounting every day, Lord, I do not know how you did it. I cannot explain the wheres or whys. All I know is that I have seen these mountains turn to blessings in disguise.
No, I have never moved a mountain, for my faith is far too small. Yet, I thank you, Lord of Heaven, you have always heard my call. And as long as there are mountains in my life, I will have no fear, for the mountain-moving Jesus is my strength and always near.

Trusting Step by Step
A father asked his son to carry a letter from their camp to the village. He pointed out a trail over which the lad had never gone before. "All right, Dad, but I don't see how that path will ever reach the town," said the boy. "Do you see the trail as far as the big tree down there?" asked the father. "Oh, yes, I see that far." "Well, when you get there by the tree, you'll see the trail a little farther ahead, and so on until you get within sight of the houses of the village." Even so should we trust God, being willing to follow His directions one step at a time. The Greatest Compliment
One wet, foggy day a little girl was standing on a street corner in a large city waiting for an opportunity to cross the street. She walked up and down and looked into the faces of those who passed by. Some looked careless, some harsh, some in a hurry; she did not see anyone who made her feel confident. At length an elderly man, tall and erect, yet with a kindly expression, came walking down the street. Looking up into his face she seemed to see the one for whom she had been waiting. She went up to him and asked timidly, "Please, sir, will you help me over?" The old man saw the little girl safely across the street, and when he afterward told the story he said, "That little child's trust was the greatest compliment I ever had in my life."

Trust in God
As D. L. Moody said, "Trust in yourself, and you are doomed to disappointment; trust in your friends, and they will die and leave you; trust in reputation, and some slanderous tongue may blast it; but trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity." Luther gave a similar testimony when he said, "I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess."

Childlike Trust
A frantic mother called her pastor one day. She was experiencing a bad case of "nerves" as so many of us do. He thought he heard a child's voice while she was speaking, so he asked, "Is your child as upset and worried as you are?" "No, of course not," she replied. "But why not?" persisted the pastor. "I suppose she puts her trust in me and lets me do the worrying," she answered. "Then make a transference. Try to think of yourself as a child of God and, just as your child puts her trust in you, put your trust in God." The Miserable Supposer
There was a poor woman who earned her living by hard labor but who was a joyous, triumphant Christian. "Ah, Nancy," said a gloomy Christian lady to her one day, "it is well to be happy now, but I should think the thoughts of the future would sober you. Suppose, for instance, you should have a spell of sickness and be unable to work, or suppose your present employer should move away and no one would give you a job. Suppose...." "Stop!" cried Nancy. "I never suppose. The Lord is my Shepherd, and I know I shall not want. You know, dear, it is all those supposes that are making you so miserable. You had better give them all up and just trust the Lord."

Fanatical Security
In the second century, a Christian was brought before a pagan ruler and told to renounce his faith. "If you don't do it, I will banish you," threatened the king. The man smiled and answered, "You can't banish me from Christ, for He says, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " To this the king angrily retorted, "Then I will confiscate your property and take all your possessions." Again the man smiled and said, "My treasures are all laid up on high; you cannot get them." The king became furious and shouted, "I will kill you!" "Why," the man answered, "I have been dead forty years; I have been dead with Christ, dead to the world, and my life is hid with Christ in God, and you cannot touch it." In desperation the king turned to his advisers and asked, "What can you do with a fanatic like that?" The Pilot's Smile
In Robert Louis Stevenson's story of a storm, he describes a ship caught off a rocky coast, threatening death to all on board. When terror among the passengers was at its worst, one man more daring than the rest, making the perilous passage to the pilot-house, saw the pilot lashed to his post with his hands on the wheel, turning the ship little by little into the open sea. When the pilot beheld the ghastly white, terror-stricken face of the man, he smiled, and the man rushed to the deck below shouting, "I have seen the face of the pilot and he smiled. All is well." The sight of that smiling face averted panic and converted despair into hope.