To Trust or not to Trust – That is the Question

Friday brought me to a place of choice. I was confronted with a depression so deep that I had to decide if I really wanted to trust in God. It was a test.  I don’t know exactly who or what initiated this trust confrontation but I knew I had come to a decision point.

I’m not unusual (at least not in this area.) I think all Christians come to a point of decision. Things go great for a time and then we are hit with a chance to trust God while things are not going so great.

We get hit with circumstances that many say are not supposed to happen to the believer. I was reminded of a dear elderly lady named Rosie whose body was racked with pain. While I was with her she had a visitor (a young new Christian with not enough life experience) who told her that she could be healed if she just had enough trust. It just didn't seem right or fair that this godly lady who had followed the Lord for so many years should have to go through this. Did she not trust enough? If she was trusting God then why did she have to endure this suffering?

Then gracious godly Rosie said with love and kindness to this little pip squeak that the greatest trust comes in the middle of great trials. God brought this remembrance to my mind during my down in the pit time this week. It’s been years since I thought about Rosie.

God also led me to 1 Peter 1:6-9:

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We, Christians, go through trials of all kinds and colors (that’s what the Greek word for various means.) What may be a trial for me may not be a trial for you. What is grieving your soul may not be what I’m dealing with. But all of this unfair, painful, not supposed to happen to us stuff is really a test to the genuineness of our faith. Do we still trust after all this junk that happens to us?

When people watch our life through tragedy do they see us praise and glorify our Lord? Do they wonder what makes us love and worship a God we haven’t seen? Do they wonder at our commitment to His leading and Lordship when it looks like there isn't a reason? Does it lead them to Jesus?

And then a Facebook friend (My Minister of Praise and Worship Josh) posted on Facebook a song by Meredith Andrews – Not for a Moment (After All.)Here are some of the words that spoke to my heart:

And every step every breath You are there

Every tear every cry every prayer

In my hurt at my worst

When my world falls apart

Not for a moment will You forsake me

Even in the dark

Even when it’s hard

You will never leave me

After all You are constant

After all You are good

After all You are sovereign

Not for a moment will You forsake me

Not for a moment will You forsake me

My answer to the trust issue was like dear Rosie (who is enjoying heaven now.)  Yes, I will trust My God because after all and through it all He is constant, good, and sovereign. I will love and trust Him because not for a moment during all the mess I will go through will He forsake me.

Thank you Rosie, Apostle Peter, and Facebook Friend.

Thank You Lord Jesus.

In Praise of Working Pipes

Yes, I know "cold" is a relative term but it was cold around here. I know it was not as cold as some places but when our average low for the area is 39 degrees and we have days and nights in the teens we call that cold.

One of my friends called and told me to cover the pipes so they don’t freeze. My first thought was, “Pipes? Do I have pipes?” It’s not something I regularly consider. It’s those things that are hidden in my house that brings the water to the faucets. They are not on display or considered in my décor scheme but they are important.

And so began the search for those (not so cute) outside faucet insulators. I knew I had some somewhere but where? I finally found them but one was broken so then began the search in stores for one. Evidently by the time I got around to getting one they were all gotten by other people who had thought about their pipes before I did. So I had to wrap one of the outside faucets with an old T-shirt, a plastic bag, and duct tape it to the brick. (And I thought the faucet insulators were not so cute.)

Then my friend told me to let the faucets drip all night on those teen degree nights. This was to keep the water from freezing in the pipes and causing them to break and potentially flood my house. I remembered that constant dripping water was used as a method of torture in the past. And, yes, by morning I was ready to confess all.

Those hidden pipes in my house became important. I had to consider them and bring their works out into the open. This reminded me of:

1 Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in the darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”

We should not judge other people. We don’t know about their hidden pipes (their intentions and motives.) We need to be concerned about our own pipes (our hidden attitudes of the heart.) One day the Lord will expose all of our pipes (our life motivations.) Some will be Ok and some will be not so OK. Some will be working and some will be busted. But at that time God will give the praise to us for our individual care of our pipes (our attitudes.). I took the analogy a little too far, didn't I?

One commentary put it kind of like this, (I modernized some of it.) "In the end, every man will receive judgment. He will be treated as he ought to be. Our destiny will not be decided by the opinions of people; but our judgment will be set by God. It is very important that we are prepared for that Day. It is very important to form our heart attitudes, so they do not involve us in shame but in praise."

In preparation for that day, each person needs to have a right relationship with Jesus Christ. Everyone will stand individually before God and it will not matter what others have said about you but what God knows about you. He knows our intentions, schemes, and motives. Only the acceptance of Jesus' forgiveness of our sin will matter. Only our submission to the Holy Spirit in our life will matter. Only the reason for our life and whether we followed God with our life will matter.

And so as I consider my hidden pipes, I’m also considering my hidden heart attitudes and motives. I’m taking care of the inner core areas of my life that are not visible on the outside. One day, I want the praise from the Lord.

In praise of my working pipes

New Things 2014

Isaiah 43: 18-19 “Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 

New in quality (innovation), fresh in development or opportunity – "not found exactly like this before."

It all started with the daily Bible verse on my cell phone the first day of this new year– Isaiah 43:18-19. And it is beginning to revolutionize the way I look at my day. I’m slowly replacing the old pessimistic “things will never change, there’s a cloud of doom over my head, it could have always gone better than it did, I expected it to fall apart and it did” philosophy.

As 1 Corinthians 5:17 says, “at the point of my salvation the NEW came into my life.” Christ exchanged His righteousness for my sin or reconciled me to Him. And I have been too absorbed with the past and the now to see that the NEW is happening every day as He continues to create the new me. I'm to be the creation becoming more like Him each day.

So now I’m keeping a New Things 2014 calendar. I’m keeping a record of everything that happens to me that has never happened before. Every fresh development. Every new opportunity. Every “not found exactly like this before.”

Yes, some of the new things are trivial but, hey, they’re new. So I make a notation on my calendar.

I've figured out that these new things bring me to the point of reactions and attitudes. That's what God is interested in - creating new in me. 

Anyway, looking for the NEW every day has helped me see that God is always around and working in me.

Let me say that again (to me.) Looking for the NEW every day has helped me see that God is always around and working in me.

In the little things

and in the big things in life,

And if you are in Christ the old has passed away for you. 

The new has come. Just look around.

2 Corinthians 3:18
And all of us, with unveiled faces, reflecting like bright mirrors the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same likeness, from one degree of radiant holiness to another, even as derived from the Lord the Spirit.

Like the old D.C. Talk song says (I can’t believe I’m calling it an old song, 1990);

"God is doin a new thang,

Ya know He’s doin it."

New Things 2014

Up To This Point

1 Samuel 7:12     Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means "the stone of help"), for he said, "Up to this point the LORD has helped us!"

The beginning of each year usually means a point of reflection. What has our life been like up to this point? What have we accomplished up to this point? What has been a character quality we have not disciplined up to this point? What do we still lack in our lives up to this point?

We make “New Year’s resolutions.”  That means from this point on we want to make certain changes permanent.

I don't like to make resolutions I can't possibly keep. One year my resolution was, “learn to like Jello.” Once the resolution was, “learn to drink coffee black.”

Now I can look back at a time when I couldn't stand the feeling of Jello in my mouth and I had to have additions to make coffee drinkable. Those were very minor changes I was able to accomplish. But there are big things I need help with that I don’t make resolutions about. This is where my study of 1 Samuel 7:12 comes to the forefront.

Samuel took the Children of Israel back to a time when they desperately needed God to help them conquer their old enemies, the Philistines. When God and only God delivered victory, Samuel put up a stone marker to be a permanent reminder that God helped. The people could always go back to that physical reminder that their God was a God that helped. God could be depended upon to help in their future because He helped in the past. God could be trusted for help in the future based on His faithfulness of past help.

I was reminded to look back at my life and remember the times I desperately needed God’s help and God, being God, did help me. Wow, God has delivered me through some tough times. I can put up mental markers of those times when God helped me. And this helps me be assured that in the future God will be there to help.

I don't always keep my resolutions that I think are accomplishable but God will always help in areas of my life that are beyond my control. When I needed help He has always been there and will continue to be there. When I need help in this year to come the Lord God will be there helping me.

Looking at the past is a kind of guarantee for the future.

Up to this point the Lord has helped me.

He will continue to help in the future 

so that this time next year I can say,

“Up to this point the Lord has helped me.”