journey onWord with us

Any kind of shopping for me is almost as pleasurable as visiting the dentist (although, I have a great dentist). My wife has become very patient with my store-avoidance! On one particular evening, I was a dutiful husband and visited a store that provided lots of motivational material. It was intriguing to read some of the quotes on the knickknacks and plaques. One made me laugh, and another made me think. “Gone Crazy, back in a moment” made me pause and enjoy a good laugh after a long day. I was forced to think as I read the words of another wall hanging that went something like this: “The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.” Oh, how quickly can I say “Amen” to that last statement intellectually; but, oh, how quickly does the reality of it cause me to think, act or say differently. How about you?

Are we willing to gladly accept the will of God and trust His sovereignty over every aspect of our lives? Without a doubt! But in the everyday struggles of life, we all battle with our own goals and desires for happiness versus what God ordains for us. Quite frankly, the hurried pace at which we all live can cause us to spend very little time listening for the will of God. And therefore, most of the Christian living I see is people doing the best they can, yet never really feeling comfortable or certain that they’re hearing the will of God. How about you?

In my own life, I am convinced that maturing, so I can better fulfill the will of God, is an adventure worth striving for. In the process of really trying to ratchet back the pace of my external and internal life (work in progress), I stumbled on a book titled An Unhurried Life by Alan Fadling. In reading, I found another quote that made me pause and take note. Take a moment yourself to read the larger context, and then zero in on the bolded words…

When I found myself slowing down inside, the Lord seemed to say, “Don’t talk trust and live worry.” As a pastor, I often recommended truths that I was not practicing. Anxiety drove a lot of what I said and did. And Jesus was inviting me to live with trust in Him instead of worry.

Don’t talk trust and live worry! It seems to me that talking trust and living worry is the 21st century Christian way. Talking about trusting God is easy to do. Living without worry? … that’s an entirely different story. But wait a minute … if it’s God’s will for us to trust (in every situation), and if worry is a sin, can’t you and I begin to talk trust and live trust? Absolutely. But it will never happen without strong conviction in His sovereignty and a consistent intake of His Word. I am convinced that Christ-followers can live trust-filled lives with a strong sense of God’s protection. How about you?

I am realistic enough to know that you and I will always battle with some measure of tension between talking trust and living worry. But we can be intentional in living trust!

As I close, I’d like to share one last statement. It changed the life of Hudson Taylor (a great missionary of years ago) and can certainly benefit you and me. It was said of Hudson that he came to a place where … he stopped striving to be faithful and started trusting the Faithful One. Could it be that you and I carry our burdens (trying to be faithful) when we should, instead, be shifting the weight of our every care to our Sovereign Lord, Protector and Provider? Sounds good to me! How about you?