By Chris WittsTuesday 29 Apr 2014Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
I like the often repeated story of a man who heard his neighbourhood was flooding due to heavy rain. He got down on his knees and prayed “Dear God,save me from the coming flood”. The waters started to rise and a truck came by and the driver invited him in and to go to higher ground. “No – God will save me” he replied. The water level increased and a woman came by in a row boat. “Jump into the boat and I’ll take you to safety”. The man said no – God would save him. By this time he climbed onto the top of his house and a helicopter flew by and let down a rope only to refuse the pilot’s offer of help. The man drowned and he got to Heaven an angry man. “What are you doing here?” God asked. He said. “God – I’m mad at You. I asked You to save me from the flood and you didn’t. God smiled and said “I sent you a truck,a boat and helicopter. How much more saving do you need?”
Trust is a bit like that. We want to trust God,but somehow it’s our nature to have Him appear and tell us. We find it too difficult to accept what He sends us as His answer. It’s like parachuting. In theory,it sounds fine… but to get the parachute to do what it’s designed for,we have to jump out of the plane first. And that’s the scary bit. So in life we make bargains with God. “OK,God,if this or that happens then I will really know it’s You talking. Then,I’ll trust You. But if I don’t see some signs,I’ll think it’s only my imagination,and I won’t listen”. We do have problems in this area of faith. We forget that God is unexpected,mysterious,eternal. We forget He may be standing right in front of us and we don’t see,or we fail to trust Him and lose opportunities He has given us. Is it because we are afraid to leave ourselves open like that? Hebrews 11:1 says “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for,to be certain of the things we cannot see”.
Having trust is described as confident expectation that God shares our lives because He is a loving God who wants only the best for us,even when we sometimes don’t understand what the best is… even if it’s painful. Trusting Him means taking a different road in life to what we think is best. In the Old Testament,Abraham and Sarah stared in astonishment when told they would be the parents of a great nation. They knew they were too old to have children,and Sarah thought it was a joke. But the promise was fulfilled despite their uncertainties. Why? Because they trusted God.
Moses was told to go back to Egypt and lead the people of Israel out of slavery. How could he demand Pharaoh to release them? He was filled with great fear and uncertainty,yet God insisted he go and do it,because God had the power,not Moses. Trusting God doesn’t mean you won’t have serious doubts. Think of the disciples who gave up their ordinary lives to follow Jesus. They had many failures and misgivings but Jesus said to them “Follow Me and I will make you fish for people”. In other words,”trust Me. There’s work to be done. Come with me”,and they went.
In order to really trust God,we must be open to what He lays out in front of us. We must accept that we do not have all the answers. We must accept that He knows a thing or two more than us.
Max Lucado in his book “Travelling Light” says this. “To know God’s will we must totally surrender to God’s will. Our tendency is to make God’s decision for Him. Don’t go to God with options and expect Him to choose one of your preferences. Go to Him with empty hands – no hidden agendas,no crossed fingers,nothing behind your back. Go to Him with a willingness to do whatever He says. If you surrender your will,then He will equip you with everything good for doing His will”. But our inclination is not to surrender. We want to play it safe. In trusting God we need to learn to trust ourselves to trust God. Think about that for a moment.