Trust vs. Fear
I have been so inspired by the comments under my post about the rich young ruler. Todd Edwards posted some very good things that I hope nobody has missed. I especially loved learning this (a portion of Todd's comment):
"Interesting thing about the camel and the eye of the needle explained by MacArthur is that from the Jewish mindset being rich meant being blessed by God. The O.T. is full of blessings/riches going to those who obey. So, when the disciples said "then who can be saved"? they were saying if a rich man who in their mind was being blessed because he was keeping all of the rules was difficult to save then how could those who were not rich/blessed be saved."
Understanding that helps to illuminate this encounter even more! (Thanks again, Todd!)
Then, this morning, I read Janette's comment and it made me cry. Not tears of sadness, but tears of thankfulness. God is amazing. I didn't know if I was truly being inspired to share my old paper on the rich young ruler or not. But it seemed like I was and now I know without a doubt that God brought it to my mind at just this time for a specific purpose. It makes me wonder how many times we miss these opportunites to respond to God's invitations, because we hesitate -- or worse, we are not listening closely for His voice.
My pastor has been talking on fear since the beginning of 2008. Fear is the opposite of trust. And we are instructed by scripture not to fear or be afraid more than anything else. I can't even tell you how many times, especially over the last five years, Danny has told me that when I have anxiety, it means I'm not trusting God. Fear and anxiety are not from God. And if I trust Him, I won't be afraid. My pastor is focusing on this very issue of trust being the antidote for our fears. And I love hearing (through Janette's comment) that God is speaking to this very issue in their church as well.
God has been speaking to my heart about trust for many months now. I wrote on my blog some time back about the day God told me I was putting my hope in a specific outcome instead of putting my hope in HIM and His promise to work all things for my good. I was very afraid that day. I was torn up with anxiety and could not stop crying. If I could share the details, I would. But God told me that day to trust that "I am using ALL THINGS for your good...EVEN THIS." My desire has not changed. But I know that if the desires of my heart do not line up with God's will for my life, then His will is better -- even if I cannot ever see it and even if it is hard. He has a purpose and a plan. And the plan is bigger than my little life. But I have an important role in His plan, nonetheless. I just have to remember it is not about me.
My most important role in God's plan is to honor and glorify Him, to point others to Him, through my life and all of my life's circumstances. The most dramatic evidence of my faith is obedience to His Word. And the most dramatic evidence of my relationship with Him is to what degree I am trusting Him with the details of my life. Am I consistently placing my life in His hands? Or am I taking life into my own hands?
The reality is, we all do some of both. But a trend should emerge in our lives as Christians. If we are growing in trust, especially in the really hard and uncertain places of our lives, we are growing up in Him. He is all we need for any situation.
God has proven His faithfulness to me. I should never have to be reminded that I can trust Him. But God is still faithful to remind me when I am weak. My pastor often reminds us that the Bible says, because of Jesus, we can come boldly to the throne of grace IN OUR TIME OF NEED. It does not say we can come boldly when we're strong, when we've done everything right, when we haven't let God down or because we deserve His mercy. It says to come boldly in our need, in our weakness. Acknowledging our need and our weakness is key.
As Todd explained in his comment, we were DEAD in our sins. We could do nothing to help ourselves. We could not even reach up to God outside of His reaching down to us first. Rather than trying to impress God with our goodness, He wants us to acknowledge our condition and our complete dependence on Him. The rich young ruler could not acknowledge his failure to keep the law. Therefore, he could not grasp his desperate need for the Savior.
"Interesting thing about the camel and the eye of the needle explained by MacArthur is that from the Jewish mindset being rich meant being blessed by God. The O.T. is full of blessings/riches going to those who obey. So, when the disciples said "then who can be saved"? they were saying if a rich man who in their mind was being blessed because he was keeping all of the rules was difficult to save then how could those who were not rich/blessed be saved."
Understanding that helps to illuminate this encounter even more! (Thanks again, Todd!)
Then, this morning, I read Janette's comment and it made me cry. Not tears of sadness, but tears of thankfulness. God is amazing. I didn't know if I was truly being inspired to share my old paper on the rich young ruler or not. But it seemed like I was and now I know without a doubt that God brought it to my mind at just this time for a specific purpose. It makes me wonder how many times we miss these opportunites to respond to God's invitations, because we hesitate -- or worse, we are not listening closely for His voice.
My pastor has been talking on fear since the beginning of 2008. Fear is the opposite of trust. And we are instructed by scripture not to fear or be afraid more than anything else. I can't even tell you how many times, especially over the last five years, Danny has told me that when I have anxiety, it means I'm not trusting God. Fear and anxiety are not from God. And if I trust Him, I won't be afraid. My pastor is focusing on this very issue of trust being the antidote for our fears. And I love hearing (through Janette's comment) that God is speaking to this very issue in their church as well.
God has been speaking to my heart about trust for many months now. I wrote on my blog some time back about the day God told me I was putting my hope in a specific outcome instead of putting my hope in HIM and His promise to work all things for my good. I was very afraid that day. I was torn up with anxiety and could not stop crying. If I could share the details, I would. But God told me that day to trust that "I am using ALL THINGS for your good...EVEN THIS." My desire has not changed. But I know that if the desires of my heart do not line up with God's will for my life, then His will is better -- even if I cannot ever see it and even if it is hard. He has a purpose and a plan. And the plan is bigger than my little life. But I have an important role in His plan, nonetheless. I just have to remember it is not about me.
My most important role in God's plan is to honor and glorify Him, to point others to Him, through my life and all of my life's circumstances. The most dramatic evidence of my faith is obedience to His Word. And the most dramatic evidence of my relationship with Him is to what degree I am trusting Him with the details of my life. Am I consistently placing my life in His hands? Or am I taking life into my own hands?
The reality is, we all do some of both. But a trend should emerge in our lives as Christians. If we are growing in trust, especially in the really hard and uncertain places of our lives, we are growing up in Him. He is all we need for any situation.
God has proven His faithfulness to me. I should never have to be reminded that I can trust Him. But God is still faithful to remind me when I am weak. My pastor often reminds us that the Bible says, because of Jesus, we can come boldly to the throne of grace IN OUR TIME OF NEED. It does not say we can come boldly when we're strong, when we've done everything right, when we haven't let God down or because we deserve His mercy. It says to come boldly in our need, in our weakness. Acknowledging our need and our weakness is key.
As Todd explained in his comment, we were DEAD in our sins. We could do nothing to help ourselves. We could not even reach up to God outside of His reaching down to us first. Rather than trying to impress God with our goodness, He wants us to acknowledge our condition and our complete dependence on Him. The rich young ruler could not acknowledge his failure to keep the law. Therefore, he could not grasp his desperate need for the Savior.
Comments
But while enjoying dinner with the kids in Green Hills, Janette informed us that Ken Abraham had the evening service. Lucky said (get this -this is unbelievable!) "I just feel like we need to be in church today. We missed church and Ken's class this morning, so, let's go tonight. Okay?" I was thinking, "who are you and what have you done with my husband!" LOL I have NEVER heard him say anything like that before in all our 41 years of marriage. Shoot. A broken toenail was enough excuse to miss church when we went to CGT. But, now he's becoming so invested that he's compelling ME to go to church! I was tired. I don't do night services very well, but we went.
Anyway, to get to the point. Ken Abraham talked on Father Abraham and how God told him to sacrifice his only son, the apple of His eye, the Child of Promise. Sarah was barren so Abe had to wait 100 years for this child! 100 years!
Can you imagine what fear would strike the heart of a loving parent who is told to stab their child to death and burn his body? What kind of trust Abraham must have had in God's promise to have been willing to do such a thing? KA siad that he believes Abraham must have believed that God would bring his son back to life if he followed through with God's requirement. How's that for trust in God? It kind of makes our fears small in comparison, doesn't it?
There's one line Ken said at the end of his lesson. He said, "someone died on that mountain that day and it wasn't Isaac. It was Abraham!"
Such is a great lesson on trust vs fear. Another point is that this story closely parallels the lesson of the Rich Young Ruler that you posted earlier, Shari. Ken says about that, "hold every thing that is precious to you up to God with your palms up and wide open. God will not, cannot tolerate any idols, not your money, your dreams, your career, your talent, not your spouse, not even your only child (easy to say, harder to do).
As the song goes, "He gives and takes away. He gives and takes away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be Your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
Will you take my posts seriously if I use this picture?