Trust....a little word with big implications
The anniversary of the Beslan school siege.
The devastation in New Orleans.
Poverty. Debt. Starvation. (In this, and other countries).
The funeral on Thursday of a dear old lady who was a friend of the family since I, and probably my dad, can remember.
The funeral tomorrow of a 16 year old girl from our village. She was the sister of a friend of my bro's....it seems someone teased her for being 'chubby'. She dieted. She became anorexic. The result...
It's at times like these (which seem to be occurring all too often these days), whether affecting people in some far off country or those on our doorstep, that we tell each other, especially as Christians, to 'keep the faith'. Keep trusting God, He'll pull you through.
That's all well and good, they're well meant words. But sometimes, perhaps we need to take a step back. Perhaps those words assume too much. 'But we trusted the teachers to keep our children safe in school/we trusted the government to send aid/we trusted the doctors...they let us down. Why trust God?'
Those words assume too much because it's especially at times like these that we all - Christian or not - need to be reminded of WHY we can trust Him. It's no good being told to do something without knowing why, because then your heart just isn't really in it.
I've just come back from an open air (for some, at least!) service in the grounds of Caerphilly Castle. The speaker - Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was great, to be singing God's praises in the open air and in the midst of His beautiful creation.
And to hear the message, the reminder, of WHY we can trust God. (Faith and trust = same thing.) Why, R.W. asked, do we trust anyone? (What follows is a paraphrase of His message, which will far from do justice to what he said, and will perhaps contain some of my own thoughts that have got muddled up with what he actually said! If you read anything dodgy-which i hope you won't!- it's mine, don't attribute it to Rowan Williams, I can vouch that everything he said was sound, and my thanks to him for the message he brought this morning!)
1. They do what they say they'll do - they keep their word.
The Bible, a collection of many books written by many different people in different times, different circumstances, has a common thread in this - it describes a God who ALWAYS keeps His promises. Psalm 145:13 "The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made."
2. They take risks for us. If a friend, family member, whoever, has to take a risk or sacrifice something for us, we know we can trust them
God loves us, and to prove His love, and His utter trustworthiness, He sent Jesus. He could have sent bolts of lightning. He could have sent fire. Jesus could have been a man powerful beyond description. But God came as a man that the least of us could relate to, as a man who knew what it was to suffer, to sacrifice, to give His all for us. And He did. John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. "
3. They're always there for us.
And isn't God? Hallelujah, He is! He will never leave us or forsake us, the Bible says (Deuteronomy 31:6/Hebrews 13:5) and we've already established that He keeps His promises, so we know that's true! And we know from experience. In the deepest, darkest times, we can cry out to Him in the middle of the night, and He's there. (Matthew 11:28 "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.") In the happiest, best of times, we can rejoice with Him, He's there. And we need never be ashamed. He knows us so intimately that nothing we ever say will shock Him, and nothing we ever say, think, or do will be too much for Him, because of Jesus, because of the new life we have when we're reborn in Him. Romans 8:1-2 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Hallelujah!
4. People we trust, trust them.
How many times have you seen a Christian and thought "I wanna be like them"? (You may-although hopefully not- have thought the opposite, but just roll with the illustration!) Mother Teresa, the apostle Paul, the person in your church who is so caring and thoughtful and loving, a close friend who's a Christian, who you'd entrust your life to....We look at these people and we trust them. We trust them for all the reasons already mentionned. And we look at their lives and see something amazing. Why? It's not them, but it's Jesus. It's Jesus they trust and who gives such meaning to their lives. (John 10:10 "I have come that they may have life, and life to the full".) If people we trust and respect trust Jesus, why shouldn't we? Why should people trust Christians? Perhaps, quite simply, the answer is just because we're here. Because Christianity is here after 20 decades. It's here because trustworthy people have passed on the light to others, have set them on fire for the Lord, who exemplifies trustworthiness. Hebrews 11. It's here because Jesus says he is the way, the truth and the life...and God is to be trusted.
So that, with the help of Rowan Williams, is my (rather long!) thought for the day. Praise God that I know Him, that I'm His.
"No power of Hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns, or calls me home,
Here in the love of Christ I stand."
The anniversary of the Beslan school siege.
The devastation in New Orleans.
Poverty. Debt. Starvation. (In this, and other countries).
The funeral on Thursday of a dear old lady who was a friend of the family since I, and probably my dad, can remember.
The funeral tomorrow of a 16 year old girl from our village. She was the sister of a friend of my bro's....it seems someone teased her for being 'chubby'. She dieted. She became anorexic. The result...
I can trust in my wonderful God, in Jesus my Saviour. And I know exactly why. I hope and pray that you do too.
The devastation in New Orleans.
Poverty. Debt. Starvation. (In this, and other countries).
The funeral on Thursday of a dear old lady who was a friend of the family since I, and probably my dad, can remember.
The funeral tomorrow of a 16 year old girl from our village. She was the sister of a friend of my bro's....it seems someone teased her for being 'chubby'. She dieted. She became anorexic. The result...
It's at times like these (which seem to be occurring all too often these days), whether affecting people in some far off country or those on our doorstep, that we tell each other, especially as Christians, to 'keep the faith'. Keep trusting God, He'll pull you through.
That's all well and good, they're well meant words. But sometimes, perhaps we need to take a step back. Perhaps those words assume too much. 'But we trusted the teachers to keep our children safe in school/we trusted the government to send aid/we trusted the doctors...they let us down. Why trust God?'
Those words assume too much because it's especially at times like these that we all - Christian or not - need to be reminded of WHY we can trust Him. It's no good being told to do something without knowing why, because then your heart just isn't really in it.
I've just come back from an open air (for some, at least!) service in the grounds of Caerphilly Castle. The speaker - Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was great, to be singing God's praises in the open air and in the midst of His beautiful creation.
And to hear the message, the reminder, of WHY we can trust God. (Faith and trust = same thing.) Why, R.W. asked, do we trust anyone? (What follows is a paraphrase of His message, which will far from do justice to what he said, and will perhaps contain some of my own thoughts that have got muddled up with what he actually said! If you read anything dodgy-which i hope you won't!- it's mine, don't attribute it to Rowan Williams, I can vouch that everything he said was sound, and my thanks to him for the message he brought this morning!)
1. They do what they say they'll do - they keep their word.
The Bible, a collection of many books written by many different people in different times, different circumstances, has a common thread in this - it describes a God who ALWAYS keeps His promises. Psalm 145:13 "The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made."
2. They take risks for us. If a friend, family member, whoever, has to take a risk or sacrifice something for us, we know we can trust them
God loves us, and to prove His love, and His utter trustworthiness, He sent Jesus. He could have sent bolts of lightning. He could have sent fire. Jesus could have been a man powerful beyond description. But God came as a man that the least of us could relate to, as a man who knew what it was to suffer, to sacrifice, to give His all for us. And He did. John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. "
3. They're always there for us.
And isn't God? Hallelujah, He is! He will never leave us or forsake us, the Bible says (Deuteronomy 31:6/Hebrews 13:5) and we've already established that He keeps His promises, so we know that's true! And we know from experience. In the deepest, darkest times, we can cry out to Him in the middle of the night, and He's there. (Matthew 11:28 "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.") In the happiest, best of times, we can rejoice with Him, He's there. And we need never be ashamed. He knows us so intimately that nothing we ever say will shock Him, and nothing we ever say, think, or do will be too much for Him, because of Jesus, because of the new life we have when we're reborn in Him. Romans 8:1-2 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Hallelujah!
4. People we trust, trust them.
How many times have you seen a Christian and thought "I wanna be like them"? (You may-although hopefully not- have thought the opposite, but just roll with the illustration!) Mother Teresa, the apostle Paul, the person in your church who is so caring and thoughtful and loving, a close friend who's a Christian, who you'd entrust your life to....We look at these people and we trust them. We trust them for all the reasons already mentionned. And we look at their lives and see something amazing. Why? It's not them, but it's Jesus. It's Jesus they trust and who gives such meaning to their lives. (John 10:10 "I have come that they may have life, and life to the full".) If people we trust and respect trust Jesus, why shouldn't we? Why should people trust Christians? Perhaps, quite simply, the answer is just because we're here. Because Christianity is here after 20 decades. It's here because trustworthy people have passed on the light to others, have set them on fire for the Lord, who exemplifies trustworthiness. Hebrews 11. It's here because Jesus says he is the way, the truth and the life...and God is to be trusted.
So that, with the help of Rowan Williams, is my (rather long!) thought for the day. Praise God that I know Him, that I'm His.
"No power of Hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns, or calls me home,
Here in the love of Christ I stand."
The anniversary of the Beslan school siege.
The devastation in New Orleans.
Poverty. Debt. Starvation. (In this, and other countries).
The funeral on Thursday of a dear old lady who was a friend of the family since I, and probably my dad, can remember.
The funeral tomorrow of a 16 year old girl from our village. She was the sister of a friend of my bro's....it seems someone teased her for being 'chubby'. She dieted. She became anorexic. The result...
I can trust in my wonderful God, in Jesus my Saviour. And I know exactly why. I hope and pray that you do too.
posted by Welshie at 2:13 PM
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