If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it
to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in
God alone. Do not waver, for a person
with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and
tossed by the wind. Such
people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided
between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James
1:5-8
Over
the last 11 months, since we all got an introduction to COVID-19, we have all been
living in a waiting game of epic proportions.
During such times of testing and personal trials, cooperating with God
to grow our faith always proves to be an integral part of maintaining sanity and
trusting in God’s care.
When
it comes to really trusting God there is a certain abandoning of
ourselves – putting-aside our options.
Did
you know that God isn’t into making us guess; He wants us to have
His wisdom? The Lord is pleased to give
us wisdom and all the help we need. James
says God won’t rebuke us for asking for wisdom.
Literally translated from the language of the New Testament, that word rebuke
means God won’t make fun at you when
you ask.
However,
receiving that wisdom does come with a price:
If we are going
to have His wisdom, we must trade in ours.
That
means setting-aside our prerogatives and agenda, and being obedient to Him,
because trusting God is all about Christian (Christlike)
living.
It
is the essence of the surrendered life. When you trust Him, it means you take your
stand with Him – publicly, privately, and any other way He demands.
Solomon,
the wisest man on the face of the earth, said it this way:
Trust in the
Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show
you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6(NLT)
The
personal cost of trading your wisdom for God’s is total trust,
trusting with all your heart and THAT is no small
price! It’s easy to trust in the
Lord with all your heart when everything’s going your way. But there are times when things come unglued,
and you want to fall back into a nice, safe, “hidey-place” all secure, safe,
warm, and comfy.
Now,
some of us even get that way before our world comes
apart. The worst, for me, of any trial is
that limbo
place of not-knowing what’s coming; I just hate not knowing! Just tell me it’s the worst…or the best…just
don’t tell me I have to wait!
Many
of you are aware that the throat cancer I went through three years ago
qualified me for Veteran’s Benefits. It
seems Agent Orange in Vietnam caught up with my vocal
cords, and while I was going through 28 rounds of radiation, we started
receiving a temporary benefit until they could evaluate and categorize my
status.
Up
until Uncle Sam summoned me in for that evaluation, I was nervous about not
knowing what they were going to say; would it be, since the radiation
worked, you don’t need a pension?
Were they going to open Uncle Sam’s arms (and wallet), making my
retirement plans a lot easier?
This
is the kind of thing about which I normally obsess. I go to sleep wondering. I wake up every hour worrying and get up in
the morning moody and distracted.
Now,
that is simply perfect for a pastor who is supposed to be an encourager to the
flock to have faith. I tell you to cast
all your cares on Him, take it to the cross, and leave it there…but the
preacher develops an ulcer worrying!
Well,
that is unacceptable to the surrendered life; what I did was confess my
unbelief to God; I gave it to the Lord with a promise that I would take a deep
breath and allow Him to take over my worries.
That
appointment with the VA was a year and a half ago, and the doctor told me that
since this type of cancer, caught this early, rarely returns, my disability
had vanished with the tumor on my voice-box.
Now,
I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but you don’t have to have a rocket
scientist to figure out this one:
No disability means no pension…
thank
you for your service; you’re on your own!
After
the appointment Elizabeth and I went to lunch at Panera Bread and thanked God
for His kindness to us and how He has provided for us through the thick and
thin of 5 decades of life together.
Incidentally,
this Friday marks year #54 of the best years of
my life!
Now
that doesn’t sound like the success story that usually
goes along with a sermon; except for the fact that success is not to be found
in:
·
having a pension or not having pension;
·
success can’t be found in an easy retirement or
pinching pennies.
Success in this answered prayer was about peace
within; I didn’t think about the situation the rest of the afternoon and
night. In fact, I didn’t think about the
pension or no pension thing until the next afternoon when I was trying to think
deeply about what I’d tell you that Sunday about trusting in the Lord.
That’s when it hit me square in my dull little mind
that I had just lived what you needed
to hear. I had trusted
God fully, and he overcame the biggest spiritual battle I ever have…my own lack
of faith. He gave me faith to rest in
His promises!
Here’s
the way the apostle Paul puts it:
Don’t worry about anything; instead,
pray about everything. Tell God what you
need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds
anything we can understand. His peace
will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7(NLT)
Now, that’s not a one
and done bucket-list checkoff, is it?
I have found myself
worrying at other times. I still get
agitated when I’m in limbo, where the outcome is uncertain. After all, I’m a work in progress; God will
correct that in this Russell model when He finally takes me to Heaven.
The point is – THAT
point in time, with THAT issue of trial for Russell became
a victory, and a peace that has blessed me, and become a source of rest for my
soul that is badly-needed in THIS time of pandemic
waiting!
So,
how do I remind myself to trust…fully, to put worry in the garbage can? It is, as Paul suggests, praying about
everything, so I’ll learn to trust God’s promises through God’s Word for
everything God wants for my life.
And
here is a verse that I start with each time I pray:
God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19
Our Prayer
Father,
we give our thanks for your Word…your trustworthy Word, backed by the
bloodstained cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord,
the world’s calling is to deny You, lay-down our cross, and party-on. We have discovered in Your Word that is a
formula for a divided mind, that which destroys any sense of loyalty to the One
who loves us and died for us. Father, in
the name of Christ, give us victory starting with picking up our cross to deny
self.
For the glory, honor, and praise to
which You alone are worthy, o Lord, we pray in the Name of the Son, cooperating
with the Spirit, to honor and exalt the Majesty of the Father. Let it be so in each of our lives…Amen!
Title Image:
via Pixabay.com W Unless
noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation
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