Trust with Abandon
Trust With
Abandon
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB)
5 Trust in the LORD
with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways
acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
If this isn’t the
Truth, if God isn’t real, if He isn’t who He claims to be and hasn’t done what
He claims to have done, if this life is all there is, then we are “of all men
most to be pitied.” And we might as well give up this charade and live in
futility like the rest of the world.
1 Corinthians 15:12-23 (NASB)
12 Now if Christ is
preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that
there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no
resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;
14 and if Christ has
not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
15 Moreover we are
even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that
He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead
are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
17 and if Christ has
not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also
who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If we have hoped
in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first
fruits of those who are asleep.
21 For since by a man
came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all
die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his
own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His
coming,
Story of the Cellar House Roof
A few years ago, before we moved to West Virginia, I
realized that the roof on our cellar house had deteriorated to the point where
it had to be replaced. Because I was working, I had to use vacation time to
come here. That meant that my time was always very limited. Because this
project was large, Joan convinced me that I should find some help to ensure
that I got it finished in time. Boy was I glad she did!
A friend of mine, and my brother Ron, came down and we began
working on the roof. It was a lot more work than I thought it would be. As the
end of the time allotted for the project approached it became clear that there
was no possible way I was going to have the shingles on. On top of this
problem, we had a gas leak and really needed to get it fixed. We knew of no one
who could help us with a gas problem. I was so worried about this that it kept
me up at night.
One morning around three o’clock as I lay in bed scared to
death about what was going to happen a thought came to me like a question from
God. “Have you talked to Me about this?” I had not.
So I told the Lord that I was totally stuck and that though
I could see no possible way He could make it happen, I really needed that gas
leak fixed and the roof shingled before I had to go back to New York. I told
Him I had no way to make this happen, and I was giving it to Him and I was
going to trust Him with the outcome no matter what that was. As soon as I turned
the situation over to Him, I fell asleep and rested well for the remainder of
the night.
The next day we began working on the roof again. After a
while our neighbor came out and began mowing her lawn. At one point, she got
the lawn tractor stuck and was having trouble getting it to back up. Without
really thinking, I came down off the roof and went over to help her out. While
I was doing that, another neighbor who she had apparently called to get help,
came by. We were introduced and, as is the way here in rural West Virginia, we
began talking about what I was working on. This neighbor came over to my place
and we walked around some while I explained about my gas leak. He said, well
you need to know Phillip!
I called Phillip and told him about my problem. He said,
well, my brother Dave is really the gas guy. You should call him. Dave came and
fixed my gas leak. When he was finished I said, well this solved a big problem
for me, now I only have one problem left. I need some help to get that roof
shingled before I have to leave. He said he didn’t know anyone who might do
that. My heart sank. Clearly the Lord had providentially caused me to meet the
neighbor who referred me to Phillip and Dave. Why would He have failed to meet
my other pressing need?
Some time later, Dave called to tell me that he had found
someone who would shingle my roof for me. I was elated. I called the man, he
came and shingled the roof, and my impossible problems were solved, just in the
nick of time.
Ebenezer
In 1758 Robert Robinson penned a hymn entitled “Come Thou
Fount of Every Blessing” based upon I Samuel 7:12. The second verse begins,
“Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come...”
Let’s read a chunk of 1 Sammy 7 and find out what might have
inspired him to write poetry.
1 Samuel 7:3-14 (NASB)
3 Then Samuel spoke
to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the LORD with all
your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct
your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the
hand of the Philistines."
4 So the sons of
Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the LORD alone.
5 Then Samuel said,
"Gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the LORD for you."
6 They gathered to Mizpah,
and drew water and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day and
said there, "We have sinned against the LORD." And Samuel judged the
sons of Israel at Mizpah.
7 Now when the
Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords of
the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard it,
they were afraid of the Philistines.
8 Then the sons of
Israel said to Samuel, "Do not cease to cry to the LORD our God for us,
that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines."
9 Samuel took a
suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the LORD; and Samuel
cried to the LORD for Israel and the LORD answered him.
10 Now Samuel was
offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against
Israel. But the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day against the
Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel.
11 The men of Israel
went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as
below Beth-car.
12 Then Samuel took a
stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us."
13 So the Philistines
were subdued and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the
hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
14 The cities which
the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even
to Gath; and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines.
So there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
When God helps you; when He fixes impossible problems; when
He gives you peace in the midst of terrible events; remember these things. Drop
a marker stone of sorts. Raise your Ebenezer so you remember that “thus far,
the Lord has helped you.”
Father is in the helping business. He is a healer of
relationships, a rebuilder and restorer of relationships that may seem
hopelessly divided. He is a redeemer of lost people who have wandered off and
become entangled in the briars of life.
Let’s look at another Ebenezer, recorded for us in Exodus
14. The Israelites have just been freed from slavery to the Egyptians. As they
approached the sea the Lord told Moses to have the people turn around and loop
back before camping for the night.
Exodus 14:1-31 (NASB)
1 Now the LORD spoke
to Moses, saying,
2 "Tell the sons
of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea;
you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.
3 "For Pharaoh
will say of the sons of Israel, 'They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the
wilderness has shut them in.'
4 "Thus I will
harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored
through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the
LORD." And they did so.
5 When the king of
Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change
of heart toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done,
that we have let Israel go from serving us?"
6 So he made his
chariot ready and took his people with him;
7 and he took six
hundred select chariots, and all the
other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
8 The LORD hardened
the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as
the sons of Israel were going out boldly.
9 Then the Egyptians
chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and
his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in
front of Baal-zephon.
10 As Pharaoh drew
near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold,
the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so
the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.
We are just like the ancient
Israelites. When we look and behold, we see the Egyptians marching after us and
we forget the promises of our Father. We become very frightened, and
sometimes—in our better moments-- we cry out to the Lord. Other times, we walk
after the flesh, chase what our eyes are telling us is real, and generally
cause ourselves unnecessary pain and grief.
We’ll come back to this line of
thought, but let’s finish looking at our ebenezer.
11 Then they said to
Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us
away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing
us out of Egypt?
12 "Is this not
the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone that we may
serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the
Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."
13 But Moses said to
the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which
He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today,
you will never see them again forever.
14 "The LORD will fight for you while you keep
silent."
I love that part of Moses’
response. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent. This is a great
encouragement for us to enter His rest. It’s so easy to try to manage
everything and it brings great stress. This is a lesson I have to be taught
over and over.
15 Then the LORD said
to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go
forward.
This is interesting too. Moses is
not recorded as having cried out to God. It was the people who cried out, and
they cried out to Moses. Moses is a type (or picture) of Jesus Christ here.
Moses was the mediator between God and the Hebrew people. Jesus is the mediator
between fallen mankind and the Father. Without Jesus, no one could be saved.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NASB)
5
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus,
6
who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper
time.
So the Father tells Moses how the
people will be saved.
16 "As for you,
lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and
the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.
17 "As for Me,
behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after
them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his
chariots and his horsemen.
18 "Then the
Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh,
through his chariots and his horsemen."
19 The angel of God,
who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and
the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.
20 So it came between
the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with
the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the
other all night.
While God’s plan was on hold so the
people could sleep, His hand of protection ensured that the necessary time
would pass without incident. He paved the way for their success and for the
success of the plan He had set in motion.
21 Then Moses
stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a
strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were
divided.
22 The sons of Israel
went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a
wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
23 Then the Egyptians
took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen went
in after them into the midst of the sea.
24 At the morning
watch, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of
fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion.
25 He caused their
chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the
Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for
them against the Egyptians."
26 Then the LORD said
to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come
back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen."
27 So Moses stretched
out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at
daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD
overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
28 The waters
returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army
that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained.
29 But the sons of
Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were
like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30 Thus the LORD
saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the
Egyptians dead on the seashore.
31 When Israel saw
the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people
feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses.
Even though it looked completely impossible. Even though the
Israelites were freaked out with fear. God protected them and took care of the
entire Egyptian army.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB)
5 Trust in the LORD
with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways
acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Slowly, ever so slowly, I would say frustratingly slowly,
over time, I am learning to trust the Lord with reckless abandon. At this point
I am still in the early stages, you know, the stage where sometimes I trust Him
and other times I still choose to walk according to the flesh. Time and time again
He demonstrates that He is trustworthy.
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