I was doing reasonably
well to start with. I began with eight, which quickly were expanded to twelve,
where they have remained for some time. But now I have been stuck on “Trust and
Obey”. The problem has, in some measure, been caused by a very pretty and
meaningful hymn, “Trust and Obey”. (Listen to this on YouTube, if you want on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLJ7Hkx6YwM, so you know what I talking about.)
I set myself the task
of writing a Key Belief blog on “Trust and Obey”, and quickly tangled myself in
knots. My problem was that the Bible says that they both are important, but
rarely links them together. I am sure that they are connected, but in fact, I could
not find a linked reference to the two in the New Testament.
This is a puzzle, but
never mind. Therefore, I have separated the two, and will leave it to others to
prove that I am wrong or if I am correct, point out why this is the case.
I don’t know with which
parts of the New Testament that you are familiar, so let me start with one passage
that I think is well known. In Matthew 6, Jesus is preaching and tells us to
“Consider the birds of the air”. Here is a link to this part of the sermon,
which starts at verse 25. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%206.25-34&version=NIV
The heading in this
version is “Do not worry”. In this sermon, Jesus us tells us not to worry over
matters which are all too familiar to us. (Food, clothing i.e. pretty basic
stuff. You might add money, work, family and plenty of similar items).
I would have given
this section the title “Trust in God for Basic Stuff”. Perhaps that is too
long, but I think that my title is better. It is a positive action, whereas the
original is a “negative” and we are not good at “Do Not do this or that…..”
Too much like New Year’s Resolutions,
which have a habit of failing by the fourth day at the very latest.
There are plenty of
good reasons for worrying about these things, especially at the moment. Jesus
knows this, but still tells us not to worry, and we can trust God for them.
We could allow ourselves
to be bogged down in all kinds of discussions about exactly what this trusting means.
However, I will pass this over in this blog, and direct your attention to
another reference to “Trust”. In John 3, Jesus has a long conversation with a
religious person, over the nature of physical and spiritual life. The writer,
John, in verse 16, expands on this discussion by saying that whoever trusts and
believes in Jesus will have eternal life. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3&version=NIV
The Old and New
Testament are full of stories, encouragement, even commands to trust God, even
(or especially) in times when things look desperate. In Genesis 15, God
promises Abraham that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the
sky (verse 5).
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+15&version=NIV
It goes on to state
that Abraham believed God and because of this, God regarded Abraham as
righteous. Abraham’s relationship with God was not dependant on anything he had
done in the past, or would do in the future, but because of his trust in God.
Whether the trusting
involves “Doing and trusting” or “Waiting and trusting”, is a difficult and
important distinction. But whichever it is, trusting God is a central point in
our relationship with Him.
In my earlier blog,
“Acknowledge What We Are”, I suggested that there are four ways in which
we can approach God. One of ways is that we can experience God, if we come to
Him as children. As in the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer, we acknowledge
that He is our Father and “Trusting Him” comes from this relationship.
I will have a crack at
“Obey” in a few weeks’ time. I am working on it. In the meantime, you will have
to make do with “Trusting”.
