"And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You." Psalm 9:10
Isn't it amazing all the people we entrust our lives to every day? We trust pharmacists to give us the right pills from a prescription we can't read. We trust pilots we don't know to fly us to the right destination, believing that they know how to fly the plane exactly where we need to go. As we sit in traffic, we trust our lives to engineers and road construction crews, believing the bridges will hold. Yet people have trouble trusting God. They often say, "I can't see Him." Do we see the engineers who designed the bridge? Do we know the pilots? Not usually. Yet God, our Creator who loves us more than anyone, who even sacrificed His Son for us to have forgiveness of sin and eternal life, is difficult to trust. It's amazing. It doesn't make sense to trust imperfect men and not to trust a perfect God. We should learn to trust God more and see what happens – He does not make mistakes. There's a man I read about who wasn't raised in a spiritual home. His parents were fine people, but they just didn't have anything to do with God. One summer when he was in junior high school, all of his friends invited him to a camp put on by the local church. When he arrived, he noticed a big trophy on the platform of the main gathering room. He was very competitive, great in both sports and academics. He made up his mind right then and there that he was going to win that trophy. He found out that it was going to be given to the person who could memorize the most scripture verses. This young man had never picked up the Bible; he'd never been to church before, but he was so competitive that in two days he memorized 30 verses of scripture and won that trophy.
Fifteen years later, he was an all-American football player headed to the NFL with a very bright future. One day he felt a terrible pain in his chest. He didn't know what was happening. He soon passed out. At 22 years of age, he had a massive heart attack. He woke up in the emergency room and lay there with tubes coming out of everywhere, scared to death. He didn't know what to do. But on that emergency room table, all of the sudden from deep inside, all those scriptures he had memorized fifteen years earlier began to come up once again. He started quoting scripture after scripture. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for You are with me." "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?" The doctors didn't think he was going to make it, but today that young man is healthy and whole. In fact, he is a minister. He goes all over telling people what God has done for him. But it all started when he put the seed of God's Word on the inside. Friends, God's Word is alive and full of power. Plant that seed in your heart. Meditate on His Word. Memorize scripture. The Word of God is the seed that always produces an abundant harvest. You may not understand it now, but you can rest assured that when you need it, God is going to cause it to come alive in your own life. "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12, NIV) The purpose of the church is to provide bread and swords! To the spiritually hungry, the church offers bread–spiritual nourishment. To the fugitive, the church offers swords–weapons of truth:
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Food and equipment. The church exists to provide both. Does it always succeed? No, not always. People-helping is never a tidy trade, because people who need help don’t lead tidy lives. Jesus calls the church to lean in the direction of compassion. At the end of the day, the question is not how many laws were broken but rather, how many desperate were nourished and equipped? God’s sanctuary—where He gives food to the hungry and tools to the soldiers. May your church provide both for you. And may you be a part of a church that does the same for others. A woman shopping in Houston happily hummed a tune as she collected the items she wished to purchase and approached the cashier. The clerk just stared at her for a long moment, as though wondering what was wrong with her, offering an obligatory, “How are you doing today?”
That’s all it took. The woman nearly bubbled over. “How nice of you to ask! I’m doing great. I am so blessed!” The clerk looked at the woman quizzically for a moment and then said, “Let me ask you a question. Do you go to Lakewood Church?” “Why, yes I do. How did you guess?” The clerk shook her head and smiled, “I should have known. Everybody that comes in here like you is from Lakewood.” What a great compliment! That’s the way it should be. God’s people should be the happiest people on earth. So happy, in fact, that other people notice. Why? Because we not only have a fabulous future, we can enjoy life today! Living your best life now means being excited about the life God has given you. It means believing for more good things in the days ahead, while living in the moment and enjoying it to the hilt. Too often, we get comfortable with where we are in life and use that as an excuse to remain in mediocrity. “My parents were poor,” we say with a pout. “Before them, my grandparents were poor. Nobody in my family has ever amounted to much, so I guess I won’t either.” Jeremiah 32:17
‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. Our minds tend to see our problems as big or small. Even when we pray for the sick, we say things like, “You have a headache? No problem. Let’s pray for your healing.” But when it is cancer, we say, “Oh, let’s tell the senior pastor about it. It would be better if he prayed for you.” We think of headaches as small problems and cancers as big ones. But that is not the way God thinks. There is nothing too hard for Him who made the heavens and the earth! With God, there is no such thing as a “big” problem. In fact, the “bigger” the problem, the “easier” it is for Him! In the feeding of the 5,000, it took only five loaves to feed the multitude. (Matthew 14:15–21) But in the feeding of the smaller multitude of 4,000, it took seven loaves. (Matthew 15:32–38) In man’s scheme of things, it should take more loaves to feed more people. But this is not so with God. It took fewer loaves to feed more people. This is God’s way of telling us that the “bigger” the problem, the “easier” it is for Him. I am not saying that small problems are hard for God. But it is so encouraging to think that it is “easier” for God to heal cancers than headaches! Imagine coming to God with a big problem. “So, what is your problem, son?” God asks. You say, “Father, it is a huge financial debt — not thousands but millions!” He says, “Easy. It is already cancelled.” In another scenario, God asks, “So, what is your problem, son?” You say, “Father, I have lost my job and I can’t find a new one. I am already in my fifties and I don’t have the necessary qualifications.” He says, “No problem. Consider yourself employed. And in this new job, you won’t just have a job, you will have a position.” Beloved, with God, it is never a problem because there is nothing too hard for Him! |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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