WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO TRUST GOD?

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make your paths straight.

                In just under two weeks we will be having a candidate coming to our church to see if he will be our next pastor. This is an exciting time and a very significant one as well. The decision that is made on that weekend will set the course for the foreseeable future for our church. With that in mind, the issue of having enough qualified members present to have a vote has been raised. There are scheduling conflicts. Some key people will be unable to be present that weekend. And that has caused me to be anxious.

                Rationally I know that I can trust God with this. If it is His will that this man become our next pastor then He will ensure that enough people are present to vote. Emotionally I am struggling with the very human dimensions of this coming event. As a part of the team that has worked for over a year and a half to get to this point, I can see all of our efforts evaporating if people don’t make the effort to be participants in the process. This very human dimension causes me to be anxious.

                Paul understood our emotional response to life. Writing to the church in Philippi, he challenged them to trust God. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7) I have often shared these verses with people as they were going through a challenging experience. So how do I apply them to myself?

                In our men’s Sunday School class, we discussed the interplay between faith and doubt. Many people see these as polar opposites. If a person has faith, they should have no doubts. If a person has doubts, they must not have faith. Are faith and doubt mutually exclusive? Are anxiety and trust mutually exclusive?

                Whenever I encounter this challenge I think of a story from Jesus’ life. It is found in Mark 9:14-27. A man brought his son, who was possessed by an evil spirit, to Jesus’ disciples to have him healed, but the disciples were unable to do it. When Jesus arrived, he took charge of the situation. Encountering this desperate man, an interesting exchange took place.

    Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"

    "From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

    " 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."

    Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:21-24)

                This man came to Jesus with faith that Jesus might be able to help his son. He also had some doubts if Jesus would help his son. Jesus challenged the man to trust him. In genuine honesty that man declared that he did trust Jesus, but that he still had doubts. In response to this, Jesus healed the boy.

                There have been so many times when I have found myself in the same place as this man. I trust Jesus, but I still struggle with doubts and anxiety. There have been times when my faith has been a white-knuckle experience. Jesus, I trust you, but my fear is still causing me anxiety.

                I do not like roller coasters. The last time I road on one was when I took my youth group from Fergus Falls to Valley Fair, the amusement park outside of the Twin Cities. I felt pressured to ride the coaster with some of the youth. As I stood in the long line and waited my turn, I watched the cars do their dips and turns and return safely to the starting point. As far as I could tell, they never lost a single passenger. In my head I kept telling myself that it was safe. I could trust the roller coaster. But as soon as I sat in that seat my anxiety took over. I gripped the bar in front of me. Every muscle in my body was tense. I could feel fear welling up in me as we climbed that first hill. As we crested, my legs pressed hard against the front of the car and my grip on the bar tightened. When we finally slowed to a stop, my bottom dropped back into the seat. The entire ride I had held myself rigged, just inches off of the seat.

                There are times in life when trusting God feels very much like riding that roller coaster. We trust God enough to get in the car, but we struggle with fear, doubt, and anxiety the entire time. Yet God still brings us safely to the end. Trusting God does not mean we will not feel strong emotions. It does mean that we will obediently follow Him where He leads us.

                I can say that I have learned to trust God more completely over the years. I have not yet come to the place where my experience is devoid of some anxiety. Yet I know that I can trust God in spite of my anxiety.

                Paul tells us to take our anxiety to God. Instead of trying to deal with it on our own, we need to bring it to His throne of grace. The more that we lay our anxiety at the feet of Jesus, the more we will learn to trust Him. We can trust Him to do what it right. We can trust Him to do what is best. We can trust Him with the outcome, even if things don’t turn out the way we want them to.

"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"