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Lord God All-Powerful, who is like you? Lord, you are powerful and completely trustworthy. Psalm 89:8 (NCV)
Have you ever thought about how many times a day we ‘trust’ without giving it a second thought? When you get out of bed in the morning you trust that your legs will support you, that the floor will be there and won’t give way as you stand. Throughout the day you ‘trust’ the chairs you sit in, the cars you drive and the computers you work on…okay, that one may be a stretch.
Trust in physical things is relatively easy. But when it comes to trusting people it’s a whole different story. Why is that? Because people let us down, pure and simple. Politicians make promises they can never keep. Children make promises they forget about. Even lovers make promises that, for whatever the reason, they fail to deliver on.
Once trust is threatened or destroyed it can be difficult, if not impossible, to restore that trust because failed trust leaves us beaten up, battered and destroyed. A love relationship in which trust has been destroyed leaves you always wondering, always doubting, always insecure in the words spoken and the actions delivered. Lack of trust can drive us to a point in our lives where we sink into a hole of paranoia because we are never sure of what is true and can be trusted, and what is false.
So what are some milestones to build trust on? First of all when building or rebuilding trust we must look at history. What was the person like in the past? Have there been changes (positively or negatively) that would lead you to believe they can be trusted? A person’s past alone doesn’t determine whether they can be trusted or not, but it serves as a benchmark to measure progress towards trustworthiness.
Secondly, do the person’s words and actions in the present indicate a desire on their part to gain your trust? In other words, does their walk match their talk? An addict will always have the potential for a slip up. A child will always be a child and therefore be subject to irresponsibility. A spouse or lover will always have a chance of making some mistake along the way. Even in the times you don’t understand their actions do their actions indicate a desire on their part to gain your trust?
Lastly, and this is a tough question, “Is this relationship worth the risk?” When your personal or emotional safety is in question you have to decide how to keep yourself safe. Even if you love the person dearly, do you love them enough to risk being beaten or even killed? Is the love you feel worth the pain you are suffering? This is a matter of choice. No one can answer this question for you.
The Psalmist says “Lord, you are all powerful and completely trustworthy.” Having a hard time trusting God? Take a look at history. Everything your heavenly Father has ever promised has come to pass, just as he said it would. Even during those times when you didn’t understand his working and the things he has allowed to come into your life, his actions have been for your good to grow you and protect you and bring you closer to him.
Then ask yourself the hard question. “Is he worth the risk?” One time in Jesus life many of his followers became disillusioned and left him. Jesus turned to his disciples and said “Are you going to leave too?” To that question Peter said “Lord, where else is there to go? Who else gives us the things you have given us?”
When we look at God’s working in the past; when we honestly evaluate his present work in our lives; I believe there is only one answer. Trusting God is worth the risk. He’s proven himself time and again and even during those times I don’t understand his actions, I have to admit there is no one else I can turn to.
One last thing. Turn the tables for a moment. Imagine God asking the ‘trust questions’ about you. Have you been consistent in your history or do you constantly fail? Have you made promises you couldn’t keep or had no intention of keeping? Do your actions match your words? If you were God would you be ‘worth the risk?’
Jesus says, “Yes. You are worth the risk. You failed. You are failing. You will fail in the future. But you are worth the risk of my love.” And he proved his love for you by dyeing on the cross to forgive your sins.
PRAYER: Father God, help me to learn to trust you. I’ve been let down by so many people. I’ve been hurt and abused to the point I don’t trust anyone. Thank you that you always do what you say you’ll do. Thank you for thinking I’m worth the risk of your love. Amen.
And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us. Romans 5:4-5 (NCV)
Disappointment comes into our lives in a variety of ways. Our disappointments can be minor and only affect our lives for a few moments, or major disappointment can change the course of our lives forever.
How we handle disappointment depends on many factors such as our emotional well-being, the size of the disappointment and any physical or financial impact it can have on our lives.
The size of our disappointment and how we handle it is largely dependent on hope. Hope is based on expectations and desire. The more we cherish something the more we ‘hope’ to have it come true, last longer, or be a part of us. The size and effect of our disappointment is dependent on what we have our hope based on.
We can put our hope on a relationship, but relationships are made of people and people are human and humans fail.
We can place our hope on special interests or politics, but politics are as fickle as the people who make them up.
We can place our hope on money, but as many have found out lately, you can work your whole life to amass a nice retirement account and see it flitter away in the winds of health, economic disaster or divorce.
Some place their hope in religion, but religion is nothing more than a set of rules based on false hopes and expectations. Some have even placed their hope on God and been disappointed because he didn’t deliver as they ‘hoped’ he would.
Disappointment is a fact of life and no matter how you live you will encounter disappointment. How disappointment affects you isn’t dependent on what happened to cause the disappointment but on what you have your hopes based on. Base your hopes on anything other than the promises of God given through his son Jesus Christ and disappointment will be harsh and perhaps even fatal. Hope placed on God is hope based on someone who has never ever failed and knows what is best for us.
I don’t always understand why God does what he does. I’ve been disappointed countless times. Disappointed in myself, in others and in life’s circumstances. But when measured up against God’s promises those disappointments are easier to bear.
One other thing that makes disappointment easier to bear is patience. The Apostle Paul writes, “Patience produces character which produces in us a hope that will never leave us disappointed.” I am learning that if I patiently wait for God to do his work my hopes will be realized and my disappointments will be less severe. I can be patient when I hope in God because the outcome is no longer in my hands or the hands of others, but in a God of mercy, grace and power who is passionately in love with me.
PRAYER: Father God. Life seems to be on disappointment after another. Unanswered prayer, relational disaster, financial calamity, political and natural disasters seem rampant. Empower me with your Spirit to put my hope in you and patiently wait for you to do what needs to be done. Help me to trust you as my only hope and salvation. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” Matthew 14:27 (NLT)
It was dark. The storm was so deep that even the ambient light of the night was swallowed by the roaring wind. Only the occasional flash of lightning gave the men any indication of their situation and allowed them to see the fear in each other’s faces. While some rowed hopelessly, the others prayed. Where was Jesus? Why had he sent them out to die in this way?
Then, almost as if on cue from a distant director, they saw it. A faint glow on the horizon wafting over the waves and coming towards them. As if the fear of the wind wasn’t enough, now a ghost was coming near. Panic consumed even the hardiest of men who had weathered many a storm on this sea.
A voice in the dark. Loud enough to rise about the howling of the wind, but at the same time mysteriously gentle and quiet. “Take Courage. I am here!” The actual Greek rendition states, “Don’t worry, the I AM is here.”
How often do we miss that? Especially during the storms of life. We hear the treacherous howling of the wind. Our minds replay every mistake we’ve made. The voices tell us this is all God’s way of getting even. The doubts rise mysteriously and whisper in our ears, “He’s not real you know. If he was he’d never let you go through this.” We live in the false conviction that we deserve this for our sins or we blame others or question God.
Jesus seldom calms the storm until we look to him. He saw the disciples struggling but waited until they looked to him. Even then he didn’t calm the storm until Peter took a dip in the cold lake water.
How often, during the storms of life do we miss the glow, the faint shadow of God’s working? How many times have we forgotten to attribute to Jesus the calming of our fears? Sometimes the things we endure are consequences of our own selfish decisions. Sometimes our pain is the result of malicious and evil acts of those hell-bent on our destruction. Sometimes we are devastated by the seemingly strange quirks of nature. But always, we are under the watchful eye of a loving God and passionate savior who is willing to come to us in the darkest night of our suffering and in the midst of the storm remind us to be brave because he is there.
PRAYER: Jesus, right now I’m going through a storm of sorts in my life. It seems like everything is falling apart around me. I sense the fear and hopelessness of the disciples as I try to battle the waves that want to overtake me. Help me to see you in all this. Calm the storm, but if you don’t choose to do that, calm my spirit so that I can trust you. In your name I pray, Amen.
And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. Revelation 21:2(NLT)
There is nothing so stunning as the bride as she walks down the aisle. We all stand as she enters. All eyes are on her. Even those of us guys who maintain our stoic ‘masculine’ image will admit in our honest times, that we are taken back by the moment.
The groom watches her enter. His face mesmerized by her beauty. To him, there’ s no one else in the room. In fact, both the groom and the bride, when their eyes meet are taken out of this world for a moment. They are the only two in the whole world that matters. She is the most important thing in his life at that moment. He is the prince of her dreams.
The moment is filled with hope and passion. Those of us lucky enough to look on remember our own weddings or the dreams we have of one day, walking that aisle or watching the one we love come to us in radiance.
What a marvelous picture of hope, expectation and passion. How fitting that this is the picture the Word of God gives of us as the church meeting the object of our passion: Jesus of Nazareth. Regardless of how we or others view ourselves, He views us as the groom views the bride. We are spotless, pure, perfect in every way, the object of his passion. Forever.
Not one of us has ever walked that aisle or waited at the front of the room without believing that this was it, this was the happily ever after, this was the ‘til death do us part.’ Even those of us who have experienced the painful reality of divorce entered that relationship believing that this was the ‘one for us.’
The difference is, this relationship with Jesus…it never will end. We are his and his forever. Every day, when we get out of bed, no matter how bad we look in the mirror, he sees us as his radiant bride, the object of his passion. He smiles whenever he looks at us. He pauses constantly to think of us. We are always on his mind. This marriage relationship will never grow old, never be taken for granted, never lose the passion of that wedding day.
What a glorious feast that will be! Now we struggle. We rebel. We endure the pain of broken relationships, financial hardship and political turmoil. In the midst of our struggle, even during those times we can’t see Jesus clearly, he sees us…and smiles.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I have a hard time imagining the fact of your passionate love for me. My love is so often shallow and built on performance. Relationships here on earth are marked by trouble and calamity. They grow cold and even die. Thank you that you always see me with the passion of a groom on his wedding day. In your name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 