Words from the Wise
November 4th, 2008 eric
Words… Some words fill us with hope others with a sense of hopelessness. What we talked about at our services on Sunday filled us all with hope. Spoken to us by the wise man Solomon. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In every way acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. This is what I consider to be vital living if your a follower of Christ. Time of reflection was given as we asked soul searching questions such as… Do I trust God in everything? Is He truly my source of Joy, peace and confidence? Am I satisfied with simply Him?
Additional Scriptures that we looked remind us He will never leave us or forsake us Heb. 13:5-6 Psalms 136 teach us how good God is to us and Romans 8:28 serve to remind us that as Christ followers ALL things will work out for our good. That means that God can take even unfortunate things that happen in our lives and redeem them for the good.
Solomon wrote Proverbs 3 at at time when the nation of Israel was at the peak of success Things were going so well for the nation. Solomon was a wise man to sound a clear call of repentance to the Israelites that had drifted away from their dependence upon God. He challenged them to live for something more than self serving motives and agendas. The call was for something deeper and more meaningful to life. The call was a call to Trust in the Lord.
Trust is something that has always been a the core of our walk as followers of Christ. The final Scripture to ponder on this subject is found in Romans 12:2 it speaks about a heart and mind that is renovated. Funny thing about renovations or a remodel. If you’ve ever undergone the process of renovating your home weather it’s painting, redecorating or something more drastic like remodeling a room or building on an addition. There will come a point in the process where you realize 1. It’s taking so much LONGER than you thought it would. 2. It’s costing far greater a price than you initially thought. 3. It’s by far way more chaotic than you imagined. Forget the cute little episodes of home makeovers you’ve watched. In the real world it’s a tough process. In that same manner take heart today because when it comes to our spiritual life and learning what it means to be a Christ follower realize you yourself are going through a process of renovation. I know there are things we would like to be doing and spiritual thoughts we would like to be thinking. There are areas in our life that we truly wish we could say yes I Trust in the Lord with my future, finances, friendships, education, addictions, attractions, ministry, marriage, children, sickness, discouragement, employment, retirement, transportation, housing, loneliness, happiness or whatever area you struggle with yielding the control over to the Lord. Often the area we struggle with is littered with signs of self medication. Be honest look at the facts and understand the way’s of man are right in their own eyes but the ends thereof are destruction. Trust in the Lord with your success and with your failures. Keep trusting even if this renovation of desires and thoughts are 1. Taking much LONGER than you thought it would. 2. Costing you a far greater price than you initially thought. 3. Fleshing out to be way more chaotic than you imagined.
I challenge you to look deeply at the Life of of Jesus. Ask yourself is this someone that I can trust? Do the teaching’s and the words from the wise lead to life? Than why not trust him with my stuff. Good times and difficult times you will find that happy are those that put their trust in their God.
Trust in the Lord with All you got and lean not to your own understanding! His way’s thoughts and ideas are higher than ours. We trust he knows what’s best for us that’s why we can say whatsoever state I find myself I am content. Understand God will use the good and the difficult to renovate my mind and concepts of who he is so that I might be the product of his design. Like a painting on the wall may our trust filled lives be a willing product of His hands.
Are you in? Are you trusting him with everything? Where is there a chance in your life that you might be tempted to hold back? Are you fiercely independent? Do you think of yourself as an underdog that has to fight for yourself? What struggle do you have that you’ve choose to self medicate?
The Courage to search our lives and welcome the process of Godly renovation requires that we take counsel from the words of the wise. May we see our lives as undergoing transformation. May we see both challenging times under the shadow of confusion and moments of joy that literally feel as if His face is shinning down upon us as adventures of TRUST. We can both trust him FOR our stuff and WITH our stuff.
May we walk with joy along His path marked by the sign which reads “this way… to Trust”. It’s a process enter into it today.
Tags: Trust, Words from the wise