Sometimes, it can be difficult to trust someone with something that I wish I had control over. Even if it's someone who is worthy of my trust, it is still hard to accept that I will be without power in the situation. Unfortunately, although God is worthy of my trust (as a mere human) in every aspect and every situation, I often don't give it to Him. I doubt Him, whether deliberately or not. Ultimately, I am challenging His authority (Isaiah 55:9) and questioning His faithfulness (Deuteronomy 32:4).
Also, it can be difficult to submit to someone else's control over me. Obedience can be a hard thing to do, because I don't like to admit that I am subordinate to someone else, therefore acknowledging that they are in a higher position than I. Again, this is often our attitude toward God, although He is completely worthy of our obeying and honoring Him in His omniscience and omnipotence.
However, if I stop to think about it, trusting and obeying actually do go hand-in-hand. Obedience with trust-- It's action in waiting.
I can't truly do one without the other. God has called us to action (Philippians 2:12-13), to obedience, not to just sit around pray that His work would be done. We are the ones He uses to accomplish His work!
On the other hand, we can't just go out and do whatever we think needs to be done, either. We are to prayerfully seek out the Lord's will first, and then to do what He has called us (2 Timothy 1:9) to do, trusting that He will go before us (Deuteronomy 1:30) and give us His power (2 Corinthians 12:9) to accomplish His plan.
If we are consistently and sincerely seeking God's will and obeying what He has revealed to us, how is it that we cannot trust Him with what is yet to be revealed? If we can trust Him with the unknown, how can we do anything but obey what we know He wants us to do?
Over the past few months, I have been waiting on some very important news that would affect the direction of my life. As I waited, every day I hoped that the news would come. It was extremely difficult at times to tell the Lord that I knew His timing was perfect and that I was content waiting for it. During times of discomfort or suffering, it is often easy to overlook the fact that God is grace. He knows exactly what we need and He also knows exactly the right time to give it to us. For some reason, even though we have all heard this a million times, trusting God when it's not comfortable is definitely easier said than done.
Long story short, the news came this week! It came when I was least expecting it, honestly, and the outcome was also what I had least expected after waiting for so long. I had had a rough day, and receiving an answer from the Lord to all of my many prayers over this topic was exactly what I needed in that exact moment. No sooner, no later--that was clear.
The video was taken this afternoon in Chandler, AZ around 4pm on the 202 during rush hour traffic. The vehicle was doing 55-60 mph with eight layers of mattresses roped to the top. There were 4 twins and 6 larger mattresses. It was a very unbalanced load that was constantly shifting. Most of the other drivers were laughing just like us. Mrs. Max recorded the event as I drove. Many of the drivers (and I did say drivers) were recording the event with their cell phones. I’m sure this will be on YouTube soon. I hope they made it safely. Foolish? Well, of course. Read on.
Often when I counsel struggling teens, they admit to not praying and not reading God's Word. Because of a lack of surrender, they do everything in their own wisdom and with their plan. They miss out on the direction and power that God would otherwise supply (Psalm 1). Internally they are bored and empty. Externally they appear bored and directionless. When in conflict they typically respond fearfully, angrily, or bitterly.
When asked if they want to do right, the answer is usually YES. When asked if they are willing to do right, the answer is NO. When asked if they are willing to be made willing to do right, the answer is a resounding NO. This is hypocrisy: hypocrisy that is often hidden behind churchy faces, churchy words, churchy apparel, and churchy actions. They know how to play the Game of Church.
