Trust: John 14:1 “Trust in God; trust also in me.”
What does that look like? Do we trust others? Do we trust God?
Trusting God is not trusting in rules. God calls us to seek, desire, pray for, walk with, engage, invest, and pour ourselves out for others in such a way that it points them to Him. That’s hard, rules are easy. This has huge implications as we seek to urgently love others. It’s not that they take up rules, it’s that they take up their cross. We point them to Jesus in such a way that the power of scripture, prayer, and truth of Christ guides them. Rules do not win people to Jesus. But Jesus wins people to all sorts of compelling and powerful truths. Churches struggle when they try to turn those truths into pre-canned one size fits all anecdotes. Can we trust God in such a way that we accept people where they are but seek spiritual growth too? I don’t seem to have a problem doing that with my own sinful self, so it shouldn’t be too hard to act that way towards others!
What is it like to trust God when things are hard? What is it like to trust when it’s not working well, things aren’t lining up, when the damaging and hurtful things of life come at you? When we are left to process things we are not prepared for? Can we be prepared? Can God speak to us through tragedy? Can we trust God when life is hard and amidst uncertainty?
Imagine being the disciples. Jesus trusts them. They have no training, he didn’t go to the local congregations and pick skilled ministry people, he is out in public calling working people to change the world. That’s a lot of trust on the part of Jesus. Imagine walking the streets of your town and picking a few untrained fisherman and tax guys to form a new team that’s going to usher forth a new era in the NFL – good luck with that.
I grew up never going to church for 22 years. But I still had all sorts of preconceived (some correct, many not) notions about church. I knew some Christmas songs, I heard Charlie Daniels Band, Hank Junior, Marshall Tucker Band, and Willie Nelson sing Amazing Grace in concert before. I knew a lot about church just from going about my life in Maryland. Now, imagine the kind of trust the disciples had to have in Jesus. The disciples do not know anyone that went to a Christian church. The disciples never went to VBS. The disciples never went to camp, listened to Christian radio, went on retreats, heard big name people speak about Jesus. They never had a Christmas breakfast or Easter pageant. They didn’t know anyone that had “done this before” so to speak. They are the firsts in a sense. They had to trust fully in Him.
Can we still do that? Can we fully trust Him? What does that look like?
Join us as we challenge ourselves about what it’s like to trust God, trust Jesus, and then on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 we will explore, Trusting in the Midst of Uncertainty.