Learning to Trust
This post is going to deviate from my usual tidbits about life in Afghanistan. I've been doing some reading in my spare time so I thought I'd post some about it.
I just finished a short book entitled "Crazy Love." The author, Francis Chan, talks about what it's like to live each day by faith. Many of us believe in God and we talk of his saving grace...but do we actually live our lives as though we rely on Him? I have only been in Afghanistan for about 5 weeks. Even though I miss home and cant wait to return to America, in many ways it is truly a blessing to be here.
Francis posed an interesting thought in his book, a thought which is the foundation for all the points he makes in his book..."what am I doing right now that requires faith? In other words, would my life look any different if I didn't believe in God?
Below is an excerpt from Francis' book that sums up this idea.
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"When Jesus sent out His 12 disciples (Luke 9:3), He told them to 'take nothing for the journey - no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.' Why do you suppose He said this? Why not let them run home and grab a few supplies? Why not allow them to bring some money along just in case?
Jesus was forcing his disciples to trust Him. God would have to come through for them because they had nothing else to fall back on.
This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be; in fact, if flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning. We like finding refuge in what we already have rather than what we hope God will provide. But when Christ says to count the cost of following Him, it means we must surrender everything. It means being willing to go without the extra tunic or a place to sleep at night, and sometimes without knowing where we are going.
God wants us to trust Him with abandon. He wants to show us how He works and cares for us. He wants to be our refuge.
Walking in genuine intimacy and full surrender to God requires great faith. Hebrews 11:6 says 'Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Back when I was in Bible college, a professor asked our class, 'What are you doing right now that requires faith?' That question affected me deeply because at the time I could think of nothing in my life that required faith. I probably wouldn't be living very differently if I didn't believe in God; my life was neither ordered nor affected by my faith like I assumed it was. Furthermore, when I looked around, I realized I was surrounded by people who lived the same way I did.
Life is comfortable when you separate yourself from people who are different from you. That epitomizes what my life was like: characterized by comfort.
But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through."
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With that said, let's all spend our next day walking in faith.
Do something that says to God, "I trust you God. I'm going to do this in faith, knowing that this could turn out horribly if you don't come through." When you give up some of your power and control, you give God a chance to work and impact your life. Trust me, what HE can do is so much better than what you and I can do...go ahead, test Him!
I just finished a short book entitled "Crazy Love." The author, Francis Chan, talks about what it's like to live each day by faith. Many of us believe in God and we talk of his saving grace...but do we actually live our lives as though we rely on Him? I have only been in Afghanistan for about 5 weeks. Even though I miss home and cant wait to return to America, in many ways it is truly a blessing to be here.
Francis posed an interesting thought in his book, a thought which is the foundation for all the points he makes in his book..."what am I doing right now that requires faith? In other words, would my life look any different if I didn't believe in God?
Below is an excerpt from Francis' book that sums up this idea.
-------------------------------------------------
"When Jesus sent out His 12 disciples (Luke 9:3), He told them to 'take nothing for the journey - no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.' Why do you suppose He said this? Why not let them run home and grab a few supplies? Why not allow them to bring some money along just in case?
Jesus was forcing his disciples to trust Him. God would have to come through for them because they had nothing else to fall back on.
This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be; in fact, if flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning. We like finding refuge in what we already have rather than what we hope God will provide. But when Christ says to count the cost of following Him, it means we must surrender everything. It means being willing to go without the extra tunic or a place to sleep at night, and sometimes without knowing where we are going.
God wants us to trust Him with abandon. He wants to show us how He works and cares for us. He wants to be our refuge.
Walking in genuine intimacy and full surrender to God requires great faith. Hebrews 11:6 says 'Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Back when I was in Bible college, a professor asked our class, 'What are you doing right now that requires faith?' That question affected me deeply because at the time I could think of nothing in my life that required faith. I probably wouldn't be living very differently if I didn't believe in God; my life was neither ordered nor affected by my faith like I assumed it was. Furthermore, when I looked around, I realized I was surrounded by people who lived the same way I did.
Life is comfortable when you separate yourself from people who are different from you. That epitomizes what my life was like: characterized by comfort.
But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through."
-------------------------------------------------
With that said, let's all spend our next day walking in faith.
Do something that says to God, "I trust you God. I'm going to do this in faith, knowing that this could turn out horribly if you don't come through." When you give up some of your power and control, you give God a chance to work and impact your life. Trust me, what HE can do is so much better than what you and I can do...go ahead, test Him!
Cool post, Sam! Thank you for sharing as I needed to read it today:)
ReplyDeleteWow! That was inspirational!!
ReplyDeleteAmen! :)
ReplyDelete