Trusting God

This past Saturday I traveled through rural Alabama to a small community in North West Florida for a family reunion. Our reunion is held at the church where my Great Grandfather worshiped as he was raising his family of 13 children in the early 1900’s. This place is in the middle of nowhere. I have traveled to this place every year for many years. As I always do, I used technology as I traveled. I had the route in my GPS as I have done many times. When I reached the north side of Elba, Alabama my GPS told me to make a turn that was not the usual way. I had to make a decision. Do I trust my GPS or do I go on what I have done for years. I decided that I would take the way of the GPS and trust technology. It took me through towns that I had never been through before and I arrived at the church. This way was also 15 to 20 minutes faster than the route that I had taken all of the other times. I have to admit, it was very difficult for me to go against the way I had always traveled and I questioned my decision several times along the way.

Trusting the GPS and getting out of my comfort zone made me think of my relationship with the Lord and trusting Him instead of my own understanding. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and he will make your paths straight.” We could call this ‘Gods Positioning System’. (GPS)

We are wired to be self-sufficient and it is often difficult to go against our own understanding. We have to learn to trust and many times it is not easy. It does not matter what we are going through or what decisions we have before us God has it all under control. Prayer is the most powerful tool we have access to as Christians. Many times we pray and then we make our own decisions. We have to learn to trust God. Philippians 4:6 tells us; “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.” We must give it to God and then trust Him for the results.

We look forward to seeing you in Bible Study and Worship this Sunday!

Dan

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FOCUSED

One of the casualties of aging to which I find myself a victim is the dimming of the eyes.  Ecclesiastes 12 counsels the young person to remember God, their Creator, in their youth before the aging process takes over and various faculties, as listed in verses 1-7, are diminished.

Clear eyesight when we are young may be something we take for granted. However, as we age the realization that our vision is not as sharp as it once was takes hold. “Readers” become standard fare for all intricate tasks. Our once keen laser sharp focus is now blurry and in need of help to restore its youthfulness. That restoration is found through glasses or some sort of rejuvenating surgery. Especially in the early stages of this degenerative eye problem we may be able to fake it and get by, but eventually we must relent and do something to correct the problem.

There is a parallel between physical and spiritual vision. “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” was written in the early 20th century. The hymn writer, Helen Lemmel, was strongly influenced by the artist and later little-known missionary, Lilias Trotter. Miss Trotter started off as an aspiring artist but early on felt a call from God to reach the lost. She began her ministry by rescuing prostitutes from the streets of London. Later she went to Africa, without missionary funding, and served for over forty years. While there she penned a poem that would greatly influence the writing of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  The poem was entitled “Focused: A Story and Song.” 

The poem centers around focusing one’s attentions fully and completely upon God. She writes that Satan knows that if a person uses all their powers of concentration on being led by God’s Spirit, they will have a great intensity and impact upon those to whom they are called to minister. Lilias Trotter, writing in a more formal use of the English language than we are accustomed, shares some timeless insights which could very easily have been written today but with a different accent. She writes: “Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once—art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the ‘good’ hiding the ‘best’ even more effectually than it could be hidden downright frivolity with its smothered heartache at its own emptiness.”

The “good” hiding the “best” leads us to emptiness.  Could this be true of us today especially as American Christians? Have we sought the “good” while missing the “best”? The chorus of the hymn, which we will be singing in worship this Sunday, says it best.

                Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,                                                                                                                                        And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Keith Pate

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