Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


7.23.2005  

Trust

Early yesterday morning (for both of us, not just me), Andrew and I talked for a couple of hours. It was a good talk, and probably the best we've had in a long time. We both had a lot of things to share, and a handful of those things were pretty hefty. Nevertheless, the weight of our conversation did not pull us down and drown us; rather, it caused us to look to Christ, and to seek Him more.

As we talked, issues on our respective churches kept coming up. We both have decisions to make, convictions to hold to, and actions to take that will have deep and lasting repurcussions. The funny thing about this? When I take a step back and look over our lives, we seem to be at points that we've been striving to attain for so long...so much of our lives have been pointed toward these moments, moments where our preparation comes to fruition, where we are no longer merely thinking about "when I get bigger," because Bigger is already here.

Yeah, scary, isn't it?

Now, don't think I'm claiming to have "arrived." Far, far, far from it :) If anything, I find that even though I have more responsibility, I don't always have the wisdom and discernment to act with the grace and strength I'd like to. To be perfectly honest, it's very sobering to consider where the Lord has brought me. I keep thinking to myself, "do they really want me doing that?" or, "Lord, am I in over my head?" Half the time, I don't know the answer. The other half, I know the answer, but I'm usually too scared to like it.

The thing is, none of that matters. The other day, Szrama was talking about how in the Old Testament, the Lord would tell Israel to trust in Him. He rarely gave them the best weapons, the biggest armies, the strongest warriors, or the most lavish of living conditions, but the message was always the same: trust in the Lord, and it will go well with you. That's not a very elaborate plan, is it? Yet for some reason, sinful flesh finds a way to make trusting the Lord a rather difficult endeavor. Over and over and over again, Israel forsook the Lord. The Lord used Jeremiah to prophecy against this, saying, "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

Forsaking the Lord did not mean that they ran from tyranny into freedom. Quite the contrary; if anyone was in the wrong, it was Israel! Note how the Lord describes Himself: as a fountain of living waters. That very descriptor denotes several things.

First, that the Lord is a source of life. What human does not know the importance of water? Anyone who has gone a day in scorching heat without water knows the consequences can be fatal. That is why the Lord uses such terminology, for there was a need to remind His people that He was their source of refreshment, renewal, and life, and to forsake Him was to forsake all that is good.

Second, that they needed to stay near to Him. A fountain was something that was ever-flowing, but unmoving. The Lord was always there, yet He was not going to be used and moved as a tool for Israel's purpose. Rather, they needed to come to Him and stoop low to drink of His waters. In the same way, He requires that we trust Him and go to Him. To forsake Him is to indicate that we can think we can survive on our own. The sobering truth is that we cannot.

Third, that the Lord does not need us. Who can add to the fountain? Who can find its source? To us, all that matters is that we stay near and humbly stoop to drink of the Lord's living water. If we do not humble ourselves, we will go thirsty. If we forsake the fountain, our souls will become parched and dry. If we try to hew out cisterns for ourselves, they will be broken, and we will not be able to quench the thirst that the Lord has placed in our souls. Why is that? Because try as we might, only the Lord can truly satisfy. That is why the psalmist cries out, "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

Fourth, and most importantly, that drinking deeply of the living waters glorifies the Lord. This is what we were created to do! How do we give glory to the Lord, other than to drink deeply of all that He lovingly lavishes upon us? It is impossible to add to the Lord; any glory He receives from us is merely an acknowledgement of all that He gloriously is. In other words, He created us to enjoy Him. Intrinsic and imperative to that enjoyment is a deep and abiding trust that He is who He is.

By the time we were off the phone, it was pretty early. It was close to 8 AM for me, 2 AM for Andrew. I think, however, it's safe to say that our souls were less weary when we ended than when we began. Part of it must be because we realized that no matter what our lives may look like, no matter what twists and turns the Lord may lead us on, it is ultimately the Lord that we trust in. So what if our youth or college groups aren't as prepared as we'd like them? So what if our respective pastoral staffs don't quite have the same philosophy of ministry (something we discussed at length) as we do? So what if those around us don't see how wrong they are, and how right we are? (That was a joke. If you don't get it and are offended, it's because you're not Andrew. Therefore, do not be offended, silly human.) "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."

The nice thing is, the Lord has graciously allowed us to trust in Him together. Very, very nice :)

posted by Bolo | 11:40 AM
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