Why does trusting seem like such a hard thing to do?!

 What does it look like to trust God? “Trusting” God has always been a messy exercise for those who don’t have the benefit of the mythical prophetic hindsight. In a SUPER general sense, Trusting God looks like knowing who God is and acting in accordance with His character. IT is precisely, literally, exactly nothing more than walking by faith in the decisions that seem little AND the decisions that seem big. Unfortunately for the Western Minded individual, it is an exercise, there is not an answer.

How when I’m not being given money and I have to work hard for everything I’m getting do I trust God to provide? For me, the answer has always had to be that I must remember the ACTUAL source of the “everything I’m getting.” There is a pernicious and diabolical lie, that has been told since Adam decided to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge and evil, that if we work harder we will get more. Genesis paints a bleak picture of the future for humanity until that promised Redeemer arrives. Nowhere in scripture does God say that “hard work = stuff to use for living.” Our perspective (which is often grandiose, I mean we ARE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD…) often leads us into believing that our plans must be God’s designs, but really, I think it’s MUCH simpler than that. God wants us to do what will lead other people to the knowledge that God loves them SO much that He sent His Son. You know this story… How you get there is all about the beauty of the human mind (that God designed!) and the human body (that He also created to be able to DO WORK!) and God’s limitless sovereignty over the decisions that people have the free will to make. Do I think that I can screw up God’s plan to redeem people by working in a factory instead of being a pastor? WHO DO I THINK I AM?! Do I think that I can screw up God’s plan by being a pastor instead of being a veterinarian? WHO DO I THINK I AM?! Do I think that I can screw up God’s plan by being a veterinarian instead of a missionary? WHO DO I THNK THAT I AM?! Do I think that I can screw up God’s plan by being a parent instead of being a theologian?! WHO DO I THINK I AM?! WHO must I be if I can thwart the Creator God’s plan? Logically, I must be greater than that god, which makes it NO god at all! And if it is no god at all, why should I care? BUT since I have the preponderance of historical data and the living breathing Word of God to show me otherwise, I must admit that I am NOT GOD. And since I am not God, I must put myself back in the proper role of created, owned, and provided for. I cannot guarantee that I will keep breathing today, because I was not the one responsible for making breath. I cannot guarantee that my loved ones will continue breathing either! I can say that I will be content with whatever the ONE who does control those details decides, and I can decide that I will give Him glory for the fact that He ALONE can control those details for BILLIONS of individuals concurrently! I can’t guarantee that all my hard work will not be struck by lightning and burned up, or catch some horrible fungal disease and be destroyed, or another evil madman will not sneak in and defile it. I can’t control anything but the mind that God me. And even that is not free from the impact of Adam’s sin. So, the simple answer (that took me 502 words) to your question, “How do I trust God to provide for me while I labor for another?” Ask yourself, “Am I doing what I can to be part of the Master plan? Remember that the “other” is also just making it up as they best understand it. They can’t control anymore of the things than you can. Thank God for the opportunities you have had to experience things that you’ve enjoyed. Trust Him for more of those things (like paychecks and no debt-collectors!) and ask Him for the grace to trust His character through the difficult things as well.

But what about this other ministry?

 

So you want to know what I think about going to work for a different mission?  An opportunity that came up that that you can’t get away from:  Business/group manager FT and a building maintenance person long term…  I can’t shake the idea that I should keep going with the training, but I don’t really know…

I think you’re gonna be disappointed, or you won’t be, but I think that you should be, unless you know something I don’t.  I think the possibility of you doing a great job while you’re working there will be pretty high, and I think that you would be able to challenge some people that already know Jesus to grow deeper into Him, but what is your long game?  Does your time with that ministry get you closer to being part of seeing people that have never heard of Christ, find Him?  In what ways would you be able to advocate for more workers to be sent “in your place?”  What are the essential skills that you have that make you more ideal for that ministry than the one you were planning?  What does your wife think?  What does your church think?   What defines the “best” choice?  What makes it a “good” option?

The spouse thing is a whole level of other discussion.  What your plans were before marriage, for you as a single guy, are no longer to be your primary concern.  Get your mind sorted on this one, quickly.  God made provision for us who “need” a wife, and I am personally quite grateful, but there really can’t be “What I want to do, and what SHE wants to do…” anymore.  There must be compromise, unity, and prayerful fellowship.  There is also grace for the married souls to serve God together, corporately, in a God honoring way, that takes into account both souls!  The spiritually healthy husband will first ask what his new ministry priorities can become, in light of the new ministry partner he has joined flesh with.  Ideally, this would not be an entirely new conversation, or relationship that one had entered into ignorantly. 

Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife: Why Lutherans Are Like Two-year-olds

Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife: Why Lutherans Are Like Two-year-olds: By Heather Smith Why is truly the basic human question. Only beings with reason can ask it. Animals don’t care. In fact, we might say...



REALLY enjoyed this, this morning as i am meandering through thoughts for july.  this author is funny and has a latent sarcasm that i find refreshing.



i can no longer remember the number of times i asked my parents why something was the way that it was, and i hope that they've forgotten the way that i responded when i couldn't understand the answer. 



it is comical the things that the internet drags up when one begins to google "why."

there is someting terrifying about a blank blogpost, and im sure it is not uncommon to those who write. 
since it is still memorial day, ill try to summarize and crystalize this thought: mowing the yard is just about as patriotic as you can get. I first want to say thank you, posthumously to those who gave their lives for my ability to mow my yard. I realize they can't hear me anymore, and it may sound like I'm being flippant. But I am not. As I was mowing my yard the other day, I was pondering what it was about Memorial Day weekend the drove my neighbors and myself to make sure that our yard were mowed. As I made the stripes in my yard, I began to realize that it really was for this privilege that many men and women have given their lives. In many countries around the world, there isn't time to mow a yard. There isn't time to worry about whether the flower beds look nice, or if I fertilize before the rain or if I weed whip around the fence line. In many countries around the world there's enough to find the next meal or the next safe place to sleep or the next Doctor that may have some antibiotics for your sick child. But in America oh, by the grace of God and at the expense of Millions of lives, I have the privilege of worrying about mowing my yard. Thank God that I have such a privileged life. Thank you those who are not here anymore for your life.

why am i doing this?

this question pops in my mind as i beat my brain against the screen in front of me...

and the answer is: to keep as many people informed and able to pray intelligently for us.