Category: Trust

Matthew 6:26                                           You Are Valuable to God

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?”  (NIV)

 

God knows each of us much more thoroughly and intimately than this mother duck knows her chicks.  And yet these baby ducklings trust their mother enough to follow her to a place they have never been, that blue stuff called water.  Have you ever wondered how a duckling feels the first time it steps off solid ground onto something that moves, water?  Is the duckling concerned or excited?  Whichever it is, he trusts momma enough to follow her.  He instinctively knows that she will not lead him into any danger.  Our trust of our Lord has to become instinctive, making us willing to follow Him wherever He leads, without any concern, but with excitement for the journey He has prepared for us.  We have to know in our “knowers” that He will not lead us into any danger that He is unable to guide us through.  Life with our Lord is not necessarily always calm and quiet.  He can and He does lead us into places where we need to stretch our wings and fly for the first time, to get our feet wet in the sharing of the Gospel with a stranger or perhaps a friend that is not a churchgoer.  We need to trust Him enough to know that  He knows that our wings can hold us in flight, and that we can speak His Word to others.  We will never know unless we trust Him when He presents opportunities that we might think of as challenges.  He will never put us in a position where He does not “have our backs.”

The ducklings also know that their momma will do everything in her power to protect them if anything threatens them.  Is not our God more powerful that a mother duck?  Does He not care for us more than the mother duck cares for her chicks?  We need to take encouragement and comfort in knowing that the creator of the universe knows our situation every moment of every day, that He is watching out for us constantly.  He does ask that we ask Him for help when we need it.  We need to acknowledge that we need His help, that we are dependent upon Him.   He is eager to give us all the good things He has in store for us, but we have to realize that we need them, that He is the source, and that we have to make our requests to Him.

Philippians 4:19                                                        Take It Easy

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (NKJV).

 

“Take it Easy” doesn’t sound much like a Christian devotional, does it?  A recent sermon I heard prompted this title.  The pastor asked how many have been or are worried, upset, concerned about the state of the world today.  When many of us raised our hands, he chastised us.  He reminded us that God has not been, nor is He surprised by Covid 19, the current racial tension,  or the many words of hate being spewed throughout this land.  While difficult times may occur, and crises may happen, Psalm 91 (NKJV) tells us, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust.’”  Psalm 91 goes on to say in verse 7, “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.”  The Word further reassures us in Ph 4:19 (NKJV), “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

My needs are supplied, and I am protected by the God of the universe who calls me His son.  Yes, His Word speaks of Jesus as my brother.  Romans 8:29 (NKJV) tells us, “For whom he foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”  We are joint heirs along with His Son, Jesus.  Ephesians 3:6 (NKJV) says, “that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and the partakers of His promise in Christ through the Gospel.”

A return to Psalms tells us in Psalm 37:1-2, “Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity, for they shall be soon cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.”  We are instructed in verse 8 of the same chapter of Psalms, “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret—it only causes harm.”  We are told not only to not fret, but also to cease from anger and wrath because harm is the result.  Sounds a little bit like “Take It Easy” to me.

In the sense of rejoicing over the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and the glory of our God, “Take It Easy” doesn’t seem to be an option, but rather a command.  “Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again, I will say, rejoice!”(Ph 4:4 NKJV)  David says in Psalm 101 (NKJV), “I will sing of mercy and justice; to You, O Lord, I will sing praises.”  In the days of Moses, Miriam said in Exodus 15:1 (NKJV), “Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously!  The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”

The message seems to be:  Rejoice in the Lord, and fret not the troublesome times.

Exodus 17:6                                                  Let the Water Flow

“I will stand thee before you by the rock at Horeb.  Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.  So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel” (NIV).

 

The Israelites had gladly left Egypt and had seen Pharaoh’s army killed by the Lord at the Red Sea.  They were now in the desert and had no source of water that they could see.  God didn’t bring them out to the desert to die of thirst.  He knew that He was their source for all things, including water, and He worked through Moses as He had been doing.  When Moses went to God with the water problem, God did what God does—He provided all the water they needed, once again proving His faithfulness to His chosen people.

Moses had to put his trust in God, as he had so many times on this journey.  God put Moses on the spot by telling him to stand by a dry rock and hit it with his staff.  He also told Moses to make sure that the leaders of Israel were there.  It seems as though God wanted to demonstrate to the leaders that Moses was, indeed, His chosen man among His chosen people.  Moses again put his trust in God and did as he was told.  Wow!—water out of a dry rock, and not just a trickle.  It was enough for all the many thousands of the people of Israel and their animals to drink, and in the middle of the desert.  When God does something He does it right!  That’s a good thing for us to remember.  Can we summon the faith and trust in God that Moses demonstrated?  If and when we do, we will also experience God doing above and beyond all that we can imagine.  God is all mighty.  Let’s join our levels of faith together until we make God rejoice and release His great power on our behalf.