Trust & Obey

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Catey Stover in Freedom Fighters

What could God do in and through me if I simply trusted Him?

I can think of tons of reasons not to trust God…. most of them involve my keeping control of my life; even if that means remaining in my pain and suffering. We do this because we are afraid… afraid of what we might have to give up, what we might lose, what it might cost me, how my life might change.

We have these fears because we really don’t know who God is… most people hold a false view of God that they have been told or formulated from what they want to believe.

God is ‘absolute perfection’. He does not choose to love you, He is Love. Therefore, he does not choose to forsake you or harm you at any point. The distance from God we know and the harm that it causes is of our own doing. Like the prodigal son, we selfishly take what we think is ours and walk away. He ended up in a desperate position because of the consequences of his own choices. The father did not set out to punish him, he punished himself as a result of poor choices and a lack of understanding of who his father was. Unfortunately, it takes ending up in pig swill for most of us to realize the truth about our God. The reality is, the whole time the son was playing the fool; his Father stood watching for him to choose to return.  Love is a choice that cannot be forced or manipulated; love is a product of our free will… it cannot be any other way.

In the same manner as the father in the parable, your Heavenly Father stands patiently watching for you to choose to come to Him. He longs to care for you, to fill you up with infinite love, to provide for you complete rest from your struggle. But He will not force you to do so, He tenderly allows you to choose… because that’s what love does. Why do you look elsewhere… what in this world can provide you with what God can? Not even your mother or father can love you as God does…

In the parable of the prodigal son that Jesus told, the father did not judge the son’s decisions, ‘But when He saw him coming from afar, He was moved with compassion for him, and He ran to him and kissed him.’ The Fathers response was full of forgiveness and restoration… just as God is waiting to respond to you when you turn to Him…. all the guilt and condemnation we carry is of our own doing; Jesus, on the cross, bore all the perfect wrath of God towards all sin for us. Jesus satisfied God’s perfect justice so that through faith in His completed work of salvation, you and I can stand before a Holy God justified and forgiven… no strings attached!

Paul testifies to this when he writes, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:8-11)

Why do you stand afar off? Why will you not trust Jesus and fall into His loving arms? What could this world possibly offer that He has not already perfectly provided for…? You are causing your own pain now by not trusting Him! Imagine what God could do in and through you if you would just trust Him…. You would know a peace that passes all understanding because you would be agreeing with God. As a result of this, you would be at peace with others, regardless of their choices. You would be a light of His joy because you would have found perfect rest in Him. Won’t you come home… today? There is hope and His name is Jesus.

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”  (Romans 5:1)

Choose wisely…

Praying 4 U

Written by David Brown: David Brown is a husband, father, grandfather, Pastor with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is the Associate Pastor of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church.

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Think About This: “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” – Charles Spurgeon

The Daily Bible Reading: Exodus 36-40| You can download our 2020 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here. 

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ^[d]for you, but you should rule over it.” -Genesis 4:7

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the doctrinal and theological views held by America’s Keswick.