Scripture Passage:  “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”  Proverbs 3:5 “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or,  What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.”   Matthew 6:31-32

  Dear Friends,

 

     Trust and faith go hand in hand.  As a matter of fact, I am not so sure they are not the same thing.  Proverbs tells us to trust the Lord with all our hearts.  Hebrews tells us without faith it is impossible to please God.  When we are saved we put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We trust him to do what he said he would and believe that he will.  How can you separate the two?  We later are faced with the question of whether he is able to keep us from falling from grace when we sin. Once again, we trust what he said about eternal life and believe His word, or we doubt and live in fear.  If you are able to grow in your relationship in the Lord, you eventually settle these two issues by faith.  You would think with these two issues settled, salvation and assurance, there would be nothing else to worry about.  Then life happens.

 

     Life happens to everyone, believer and non-believer alike.  It is filled with good and bad and follows a course like a roller coaster.  It takes us to extreme highs and severe lows with many twists and turns in between.  Most of the time we do not stay in one place very long at a time, but when we do, our trust and faith are put to the extreme test.  Every roller coaster I have ridden began with a slow, monotonous exit from the station and laborious climb to the summit.  During this time, my mind was often filled with questions of fear, doubt, and anxiety. “Do I really want to do this?” “Am I going to be able to get through this without losing my mind?”  (“Or my hot-dog?”)   “When was the last time they did a maintenance check on this contraption?”  There is a wooden roller coaster at Kings Island called The Beast.  It beats, bangs, slings, and shakes you until you feel like you have been in a fight with a monster.    I got off with a pain in my back and bruises on my arms and hips from the impact.  I walked right back around to the entrance and got in line again to ride a second time.  Life is like The Beast.  You cannot ride it without pain, hurt and bruises, but the thrill is worth the ride.  If you dwell on the discomfort, you fail to enjoy the ride.  If you focus on the bruises and pain, you will never ride another roller coaster again.  What you must do is look at the big picture.  Learn what you can and cannot do and plan your day accordingly.  You have a choice on whether you ride The Beast on not, but you do not have a choice where life is concerned.

 

     The only choice I have in life is how I live it.  I can choose to live in despair or I can choose to live in hope.  I can choose to dwell on the negative or I can choose to dwell on the positive.  I can choose to trust Jesus or I can choose to worry.  I can put my faith in the world system and human relationships or I can put my faith in the One that can be trusted. I can choose to trust the Lord with all my heart or I can choose to hold a little bit back for other things.  The choice is mine.  The choice is yours.

 

In Christ,

Pastor Johnny