Tag: trust

Malachi 3:5-12

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            “You people are robbing me, your God.  And, here you are, asking, ‘How are we robbing you?’ You are robbing me of the offerings and of the ten percent that belongs to me.  That’s why your whole nation is under a curse.  I am the LORD All-Powerful, and I challenge you to put me to the test.  Bring the entire ten percent into the storehouse, so there will be food in my house.  Then I will open the windows of heaven and flood you with blessing after blessing.”
 
            When God feels cheated and lays-down a challenge, then things probably aren’t going so well.  The point to derive from this word from God is not to legalistically make sure you are giving your due, although that would help.  God was upset because the people simply were not generous.  And they weren’t generous because they didn’t trust that God would take care of them.  The people were much too busy with their own stuff, their own houses, and their own situations.  They were much too busy making money, tending to their families, and making sure the mortgage payment was in on time….  Are we still talking about ancient Israel?
 
            Do what you need to do for God, and trust him for the rest – that is the principle God is looking for us to follow.  Give without holding back and you will find a generous God at the other end doing the same.  Wouldn’t that be a much better situation than the one you’re now in?
 

 

            Generous God, you give and give again, even though we are fickle and only give when we feel like it.  I trust in you to care for me in all things, including my finances.  And I will celebrate your faithfulness when you meet all my needs and more through Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen.

Psalm 20

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            We place our trust in things and other people every day.  We trust the chair to hold us up when we sit down; we trust the grocery store will be open when we go to it; and, we trust people to keep the promises they make to us.  Yet, we have all had the experience of something breaking on us when we sat on it; a store being closed when we went to it; and, someone not following through with what they said they would do for us.  There is a difference between lesser trust and ultimate trust.  If we place ultimate trust in things and people other than God, then we will be the most miserable of people because they will all let us down at some point. 
 
            The psalmist lets us know where our ultimate trust must be firmly placed:  “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”  It is part of the human experience to be disappointed and let down by others.  Discouragement is only exacerbated exponentially into paranoia if our ultimate trust rests on chariots and horses, that is, in a more contemporary rendering, military technology and lots of tanks, planes, and weapons.  If security and peace of mind is measured by the systems and staff we put in place, then it will never be enough and we will continually be looking over our shoulder.  But if our faith is solid in God, then the constant angst of the election season and the forebodings of news media outlets will not shake us and cause us to collapse under the worried strain.
 
            There is nothing wrong with keeping up with the news and latest events.  There is, however, something wrong with looking at those events through a sub-biblical lens as if God were not sovereign in the world.  There is nothing wrong with expecting others to keep their promises.  There is, however, something wrong with treating them as if they are little gods who must pander to the demands of me, the constituent.  Psalm 20 is available for us to read and pray as much as we need to, in order that our worldview can stretch to believe in the ultimate trust of God.
 

 

            God Almighty, you reign supreme over all nations and all people.  There is no threat too serious, no situation too dire that you are unable to deal with in grace and power.  I place today my ultimate trust in you, knowing and believing that you are always good for your promises through Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Exodus 5:10-23

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment


             It was God who called to Moses out of the burning bush.  It was God who told Moses to go to Egypt because he heard the groaning of the Israelites in their slavery.  It was God who promised Moses that he would deliver the people from their awful bondage.  But the promised vision of release from captivity ran into the harsh buzz-saw of reality.  Moses did exactly what God told him to do with the result that Pharaoh forced the Israelite slaves to make bricks without being supplied with the straw to do it.  Now the people’s situation is even worse than it was before Moses showed up on the scene.  What’s up with that!?
             Since we know the end to the story, we might understand where all of this was going.  But when we put ourselves in the sandals of Moses, it is anything but clear about what was happening.  It is quite understandable that Moses questioned God:  “LORD, why have you treated this people badly? And why did you send me?  From the time I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has treated this people badly, and you have done nothing to rescue your people.”  
             There have been many times in my life when I have questioned whether I was really sent by God to be a certain place or to do a certain thing.  Maybe I didn’t really hear God.  Maybe it was my own voice in my head.  Maybe it was an emotional decision.  But there is something we must all realize:  Just because things go from bad to worse does not necessarily mean God isn’t in the thing.  We are not always, even usually, privy to the mind of God in the big picture of what he is doing.  In the midst of trouble we might think God is not at work, not paying attention, and slow to act.  Yet, God knows exactly what he is doing and sometimes we need to discern that things will get worse before they will get better.
             Wise God, I trust you that you know what you are doing even though I don’t see what in the world is going on.  Help me to see all things from your perspective so that I might have the wisdom to move forward in faith and patience.  I’m out on a limb for you; please do not let it break!  Amen.

Pursuing the Good Life

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
Everyone desires a good life.  No one wakes up in the morning and hopes they have a bad day.  A person might get up on the wrong side of the bed and grump his/her way through the first hours of the day, but nobody makes a conscious decision to deliberately have a bad life.  We all want a good life.  Students go to school hoping to have a good experience.  Marriages begin with the hope of having a good life together.  New employees start with the wish that there will be satisfaction in doing a job well-done.  Parents dream of their kids growing up to have a good life.  We want the kind of life that brings contentment, joy, and happiness.
 
            A good life comes through the fear of the Lord (Psalm 34:9-14).  Yes, that’s right, the fear of the Lord.  If we want to live a good life, it will have the fear of the Lord at the heart of it.  We need to make an important distinction between good fear and bad fear.  We as human beings are all too familiar with bad fear.  Bad fear is being too afraid to take the steps necessary to have a good life.  It is being insecure, risk-averse, and unwilling to take even a small step toward expanding my comfort zone.  Bad fear causes people to retreat in bubble of anxiety that keeps them stuck and imprisoned in a small world of protection, unable to engage God’s big world with any effectiveness.  Bad fear is to be afraid of what other people may or may not do or say.  Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe (Proverbs 29:25). 
 
The way to overcome the fear of others and the fear of the situations that might happen is to have the good kind of fear, the fear of the Lord.  The fear of the Lord means to honor and obey God, to be loyal and submissive.  It does not mean being afraid, like the bad fear of people.
 
            If you want to lack no good thing; if you desire to see many good days; if you do want to simply survive in life but to thrive in it and love the life you possess; then, the first thing that must happen is taking the posture of listening.
 
 
 
            The Hebrew word “listen” literally means to bend or to incline the ear.  It is to take a posture of listening in order to learn.  The prerequisite to any kind of good life is to have a teachable-spirit that gives focused attention to the wisdom God has for us.  A fool is a person who does not listen, but only mocks, complains, and is continually negative.  But a wise person is one who has learned to be attentive to the voice of God.  Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.  Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.  Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning (Proverbs 9:7-9).
 
            The fear of people is a death-dealing practice.  But the person who fears God through the posture of a teachable spirit discovers a life-giving practice that will serve him/her well.  The teachable spirit takes the posture of listening and learning from other people’s hard-won experiences.  It bends the ear to good advice.  It inclines toward acquiring knowledge and learning the skill set needed to live a good successful Christian life.  There cannot be a good life without having a teachable spirit, seeking after learning, discovering, and listening. 
 
            Therefore, Christians cannot learn if they will not read.  The Bible is a book.  If the Bible was a car I would tell us all to learn to be mechanics.  If the Bible were a fish or a deer I would tell us all to learn the best ways to hunt and fish.  If the Bible was a store I would tell us all to learn to be good shoppers and consumers.  But the Bible is a book, and so we all need to read it, memorize it, meditate on it, and learn from it.  Get in the Word of God!  Wise churches will find ways to immerse themselves in Scripture and have moldable teachable spirits. 
 

 

If we desire a good life we will fear God and keep his commandments; we will be readers of Scripture and take the posture of listening and learning.  If we want to experience the good life we will engage in personal reading, corporate reading, and bible studies.  We will find ways to get into the Word!