"Trusting the Lord, at times, is like sky diving with only an umbrella."When is the last time that you had that feeling in your stomach like it has dropped out and it took your breath away? When I was a kid, there was this hill a couple of miles from our house that we would always ask our parents to drive down. It was really steep and the drop was so fast that my stomach would feel like it was doing flips. When I received my driver’s license I made that road a regular part of my trip home. It seemed the faster I went down that hill the more exhilarating it was. So, if I enjoyed that feeling so much as a child, why is this feeling in my stomach uninvited. We have less than a month before Melissa and I pack up our lives once more and journey into the unknown. It is a wonderful feeling to know that their friends and family on the other end of that journey, but there are still many unknowns. What will I do for work? How does this move fit into the plans of the Lord? Will the new school system be good for our kids? Is there a pastor position awaiting me? It is funny because all of these questions remind me of my children. They can’t handle getting in the car without knowing what is going on. So they ask us all of these questions. Questions I usually don’t answer because I want them to just relax and trust that we as their parents have their best interest in mind and they don’t have to know what is going on. Let me turn this conversation around on myself. The Lord is in the driver’s seat and we are not. He has asked us to get into the car and buckle up. Now, I am reverting to a child like state of control, fear, longing for information, the need to know. I believe with all my heart that the Lord has a big smile on His face and wants me to just relax. He has already made the way for our family and the story is not a horror film. It is a story full of adventure, drama, comic relief (thank you Noah and Exodus), some tears, some battle wounds, and in the end victory.
I do not know where you are at right now. Maybe the Lord is asking you to jump and you don’t know what will happen. You might even be questioning if this is the Lord. What kind of God asks us to step into the lion’s den, or in a fiery pit, or travel into the unknown, or drop your known career and follow him, or give away the little bit of food you have to feed thousands of people, or to stand when all you feel like doing is to fall? This kind of God is one that knows who He has created you to be. He knows what kind of strength lies inside of you, if and when you submit to Him and allow His strength to flow.
Philippians 4:13
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
This scripture does not say that we can do all things through our own wisdom, strength, knowledge, gifting, or skill. Yes, it is Him who has given us all of these wonderful gifts but the miraculous will never happen until we are willing to lay those ideals down and let Him take control. In truth no matter how hard we fight for control, it is never an element that we will be able to capture and become the master of. It will only create an illusion that will ultimately bring destruction to those who have been tricked into building their lives on such a weak foundation.
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