Trust with Abandon
Trust with Abandon
One of my most purposefully remembered scripture passages is Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. (NASB)
When it comes to our faith in Jesus Christ, if this is not the truth; if God is not real; if He is not who He claims to be and has not done what He claims to have done; if this life is all there is, then we are “of all men most to be pitied.” And we may as well give up this charade and live in futility like the rest of the world.
Here is the way Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” (NASB)
There are not a lot of underground basements in West Virginia, but many people found a place where a root cellar could be constructed. On top of that cellar, a room or two was often built. This stucture is called the cellar house. Let me share with you the story of the Cellar House roof.
A few years ago, before we lived in West Virginia full time, I realized that the roof on our cellar house had deteriorated to the point where it had to be replaced. Because I was working, I had to use vacation time to come here. That meant that my time was always extremely limited. Because this project was large, My wife convinced me that I should find some help to ensure that I got it finished in time. Boy was I glad she did!
A friend of mine, and my brother, came down and we began working on the roof. It was a lot more work than I thought it would be. As the end of the time allotted for the project approached it became clear that there was no possible way I was going to have the shingles on. On top of this problem, we had a gas leak and really needed to get it fixed. We knew of no one who could help us with a gas problem. I was so worried about this that it kept me up at night.
One morning around three o’clock as I lay in bed scared to death about what was going to happen a thought came to me like a question from God. “Have you talked to Me about this?” I had not.
So, I told the Lord that I was totally stuck and that though I could see no possible way He could make it happen, I really needed that gas leak fixed and the roof shingled before I had to go back to New York. I told Him I had no way to make this happen, and I was giving it to Him, and I was going to trust Him with the outcome no matter what that was. As soon as I turned the situation over to Him, I fell asleep and rested well for the remainder of the night.
The next day we began working on the roof again. After a while, our neighbor came out and began mowing her lawn. At one point, she got the lawn tractor stuck and was having trouble getting it to back up. Without really thinking, I came down off the roof and went over to help her out. While I was doing that, another neighbor who she had apparently called to get help, came by. We were introduced and, as is the way here in rural West Virginia, we began talking about what I was working on. This neighbor came over to my place and we walked around some while I explained about my gas leak. He said, well you need to know Phillip!
I called Phillip and told him about my problem. He said, “well, my brother Dave is really the gas guy. You should call him.” Dave came and fixed my gas leak. When he was finished, I said, “well this solved a big problem for me, now I only have one problem left. I need some help to get that roof shingled before I have to leave.” He said he did not know anyone who might do that. My heart sank. Clearly the Lord had providentially caused me to meet the neighbor who referred me to Phillip and Dave. Why would He have failed to meet my other pressing need?
A while later, Dave telephoned. He told me that he had found someone who would shingle my roof for me. I was elated. I called the man, he came and shingled the roof, and my impossible problems were solved, just in the nick of time.
Ebenezer
In 1758 Robert Robinson penned a hymn entitled “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” based upon I Samuel 7:12. The second verse begins, “Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come...”
Let us read a chunk of 1 Sammy 7 and find out what might have inspired Robert to write poetry. 1 Samuel 7:7-13 “7 Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, "Do not cease to cry to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines." 9 Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the LORD; and Samuel cried to the LORD for Israel and the LORD answered him. 10 Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel. 11 The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us." 13 So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. (NASB)
When God helps you; when He fixes impossible problems; when He gives you peace in the midst of terrible events; remember these things. Drop a marker stone of sorts. Raise your Ebenezer so you remember that “thus far, the Lord has helped you.”
Father is in the helping business. He is a healer of relationships, a rebuilder and restorer of relationships that may seem hopelessly divided. He is a redeemer of lost people who have wandered off and become entangled in the briars of life.
Let us look at another Ebenezer, recorded for us in Exodus 14. The Israelites have just been freed from slavery to the Egyptians. As they approached the sea the Lord told Moses to have the people turn around and loop back before camping for the night. Here is the account as found in Exodus 14:1-31
“1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.” (NASB)
Now we will skip down to verse nine, “9 Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. 10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. (NASB)
Many times, we are just like the ancient Israelites. When we look and behold, we see the Egyptians marching after us and we forget the promises of our Father. We become very frightened, and sometimes—in our better moments-- we cry out to the Lord. Other times, we walk according to the flesh, chase what our eyes are telling us is real, and generally cause ourselves unnecessary pain and grief. We will come back to this line of thought, but first let us finish looking at our ebenezer.
Verse 11 “Then they said to Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 "Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." 13 But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. 14 "The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent." “ (NASB)
I love that part of Moses’ response. “Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you.” and “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” This is a great encouragement for us to enter His rest. It is so easy to try to manage everything and it brings great stress. This is a lesson I have to be taught over and over.
Now moving on to verse 15, “15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.”
This is interesting too. Moses is not recorded as having cried out to God. It was the people who cried out, and they cried out to Moses. Moses is a type (or picture) of Jesus Christ here. Moses was the mediator between God and the Hebrew people. Now Jesus is the mediator between fallen mankind and the Father. Without Jesus, no one could be saved. We see this in 1 Timothy 2:5-6 “5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” (NASB)
So, Father tells Moses how the people will be saved. Picking up at verse 16 "As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. 17 "As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 "Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen." 19 The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. (NASB)
While God’s plan was on hold so the people could sleep, His hand of protection ensured that the necessary time would pass without incident. He paved the way for their success and for the success of the plan He had set in motion.
Now carrying on to verse 21 “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. 22 The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. 24 At the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against the Egyptians." 26 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen." 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. 29 But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses. (NASB)
Even though it looked completely impossible. Even though the Israelites were freaked out with fear. God protected them and took care of the entire Egyptian army.
We are all continually learning to trust the Lord with reckless abandon. Many of us are in the early stages where sometimes we trust Him and other times we choose to walk according to the flesh. Time and time again, He demonstrates that He is trustworthy. We can trust Him completely. We can trust Him with abandon.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. (NASB)
