I love how the Lord can use a simple catch phrase or the lyric of a children's hymn (as was the case for me) to confront us with a life-altering truth. It says in scripture that "God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful" (1 Corinthians 1:27 NLT). He uses the simple things to confront us of our sin and confound our false understanding of who He is. This is to lead us to repentance, a 180 degree turn away from our sin toward His throne of grace where we are invited to boldly come (ref Hebrews 4:16). For it is here that our King who is also our Father lovingly kneels down beside us, wraps His arms around us, and pours out tender mercies. This is His way of correcting our waywardness. And He will continue to do this time and time again, drawing us into a more deeper relationship with Him.
I experienced one of those moments recently when my husband, son, and I set out on an adventure to Old Gunpowder State Park, a local natural wildlife preserve with several trails to hike. This was a plan we kept a secret from my son for a few weeks. We knew him having any foreknowledge of our rendezvous would only cause unnecessary angst for a nine year-old boy as he eagerly awaited the day. And when that day finally came, he jittered with excitement in the back seat of our car until we finally pulled into the parking lot and let him loose. He ran up to the entrance of the park and inched his way through the abyss of green and yellow foliage shimmering under a golden sky, screaming of God's glory. His eyes were wide open in wonder as he gazed up at the tree limbs twisting around each other in a sweet embrace. He pointed out a sole hibiscus flower amidst the hedges shyly awaiting its full maturation. It had rained earlier that morning so our feet sunk into the wet earth beneath us, the very sod God used to fashion Adam in the palm of His hand. I breathed in and let out a sigh of relief, thinking "it is good to be here". God has made all these things for our good--the trees, the flowers, the river that ran beside us, the crisp, clean air filling my lungs. But, suddenly that thought bubble eliciting my heart to enter God's restful bliss was popped by the thorn in my flesh. What ensued was a rapid fire of loaded gun questions in the form of "what if" scenarios, drawing my attention away from the beautiful journey I was on with my family. "What if we wander too far?", I thought. "What if there are ravenous animals out here", "what if I lose my mind", "what if..., what if..., what if...?" I took an exit somewhere I shouldn't have. I lost sight of everything going on around me and most importantly I was no longer engaged with the people I was accompanied by on this journey for now my focus was on me.
My husband and son were jubilantly jumping over rocks while I was jumping over hurdles, trying to ward off the makings of a panic attack. I admittedly entered into temptation by entertaining these thoughts but I am so humbled by how God's grace abounds in spite of my foolish tendencies. Scripture states, "Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more" (Romans 5:20). As if God's staff were reaching out to reel me in, the one little sheep wandering away from the fold, I heard the slight whisper of a lyric often sung to our little ones in Sunday school echo in my mind. "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey". And here I faced a vital truth which God made clear to me as He would a child. He directed my attention toward my son who was prancing around the woods care-free and light-hearted. As I watched him, I was reminded that this is exactly as Christ calls me to be in Him. For in Him, we have received abundant life, no longer plagued with fear. Those of us who find our fulfillment and satisfaction in Him are "free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture" (Malachi 4:2). Our children are ignorant of the details of how they will be cared for. As far as they know, their needs have been met and will continue to be met. In the same way, "God's faithfulness demands our present trust". That's an excellent one-liner shared with me by my husband! And it is as simple as that. Based on the hard evidence, God has never given me a reason not to trust Him. He has never forsaken me. And as scripture states in Deuteronomy 31:6, He never will. God has set me free from the "sting of death". Scripture states, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). Every fear I face is a lie stemming from the very root of death. With death conquered, what is there to fear?
My husband who was guiding our steps through the woods knew the path very well. That fact should have provided me some sense of security. If I magnify this example, I find a greater lesson. Our steps through this journey called life are mapped out by Christ. He knows every pitfall along the way and He has gone before us to make the crooked paths straight (ref Isaiah 45:2). If we believe this to be true, then we must choose to live like it. "The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?" (Proverbs 20:24) One will drive himself mad trying to get to the bottom of a bottomless pit of human reason. In his effort to try to appease the flesh's demand to "figure it out", he finds himself deeper and deeper entangled in a state of confusion. This life was never meant to be "figured out". We are commanded in Proverbs 3:5 to simply "Trust in the Lord with all [our] heart, and lean not on [our] own understanding". We are "leaning on our own understanding" every time we resort to "what if" thinking and try to calculate the path laid out before us. God doesn't call us to have wisdom like a sage but rather have faith like a child. It is actually our dependence on God, much like a child, that leads us to wisdom. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10).
When we abandon our own understanding to acknowledge God in all we do, we can't help but find contentment in life. And as the hymn states, "there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey". However, this is where it gets tricky for us over-complicated thinkers. Trust is not a concept that we rationalize in the mind. It is a matter of the heart. When we treat it as such, we are sadly left unchanged. We must put trust into practice in order for it to effect the heart and ultimately transform our lives.
Now, the second part of the hymn calls us to obey. God invites us to believe. But belief isn't just the mere recognition that there is one God for even the powers of darkness believe this to be true (ref James 2:19). It is living out the reality that Jesus Christ is Lord and that we are subjects of His kingdom, not our own. It is trusting Him as Lord of our lives. But, there are different motivations behind one's obedience. If we obey God out of fear of punishment, then we have not grasped fully the width, height, and depth of His love for us. One who experiences this love that has and continues to cover a multitude of our sins, as scripture tells us, is made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God (ref Ephesians 3:18-19). Scripture states in 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love". The word "perfect" also means "complete". So in essence, this scripture is revealing that we are not made complete until we allow Love Himself to pervade with great impact our whole self. Where fear remains, love has not yet been granted access to do its healing and transformative work. By God's grace, certain territories of our hearts are radically changed by the awareness of how much we are loved by our Creator. In other instances, God purposes to progressively infiltrate select areas of our lives. A completely surrendered heart will be made completely whole. And that is God's desire for us all. He wants us to live a full and empowered life. But, to come into agreement with God's will for us, we must choose to trust Him every moment of every day. This, in and of itself, is an act of obedience.
When we obey Christ it is because we trust that it is for our good. It is only because of our lack of understanding of who Christ is that we think otherwise. Do not be like "the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you" (Psalm 32:9). An animal who is afraid of its surroundings or its owner is not inclined to follow his master's commands. In turn, he ends up doing more harm to himself by leaning on his own understanding. God tells us that He "will instruct [us] and teach [us] in the way [we] should go"; and He does so by "guiding [us] with [His] eye" (Psalm 32:8). He doesn't place a heavy burden of rules or demands on us. His yoke is easy and His burden is light (ref Matthew 11:30). Instead, He simply gestures to us the path that is right and then gives us the opportunity to decide.
We truly have no understanding to lean on but the word of God. And God's message is simple, so much so that He instructs us to receive it like a child. I was reminded of this when my family and I returned to the car after our family outing. I turned up the volume to the radio to have as background music as we chatted about the details of our day. I leaned back in the passenger seat, cracked the window open, and allowed the wind to soothe my weary head. Shortly after, the background noise traveled to the forefront of mind and gripped my undivided attention as I heard the lyrics resounding from the speakers singing, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey". I smiled. I knew that word was just for me. All of the torment I experienced earlier that day ended with sweet rest for I was reminded yet again that God is with me. It is indeed good to be here, resting in God's sovereignty.
