Years ago, when I told my boss that I was leaving my first real job that I got when I left college, she had tears in her eyes and told me to use the people at the job as an anchor. I knew that would make no sense because the uncertainty of the job made me want to leave. I craved stability, which they could not offer. Now, years later, I am a Christian and life is still uncertain, but I realize my best anchor is Jesus as He is unchangeable. The weather can be inconsistent, the economy fluctuates, political systems are unreliable, but my God is immutable when everything else in unstable. Yet, so many of us who say we trust in Jesus look to the economy and politicians to give us hope. We can’t be trusting in chariots, horses, and man as we do. The Psalmist said that it is better to trust in the Lord than to have confidence in man.
Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes;But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:5-8
Our roots need to be deep in Jesus so that when the storms come and we are rooted and grounded in Him, then we won’t topple over even though we may be pruned, which makes us even more fruitful. When life is hard, God is still good, so we must keep our focus on Him and stop running to man all the time for help. God definitely uses people to help us, but we must go to Him first so that He directs us to whom we need to go to, and He sometimes will even send the people He wants to assist us. We just need to rest in Him and let Him work in our lives and have His way because all persons are not as they appear, but God knows their hearts. Jesus did not entrust Himself to the people around Him because He understood how they were. (See John 2:24). However, He always went to the Father, ready to be in His will no matter the outcome. We too can trust the Lord even when things don’t make sense and are uncertain.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
God knows everything. He knows what will happen tomorrow so we don’t need to worry or fear because those lead us to sin and actually worry and fear can be sin because God told us not to do them. We run to financial advisors instead of going to the Lord our Provider. Our first option is usually to go to the doctor instead of the Lord our Healer. We trust in our military instead of the Lord of Hosts. We build on faulty foundations when the Lord is our Rock and Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone. How do you think the Creator of all feels when we run to His creation first instead of to Him?
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Romans 1:24-25
We many not think that these Bible verses apply to us, but it is so easy for us to forget God’s truth. There were twelve spies who went to the land of Canaan to scout it out not long after God brought miraculous plagues to Egypt and killed the first born Egyptians, just before opening up the Red Sea for Israelites to pass through on dry land, which later swallowed up the Egyptians when God closed the sea on the pursuing army. So, the spies went to the Promised Land for 40 days and ten came back saying the giants were too big for them to take the land, while two spies saw a land flowing with milk and honey that they knew they could conquer because God said so. Who are you with, the ten or the two? Whose report do you believe? The Israelites cowered in fear not wanting to take the land that God had said He had already given them because they tremored at the thought of facing giants when the One who created the giants promised them the land. Consequently, He had the unbelieving Israelites wander in the wilderness for 40 years and a generation died out except for the two who were ready to take the land that God had given them. This is not the power of positive thinking because that too can be a lie, but this is believing God’s Word. Like Abraham it is our faith that is counted as righteousness. So who are you trusting in?
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