A friend of mine recently made his first parachute jump. As he was about to jump and while standing with the airplane door open and with the wind splashing in his face, he asked his friend, “Do you think these things really work?” His friend answered, “In about five minutes we’ll both know!”
When you jump from a plane, you put all your trust in that parachute. The only way to know whether a parachute works is to strap it on, go up in an airplane and actually jump into the air. You don’t prove whether a parachute works by walking around an airport hanger with the chute strapped to your back; you have to jump.
What an illustration of biblical trust! You have to take the “faith-jump” to discover God can be trusted. Until you jump, spiritually, the fact that God is faithful will only be a useless, unproven theological theory, but when you take a “faith-jump” you prove God’s trustworthiness.
People have always been divided on this. Some say God cannot be trusted. They think they can do a better job managing their lives than God can. Others believe God can be trusted. They have tested this truth by jumping and discovering that it’s true. They have discovered God’s trustworthiness to be a life-changing dynamic that has revolutionized their lives.
Personally, I have staked my whole life of this truth. As a child I memorized, Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6). This has been an anchor truth all through my life. It means, I don’t rely on my own instincts, rather, trust the wisdom of God and discover him to be trustworthy.
This verse continues to be a guiding principle in my life. As a young person, I made a faith covenant with God, saying, I am going to trust God with all my heart and I am not going to trust my own instincts. I am going to try to trust the Lord in everything.
Looking back, I can say with confidence and conviction, God can be trusted. I had no idea back then what God had planned for me. I had no idea that God excels in scripting adventure plots for our lives that far exceed the thrills that I could imagine. When I made that decision, my life was radically rearranged for the better.
I was going to be an accountant, go into business, get married, have a family and find a house in the suburbs. I was going to experience the All-American dream.
Then God said, OK, let’s see if you really trust me. God started to challenge my plans saying I wasn’t to pursue business but ministry. God leads many people into the marketplace, but God began to lead me out of the marketplace.
The implications were immediate. It affected summer jobs, friendships and college courses. There were steps of faith taking me in directions that were totally different than I had planned, but as I trusted God with my life, God proved faithful. Every time I took a step of faith, God came through for me.
It has been a wonderful adventure. Today I say, to anyone who will listen to me, God can be trusted. This is not theory; I’ve tested it in the laboratory of life as have many others. God comes through with flying colors for those who will trust him.
I don’t know what my future holds. God may have some unexpected twists and turns in my life. What I do know with certainty is that whatever happens, God can be trusted.
How do you start trusting God?
TRUST GOD WITH YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY
All humans have an inner sense of destiny. We’re made to think about the meaning of this life and the significance of life after death. God has made us with a sense that there must be a purpose to life and part of that sense of purpose is that there must be a life after death that gives this life perspective.
Not everyone’s eternal destiny will be the same. Most people think it would be unfair if Saddam Hussein, Omar Gaddafi, Mother Theresa and Billy Graham, all shared the same reward in the next life.
Most people gamble on how things will turn out. Most people decide to do the best job with life they can to increase the likelihood they’ll go to heaven. Most people simply try to increase their odds for the life to come.
If you asked people: “If there is a heaven, who goes there?” you’d find that nine out of ten say something like, “Those who attempt to lead a good, moral life.” People generally believe that those who do good things, don’t hurt others, mind their own business and support the United Way, are the people who are going to heaven. That’s the logic of every religious system in the world.
But God says, hold everything! He says, I’m a holy God and the only way you are going to get into heaven, a place that is filled with holiness, is for each of you to be absolutely holy like I am. And in case you think you’ve lived an absolutely holy life, take a few seconds to talk with your wife, your parents or your kids. The evidence is clear: none of us has lived a holy life. Some of us have done better than others, but no one has come close to God’s standard for moral perfection.
The fact is, no number of kind acts, noble deeds, gifts to UNICEF, gifts to the Republican Party – none of that can offset the wrong we’ve done. No number of good deeds we could do in the future can erase the violations of God’s laws we’ve committed in the past. The bottom line is this: once the standard of God’s moral perfection is violated, nothing you do can change it.
Christianity differs from the teaching of every other religion in the world. The Bible says you need someone who can change the record of violations for you. You need someone who can deal with your mistakes and make you acceptable to a holy God.
There is such a person. His name is Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can change the record of your past. He took your punishment on himself on the cross and as a result, offers to erase your sin. He offers you a clean slate. He promises to present you blameless before a holy God. He fits you for heaven.
In order to gain eternal life, you must trust what Jesus did for you, rather than trust what you can do for yourself. It’s what we call a trust-transfer.
If 15 minutes from now, you were to stand before a holy God, and he asked you why he should grant you entrance into heaven, what would you say? Would you say you are trusting what Jesus did for you on the cross and trusting that he has cleansed you from your sin and your past? Only on that basis, can you appeal to God for entrance into heaven.
You can’t change your record but Jesus can! You need a Savior and a Savior has been provided.
When you trust Christ for your eternal destiny, he will prove himself trustworthy. No one has ever turned to Christ for salvation and been denied. Perhaps you are asking, “Will it work for me?” I say, jump. Try it. God will not only save you and fit you for heaven, he will live in you, transforming you and making everything new.
TRUST GOD TO DIRECT THE DETAILS OF YOUR LIFE
God’s trustworthiness does not stop with the matter of salvation. God’s wisdom for daily life can be trusted.
Fifty years ago, Dr. Benjamin Spock greatly influenced American life. He was a medical doctor who operated more as an armchair psychologist. He said, In effect, “If you want to know how to raise your children, listen to me and I’ll tell you how to do it.” He offered his advice on how to raise children to a whole generation. When people my age learned they were going to be parents, they bought his book. We trusted him.
Some of what he said was good, but in many places, his advice differed from the advice in the Bible. A whole generation decided that the Bible was outdated and untrustworthy, so they went Dr. Spock’s way. Whether you know it or not, many of us were raised according to Dr. Spock and that explains a lot about us!
Before he died a few years ago, Dr. Spock gave a number of interviews. In one of them he made this startling statement: “I guess a lot of my assumptions were wrong.” Can you believe it? A whole generation of people paid with their lives and all that Spock said was, “I guess I was quite wrong in what I said!”
The lesson is clear. We shouldn’t have trusted Dr. Spock; we should have stuck with the wisdom of God’s Word.
While today’s talk shows may be interesting, they are all subject to error. Where their advice differs from God’s Word, we don’t accept what they have to say, we go God’s way. The Bible contains wisdom and guidance that is trustworthy.
The Bible provides wisdom for building relationships, handling finances, dealing with conflict and handling emotions. When people say this book is irrelevant, I say it just proves you haven’t read it, because when you read it, you discover it’s very relevant. Every issue that touches life at its deepest core is dealt with in the Bible.
Every day you make critical decisions. Who you are going to marry and what vocation are you going to follow? Who are you goin to follow?
With life so complex, God says trust me, follow my promptings and follow my leadings. He says, if you follow me, you’ll discover me to be trustworthy. Follow my direction and you’ll find fulfillment and satisfaction. It’s not just a theological theory, it’s a proven reality.
After traveling and ministering in more than 60 countries for the last 50 years, I have discovered that God is totally trustworthy. When I have needed guidance, he has been a light to my pathway. When I needed to know the next step to take, he showed me the way. When I have needed wisdom, he has spoken with clarity. When I needed strength, he has been more than enough.
The Bible makes it very clear. Everyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. (Romans 10:11). Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust. (Psalm 40:4).
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