Trusting God on Wednesday

It is Wednesday. Each day, even a Wednesday, is a gift from God.

This morning passed quickly. Our children went to school. Stephen, Sheri, and the girls arose late and enjoyed a breakfast featuring cheesy scrambled eggs. Sheri was gracious to prepare breakfast for me as well.

From the time I got out of bed, about 6:15, until about 9, I read and responded to e-mails, some of which I left from last night. One was from a friend who was instrumental in my entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ during the Storm of the Century in March 1993. It was a blessing to catch up with Bill, reminisce about the past, and hear about how he and his family are doing.

Soon after breakfast, my wife arrived home from taking the children to school; Peter and Phyllis arrived from the hotel in Clarks Summit.

We spent most of the morning sitting and conversing.At some point, I received a phone call from our friend Gail in Georgia. Gail and Grassy were our family-away-from-home in Georgia. We have many good times to remember; many funny stories to tell. Gail and Grassy were one of the couples that patiently loved us through the years leading up to our salvation.

It is now 1:30. We just finished lunch. Part of the clan is headed to Honesdale to visit some of the local shops. My wife is headed over to Canaan to clear my personal items from the classroom I was using. My office is much as I left it; but it will have to be cleared out as well. The whole process does not really bother me. At least, I did not think that it would. But there is something about it that makes me uneasy. An admission that another part of my life is over. That I have little or no influence over what goes on in the classroom. And I guess that is tied up with contentment – being content with doing the best I can with what I have been given.

My wife purchased a book to study with a friend. Between yesterday and today, I read the book and dog-eared pages that I wanted to go back to and review. The book is Trusting God (Even When Life Hurts) by Jerry Bridges.

I am no longer purchasing books, but have a desire to read as much as I can, to glean as much as I can, about seeing Jesus more clearly. Of course, nothing replaces the reading of the Bible. But the perspectives of godly writers are often helpful.

I typed out some notes, things that caught my attention, and included them here. Unless noted otherwise, all italicized items are direct quotes or paraphrases of statements made by the author himself. Any comments that I added are included in regular font.

God has a purpose and a plan for each one of us, and He has the power to carry out that plan.

No part of God’s plan can be thwarted. God does as He pleases.

We must learn to obey God one choice at a time, one circumstance at a time. It is an act of the will, based on the belief that God is in control of every situation.

God is sovereign. We are responsible. Prayer is necessary; it assumes the sovereignty of God.

There is no conflict between God’s sovereignty and our responsibility.Prayer is the acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty and of our dependence upon Him to act on our behalf. Prudence is the acknowledgment of our responsibility to use all legitimate means.

We must depend upon God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We must also depend on Him to enable us to do what we must do for ourselves.

Psalm 139:13-16. God created our innermost being and fashioned us in our mother’s womb so that we might be equipped to fulfill the plan that He set out even before we were born.

God made us thinking beings, and he guides our minds as we think things out in his presence. (J.I. Packer)

Trusting God is first a matter of the will. But first, we must know that God is sovereign . . .

If we are to trust God, we must believe His truth.

As I consider what Bridges wrote about trusting God, represented fairly well by the sampling of snippets included above, I must conclude that a genuine trust in God must begin with a proper understanding of who God is. We can know Him and His character best through His Word, but also through the daily experience of seeing Him work day by day in our lives and in the lives of the people close to us. Because I know Him, because I know His faithfulness, I know I can trust Him with anything that comes my way, even (especially) in these final uncertain days.

God’s plan for my life is unfolding. One day at a time, one moment at a time. In each moment, He expects me to know and follow His leading. He expects me to act responsibly, to think, according to the standards that He has set forth in His Word and impressed upon my heart. He expects me to bathe each circumstance in prayer, so that my spirit might be in close communication with His. Also, that I might be ever aware of my dependence upon Him. My dependence upon Him. It becomes clearer every day, every moment. It is a part of seeing Jesus more clearly. Seeing Jesus. Trusting Jesus.