Hi,
I think this speaks for itself. Enjoy!
Sustaining Your Personal Spiritual Growth Through Trust
© Lee Wise All rights reserved
Recently our pastors decided to share their journeys with
the Lord by developing a series of talks around this theme:
“If I could tell you one thing.”
Retracing segments of their walks with Jesus, we joined them
as they stopped at various places and invited us into their
worlds.
Worlds shaped by high and lows, joys and disappointments,
longings and discoveries.
While casually enjoying our individual orders at a favorite
restaurant, my wife asked me: “What would you say, Lee?”
Uncharacteristic of me, I answered:
“If I could tell you my ‘one thing,’ it would be to trust
God no matter what.”
Life doesn’t always make sense and at times seems to make no
sense whatsoever.
I fail.
People fail.
And sometimes pain management seems more appropriate than
the term “life management.”
Then again, life dishes out unexpected blessings, periods
of joy, laughter and what might be termed on purpose living.
In a word: things go well.
During each of these very distinct seasons of life, I
strive to:
1. Not seek for answers, but only for God.
2. Rejoice when I can rejoice.
3. Mourn when I must mourn.
4. Pour out my heart to God when I’m not gettin’ it.
5. And trust the Lord through it all.
Should you be able to visualize my pilgrimage, a Christian
flag draped over my shoulders while relishing in a series
of victory laps around the playing field of my life you
might not see every day.
No don’t get me wrong: you definitely would witness those
“victory laps.”
However, you would readily note other races marked by
failure, confusion, false starts, and heartache.
And should you hear the heartbeats of my life during those
many and varied stages of my years with Jesus, you might
hear such “words” as:
“Lord, I affirm my trust in you.”
“Thank you for working. I recognize it’s you.”
“God, I’m really having a rough time with this one. Really.
Honestly, you’ve got to wrap your arms around me and carry
me through. Help me to trust. I choose to, but it’s tough.”
Writing this at the age of 62 I can easily say, “I don’t
have this trust thing mastered.”
But I can in all honesty say this: trusting God and trying
to turn to him in all things — as opposed to away from him
– continues be a cornerstone of my personal spiritual
growth: my faith walk with Jesus if you please.
And if I could say anything to you dear follower of Jesus,
it would be this:
“Seek to trust him no matter what.”
Ask for strength and go to the God of all strength for your
strength (Psalm 18:1).
Don’t demand answers to everything, but in everything seek
to follow the God of all grace who bought you with the
precious blood of Jesus.
And keep going.
Keep running, walking, stopping, and even collapsing with
Jesus.
“Oh, Lord, help me to trust you with all my heart. So easy
to write and yet so hard in practice at times.
I have no idea who might read this short piece, but I ask
you to strengthen he or she to walk in the way of trust.
And strengthen me to walk in the same way during my journey
of faith and trust — even though my path differs from the
one whose eyes have found their way to these reflections.
I thank you, Father: with all my heart I thank you for my
life in Jesus. In his name I pray, Amen.”
May you and those you love find rest in the Lord,
Lee
P.S. You might want to visit Lamentations 3:22-24 and Psalm
62:1-2.
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© Lee Wise All rights reserved. You may freely distribute
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