2023-05-05
Good Morning Dear Ones,
There are few things that are more transformative than learning to trust in God. This is why the Holy Spirit has told me, “Let go and let God,” in this matter. So, I will write as many parts to this subseries as He gives me and beg you for your patience. We are most likely to benefit from all that He gives us. MT 14: 22-38 is a story that is chock full of didactics for us. When Jesus had finished giving the people the Sermon on the Mount, He excused them and went up a hill to pray alone for the Father’s next instructions. Meanwhile, the disciples got in a boat which drifted due to the waves toward Gennesaret. As the darkness increased, so did the wind. They grew afraid. Suddenly just before dawn, they saw a white-clad figure coming toward them over the water. They became terrified, crying out, “It’s a ghost!” As Christ neared them enough to be recognized, He called out, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Our impetuous friend, Peter, replied, “If it is You, then tell me to come to You on the water!” “Come,” the Lord said to him, and Peter got down and stepped out of the boat. He took several steps shortening the distance between himself and Jesus. But when he saw the wind, fear gripped him, and he began to sink. Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught Peter, as the latter was begging the Lord to save him. “O you of little faith,” the Lord said. “Why did you doubt?” When they both had made it into the boat, all the disciples worshipped Him, saying “Truly, You are the Son of God!”
This story reminds me of the old acting class test of trust that involves allowing oneself to fall back, trusting that the person standing behind you will catch you. As we consider the tests the Lord has for us in His efforts to encourage us to trust Him, we can consider just what effects these tests have on our behavior. As long as Peter trusted the Lord, he remained atop the water and kept moving toward Him. As soon as he doubted, he began sinking and calling to Christ for help. Let me share a trust story of my own. One Saturday recently, my son and I had three contingencies in one day. We were in Los Angeles, at least 7 hours from home, staying at a hotel, on a visit to relatives in the area. 1) My son sent the lift in the back of my car down to the street, to access my scooter, a necessity for me to get around. I used the scooter and then, we planned to put it on the lift and get it back into my car, so we could drive to our first destination. It wouldn’t budge! I began praying, and suddenly, two men in a truck with a tool kit on board, showed up and volunteered to help us. They got the scooter back on to the lift and back into our car, never asking for anything in return. 2) Later that same day while driving on the I 210 freeway, we punctured a tire by accidentally driving over a nail. The tire deflated within 3-4 minutes while my son wisely got off that busy road. Once we came to a stop, he called our auto service to which he belongs. Within 15 mins, a repair man (who couldn’t tow us) responded and figured out how to get our substandard spare tire out of our car. He changed the regular tire, which was flat as a pancake, putting the spare on. We then drove to the nearest tire place, expecting to have to buy a new tire. Again, I prayed, and to our amazement, this person knew how to patch and reflate the tire. He also figured out how to put the spare back in its place in our car. 3) The third and last problem came at 12: 30 AM that night, when the fire alarm at our hotel sounded off with its lights flashing. Both of us were scared awake and looked down our hall. It appeared that thick smoke was drifting toward our second story room. We put on our robes, quickly got down the other end of the hall, down a flight of stairs, and out to our car. Then, we drove to the nearest all-night restaurant, where we waited until 3: 30 AM before returning to see if the hotel had burned down. Just before we had left for the restaurant, we saw fire trucks arriving and a red Mustang roaring out of the parking lot. Upon arrival back to the hotel, we found it still standing and were told at the desk that several teenagers out for pranks had broken the glass case holding the fire extinguisher and had released its contents in the hall. That was what looked like smoke! Each time I prayed, I asked God to give my son wisdom on how to get us out of each contingency and to protect the two of us. He delivered!
PRAYER: O Lord, we understand that You don’t always deliver on our prayerful pleas, but we can trust that Your responses or lack thereof, are always for righteous reasons. I have described learning to trust You as transformative and as motivation for meaningful changes in our attitudes and our behavior. God wants us to do as much for ourselves as we can when trouble arises. Thus, when we say God can be trusted, He will deliver in a way which maximizes what we learn and chooses exactly the best time and way to do this. He wants us to “think eternally,” which means to consider what we ask for as it benefits our gaining eternal life. PR 3: 5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” This prayer is said in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: As this subseries on trusting God [of “The Spirit Speaks”] continues, the Holy Spirit commands me to write more about this wonderful story in MT 14: 22-38. If you’ve forgotten the details, please reread it. Feel free to ask yourselves: 1) Do I trust God? 2) Think of some examples from your own life. 3) How has trusting God affected my attitudes, responses, and behavior, in general? If you want to share them with others, you can send them to me at: mspfaithful@earthlink.net. PS 143: 8, “Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life.” I’m the same writer who told you the story of having to wait for 1 ½ years for God to answer my prayer that He would help me find a condo in MN when it became time for my husband and I to downsize. All during that time I thought God was ignoring my pleas. Instead, He was waiting for the exact time that I would learn the lesson of patience [one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit], the exactly right condo for us to come up for sail, and for a loan to be available at no interest that we could eventually pay off. Some many lessons and so much love delivered! Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24:15
© Lynn Johnson 2023. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives