“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth of falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?”
― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
Blind faith is reserved for God. At least it is in my world. I don't understand why people act crazy when they meet famous people. Just because somebody has an amazing ability to sing, throw a ball, or even quote scripture, does not make them a good and trustworthy person. The devil can quote scripture. (Probably better than any person on earth) We assume we know somebody because we see them on TV every week? Really? Some of the biggest predators hide in the church. Child molesters and sick individuals who want to be worshipped, cult leaders, hide in the church. We have a responsibility to keep our eyes open.
There are also people who make mistakes. There is a difference between deliberate deception and a person who is learning and growing. We have become a quick to judge society. For instance, to a degree, we have to trust doctors. We can get a second opinion, but still we don't really know. This is one area where looking at a person's track record is a smart thing to do. We sue doctor's for making mistakes. Even if there is a loss of life, should we really do this? Negligence and an honest mistake are two different things
The people I find it the easiest to trust are the transparent and the quick to admit fault. I have sat with a group of people and one will feel led to confess a dark secret from their past or a secret battle they are fighting in the present. It still amazes me how people surround them with support. I recommend you only do this when led by the Holy Spirit. I have found that God will bring together different personalities to support a confessor. It's like all the pieces of a puzzle coming together. One person does not have all the knowledge. May I add here that the one who thinks they have all the knowledge is not someone I want to spend time with. You know the one who cuts you off to correct you, before you even finish your sentence.
There is a balance of trust and degrees of trust. Just because you know somebody for many years doesn't mean they won't betray you. God expects us to treat people well, but He doesn't want us to be fools. We are warned that the enemy roams the earth like a lion. He is waiting for an opportunity to take a bite out of our faith. The sad part is he uses well known and popular people because it does the most damage. How many times have we heard of another preacher who has had an affair? We wonder where cults come from. He goes after the well known and the most liked for a reason.
Motive has a lot to do with trust. Somebody can make a mistake with the best motives, but others can appear to be doing a great service, but their motives are selfish. This is one of the reasons it is important to be able to hear God's voice in your heart. He does not give us a list of who to trust and who not to trust, so we have to hear from Him. It's just like making a major purchase or taking a job, you have to hear His voice, because it is not written.
It's easy to doubt that you are hearing Him especially when it seems to go against the norm. But Jesus does things differently, like healing, so we glorify Him, not the healing itself. He may take one's desire to smoke immediately and yet another man will fight the craving the rest of his life. It's like using David to fight the giant, who among us would have chosen one small guy? Sometimes God asks us to do things that seem far fetched and we doubt. But David went after the giant and killed him, because he trusted. What we face may feel like a giant, but if it's God's will it can be like swinging a few stones. We have to check our motives. Am I doing what God wants me to do to please and glorify Him? Or am I going with the crowd to be accepted? Am I doing what's right or what's comfortable?
Many times in my life God has set me in a position to speak up when nobody else will. It can be a lonely place. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I'm learning more and more that my peace is greater, even if I am alone when I do God's will. It doesn't have to make sense to anyone. It doesn't have to make sense to me. It just has to be what is right.
God has shown me too much for me to turn my back on Him and run with the crowd.
“Nothing will shake a man-or at any rate a man like me-out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself.”
― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
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