Devotional - 98-06-01 - Still Learning to Trust in Christ

Proverbs 3:5: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, Do not lean on your own understanding.

I took a vacation last week. Not sure I want to do that again. I asked for four days off and wound up taking six . My vacation was great in many ways, but some of the time was spent at the hospital. This was not what I had planned.

Someone close to me was sick. There were trips to the ER, a nice ride in an ambulance with all the lights and bells going, lots of stuff. I have been in the back of an ambulance before, but never in the front seat, on the ambulance phone with family, communicating what the Paramedics were doing in the back of the sled. It made me wonder lots of stuff. But upon reflection it made me wonder how I could have shown the love of Christ better. How could I have been more Christlike to someone who is hurting?

I'm not sure I know the answer. I'm not sure what I would do different upon reflection. But I am sure I could have done better. I could have prayed more, I could have been more compassionate, I could have been more understanding, I could have been forward with the medical folks to ensure the best medical care, I am sure my tone, at times, was not what it should have been. In the end I could really find many ways to beat myself up. I'm not going to beat myself up. In the end I find that I trusted my Lord. I trusted that He would see that His will would be done. In the end, I did my best, feeble as it might have been.

I think many Christians fret over "what might have beens they worry about what might happen in the future. Worry haunts Christians and we all need to take those thoughts and lay them at the feet of Jesus Christ.

There is a proper place for worry and fear, and it is in the precious hand of Christ. Worry and fear can paralyze us as much as a broken vertebrae. Christ our Lord lifts that burden from us. Christ has liberated those whose lives are torn apart by fear and worry. His promises of love and compassion to those who are His children are new every morning. His promises are always true. His love is never failing. Blessed be our Lord.

I am thankful for my vacation in this, I learned that I have a simple faith in Christ. I trusted my Lord and never worried. This is a new threshold for me, not sure it is firm, or that it will last, but upon reflection, I find, in myself, a simple trusting trust. I am thankful for that and wish to find a way to carry that over to all areas of my life, not just in crisis.

"There are no days when God's fountian does not flow." Richard Owen Roberts

"God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame." Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Soli Deo Gloria,
Tim