May 12 – Why Not? (Psalm 9:1-10)

“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:10)

IN WORD:
Something is holding us back. Perhaps it is a fear that maybe we are wrong about God. Maybe we feel presumptuous. It is possible, if we have been disappointed in the past, that our misunderstanding is haunting us. We hear a voice in the back of our minds that says, “What if God doesn’t come through? What if all my hopes are illusions?” So we hesitate to trust God. We pray and we hope, but faith remains incomplete and doubts linger. We’ll ask Him to help us, but we withhold judgment until we’ve seen His response.
The call of Scripture is contrary to our natural inclination. We are called to believe God with reckless abandon — not just believe that He is there and that He is involved with us somehow, though we’re not sure exactly how; but that He is actively, personally seeking our good and answering our prayers. We are to give up our own strategies and ambitions, to relinquish all “Plan Bs,” to recklessly, irrevocably cast ourselves completely into His arms. But we’re reluctant, and the problem always comes back to us: In spite of His track record, we don’t seem to completely trust Him. Why not?

IN DEED:
God called Abraham to leave Harlan and go to a place to be revealed later. Jesus invited Peter to step out of the boat and walk on water. That kind of call is scary, though typical in God’s Kingdom. But why is it scary? Where could He lead us that we’d regret? Would He ever lead us into danger but not out of it?
God calls us to “reckless” trust, the kind that prepares no safety net and reserves nothing for a spiritually rainy day. That kind of trust, if broken, leaves no room to save face. But it can’t be broken. Try to find someone God has forsaken, observe His faithfulness, and ask yourself: “Why wouldn’t I trust Him wholeheartedly?” Think about it. Why not?

“Trust involves letting go and knowing God will catch you.”
-James Dobson-