A Sacred Trust

I have the privilege of standing in front of a wonderful group of people each Sunday morning because God called me to preach. Eph. 4:11-12 "And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ." I am called to teach God's Word faithfully and accurately, trusting God with the results. I am called to shepherd, protect and feed the flock of God; to point them to Jesus not to my knowledge or my personality. It is a sacred trust. Some teachers wow you with their knowledge, skill and delivery. I want you to be wowed by Jesus' greatness and glory. I want to grow and improve as a preacher but I don't want to hear "he is so good"; I want to hear "God is so good!".

I am thankful that those I lead understand that man's opinions change but God's Word stands. They are hungry for God and His Word. They are under God's authority, eager to learn and grow. They are discerning, yet ready to receive from God each week. There is a depth of right thinking about God among us; not 100% of the time; but often enough to know that God is at work among us and He is doing a good work of grace in our hearts. Right thinking about God is necessary to living a godly life and it comes through the Holy Spirit using the Word of God in the lives of the people of God. John 8:32 "And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." Right thinking about God leads to right relationships; which in turn encourage deeper trust in God. And the good cycle continues. But it has an enemy lurking in the shadows.

We live in a world where, even in some Christian circles, people are crying out for a manageable God. They want to harness Him, capture Him, and though they'd never come right out and say it - control Him. But God will not be controlled; He will not be reduced to a system. We feel the pull of that way of thinking and it should frighten us to the point that we run to God for cover! We need to find our answers in the Word of God. We need something today to apply today. But there are those who would just say - I don't care how you do it, just slice it, dice it and give me 3 ways to deal with my problems so I can get to next Sunday. But sometimes I think God wants us to rest content with not knowing. That is the essence of trust. Sometimes I wonder why we often almost demand that God make life make sense right away. Is it because we might think God exists just to meet our needs? We exist for His glory. Read Eph. 1:3-6. We are self-conscious but God wants our God-consciousness and therefore our God-confidence and God-dependence to increase. He wants us to say with John the Baptist, "He must increase, I must decrease".

God Almighty uses His Book (holy, inerrant, infallible, all-sufficient, powerful) and He applies it in your life (needy, dependent, gifted, seeking truth) and the two sometimes seem like they are on collision course. And the intersection isn't always clear, isn't always 3 easy steps, isn't always containable, harnessable, controllable. Some things are left unresolved - for the time being - and sometimes the only option you have is to trust God. Prov. 3:5-6.

Our lives are in His hands. That is a sacred trust.