Lay Down Your Crutches by Nancye Barbour Ricketts |
(from the November 1997 issue of our Trust in The Lord Newsletter) |
It’s sad to say but for various reasons many people live their entire lives without really getting into the perfect will of God for them. Some people are afraid of what God’s will involves: what might happen or what they might have to do. In Matthew 26:36-39, we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He made the hard decision to obey the will of His Father and go to the Cross and die for the sins of the world. If Jesus had not died on the Cross and arose again on the third day, no one would be Christians. The Church would not exist. Thank God that Jesus chose to obey the Will of God. Proverbs 3:5-6 is a favorite scripture in our family and we have it as the theme of this newsletter. It tells you and me to “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” This is the heart of the issue. We have to trust the Lord. When we are afraid to follow God’s Will, it is really because we don’t trust Him. Some people have a concept of God as a stern taskmaster, who just waits for people to follow His will so He can bring a lot of bad things into their lives. This is not the Father God I see in the Bible. Matthew 7:11 tells us: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” My Father God wants to give me good gifts. It is true that following God’s will for our lives can involve some uncomfortable, even dangerous, situations, but He is faithful. We can trust Him with our lives, knowing He will take care of us. Living in God's will is a lot safer than living out of His will. Another reason some people give for not following God’s will is that they don’t think they have what it takes to do what God is calling them to do. “I can do ALL things through Christ which strengthens me,” Philippians 4:13 tells us. That does not say “I can do some things.” It says “All things!!” That includes whatever God wants you to do. Recently I heard a great woman of God say, “You say that you don’t have any self confidence. Well, I don’t either. But I have a lot of God confidence!” How confident are you in God? He wants to do the work through you. Will you let Him? |