By Larry Guido
“George,” said the father to his young son, “I want you to go to the second step and jump into my arms.”
Smiling, George did as his father asked: He jumped, and his father caught him safely in his arms.
“Now, George, go to the third step and jump into my arms,” said his Dad..
Again, George did as his father asked. But this time, his Dad let him fall at his feet.
“Now, George, I want to teach you a lesson. Don’t trust anyone – not even your Dad.”
Trust, for most of us, is a difficult thing to do. We want to trust, yet we seem to have a problem with trusting others. Hopefully, none of us had a dad like George who intentionally taught us that there was no one in life whom we could trust. The reality is, no doubt, when we have trusted others in times of desperation and doubt, they abandoned us when we needed them the most. Then, the residue of the pain from being abandoned leaves us, seemingly, with no other choice than not to trust – anyone.
The fact remains, however, that early in life those whom we look to for help when we most needed it were not there as they had promised. So, those early childhood experiences seem to shape us and create a hesitancy within us to doubt the sincerity and honesty of others. We develop an attitude that we carry within us throughout life that trust is to be earned, not expected. “If you want my trust,” we say, “you’ve got to earn it!” And, even then, we give our trust grudgingly and sparingly until others have proven their trustworthiness time and time again.
Sometimes, however, we may have placed unreal expectations – even unexpressed expectations – on others. Perhaps we wanted to “prove” that a person could not be trusted when we asked them for the “moon and stars.” Then we gleefully say, “I knew that would happen. You simply can’t trust anyone.” Since we don’t openly talk about trust, perhaps we need to ask others what we can expect from them, rather than be disappointed in them. We can, and do, set ourselves up for disappointment so we can “feel sorry” for ourselves and seek pity from others. This is a natural way to behave when we do not want to be responsible for our feelings or behavior: we blame others for our disappointments.
People also disappoint people purposely. Because someone let them down in the past, they carry anger and resentment in their hearts and look for opportunities to “get even with the world!” Because “they” did this to me, I’m going to do it to “them.” Many see life as having been unfair, so they do all they can to “level” the playing field. In the end, however, the hurt they intend for others only harms them because of the anger that remains within them.
Could it be that our lack of trust in others has interfered with our ability to trust and then obey God? Does our lack of trust in God and our willingness to submit to His authority find its roots in the fact that we do not to trust God because we have found others untrustworthy? Should the harm and hurt that others have done to us keep us from trusting in, being faithful to, and obeying God? In other words, why, when God’s Word confronts us with a command, do we disregard it?
Scripture carefully documents the fact that whatever God has promised, He has fulfilled. Perhaps a review of the importance of obedience, and the consequences for not following God’s commands, would be helpful.
Obedience, in Scripture, is always associated with two expectation: hearing from and then complying with the directions or demands of a higher authority. A simple, succinct definition and summary from Holeman’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary express it best: obedience is “to hear God’s Word and act accordingly.” When putting this definition “into practice” it would mean that Christians are to hear, accept, trust, submit, surrender, and execute the teachings of God as revealed in His Word!
The Bible reveals many important teachings about obedience, beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation. In fact, some Biblical scholars believe that the first command of God is recorded in Genesis 1:2. Most translations state that “God said, ‘Let there be light.’” But, a more literal translation of that phrase is, “Light exist!” In His wisdom, God realized that mankind could not find their way without light to navigate their way through the darkness. That act of God on the first day of creation is an everlasting demonstration of what He can do in every heart that trusts in His Son for salvation.
Centuries later, His one and only Son proclaimed “I am the light of the world!” (John 8:12) From the beginning, God realized that man needed light, and provided it through the sun He created, and finally and ultimately, through His Son, Who was, is and always will be the one true source of eternal light and life eternal. There is no need to walk in the darkness of sin and death because we can choose to have “the light of life.” (John 8:12) However, when we do, we become obligated to live a life of obedience to God. Again, the words of Jesus: “If you love me, you will obey what I command…Whoever loves My commands, and obeys them he is the one who loves Me. He who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him.” John 14:15, John 14:28)
In these two verses, John revealed the one true test of love: obedience. Remember, it was in His obedience that Jesus proved His love for His Father when He voluntarily and willing went to the cross to die for our sins. And, it is by our obedience to Him that we must show our love for Jesus. This love of Jesus for His Father was not sentimental and emotional. His love was revealed in obedience. True love is never an easy thing. It is only shown in true obedience.
We must always remind ourselves that Jesus does not abandon us in our struggle to be obedient. We can rest confidently in this because He promised to send a parakletos – which is difficult, if not impossible, to translate into our language. There are several helpful interpretations of this word: “helper,” “Advocate,” or “comforter.” However, in our quest to be obedient to God, a helpful interpretation of this word is “someone who is called in.” In other words, in times of trouble – no matter where we are or what difficulty we are facing or temptation we are struggling to overcome or what battle we are facing – we have the Holy Spirit who will take on our inadequacies and enable us to be victorious in our desire to be submissive to and victorious in our lives to be obedient to God’s commands.
Though we may fail in our efforts to be who God has called us to be, and who in fact we want to be, we are never alone in our struggle. If our desire is to follow the commands of God and be obedient to Him, we have the assurance that He “is with us, for us, in us, and is willing and able to empower us to honor our Lord. We have “Someone to call in” who is our “Advocate” to give us strength, power, and victory.
Working to develop an attitude like the one the Apostle describes in 1 Coreinthians 10:13 is what living a life of obedience is all about: “And, God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
July 2018
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