“One day Jesus called together His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Then He sent them out…” (Luke 9:1-2a NLT)
Jesus doesn’t give us anything except He intends it to be used to extend His Kingdom and glorify His Father’s Holy Name! Can He trust you to do that for Him?
We can get so balled up in our considerations of whether we can trust God to do this or that. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! If you can’t trust the only perfect person who has ever lived; the One who embodies all Truth, who said of Himself, on the authority of His Father in heaven: “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me,” (John 14:6) who CAN you trust?
The news puppets? Your lost friends at work? What you see on Facebook or other social media internet feeds? The Politicians – ANY of them? And yes, I’m a bit cynical, because when you compare what God’s Word says and what you hear everywhere else, sometimes there’s an enormous difference. Even to the point of wondering: “Who CAN I trust?”
Put the proverbial “shoe” on the other foot for a minute. How’s your track record with Jesus? Mine hasn’t been filled with positive obedience. Sometimes I’ve failed miserably, debilitatingly, crushingly, to the point I was thinking: “How can I even call myself a Christ follower when I would do such a thing! Or think such a thing!”
We’re only “Saints” because of Him, not because of anything we’ve ever done. Which heightens our need to consider the question: “Can God trust me?” As we ask that question there are certainly some considerations.
Think of the first time you trusted your teenager with the family car. With fear and trembling you handed them the keys to a machine that had the power to destroy them and many others, yet you did it! And, for the most part, at least my kids, lived up to their father’s expectations. What happened as a result? Our trust in them increased, but there was a part of them that learned to trust us more as well.
Hopefully, they considered their instructions as we were teaching them; why we emphasized THAT so much, or why we cautioned them about THIS with such seriousness. Think of the ways the Lord is teaching you in this season of your life. What’s He preparing you to do for Him? Where’s He going to send you? Can He trust you to do what He’s asking you to do?
Think of the twelve, their jubilation when they returned from their preaching and healing mission. What was happening? They were rejoicing that the Lord trusted them enough to entrust to them His power and authority to carry out His commands. Was the Lord happy? Reservedly! But why? This was the tip of the proverbial “Iceberg.” He was preparing them for a mission the likes of which they didn’t then have the capacity to understand.
He was training them to become His hands and feet as He launched His Church and put it in their hands. He knew one day soon He wouldn’t be with them, except through His Spirit. Could they handle the pressure? The Stress? The persecution? The demands of leadership in such a hostile environment? Guess what, child of God, that’s the same environment in which He’s entrusted us to serve.
Can He trust US to carry out OUR mission to His honor? We must pray that He can!
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 