In God we trust — but how much?
by VivianChristians generally regard trust in God as a good thing. Even U.S. currency says “In God We Trust”, reminding us to depend on eternal rather than earthly treasures.
But how much do we really trust Him?
Our ladies’ Bible class recently studied Acts chapter 1:
23So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
In our Sunday class, Lewis observed that we worry less about driving a car than flying in an airliner even though airline travel is proven to be safer, largely because in a car we feel more in control. Are we as Christian decision-makers relying too much on human abilities: researching the facts, weighing pros and cons, asking others’ opinions, going with our gut feelings?
Maybe we’re really a bunch of control freaks fooling ourselves about trusting in God. Maybe those who cast lots are on to something the rest of us have no clue about.
I’m not saying we should ask God what we should wear each day, but we could look to Him far more often than we do.
Jeremiah 17:7 ”But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
What difference would it make if we trusted Him more?
January 26th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
What difference would it make if we trust Him ALWAYS? In other words, if we lived our lives from morning to morning knowing that what we do/don’t do brings glory to God and that what we mindfully do day in and day out we do as if we are in the presence of God relying/trusting on Him to make ‘all things work together for good.”
I don’t want to trust God more. I want to trust Him ALL THE TIME.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Bill’s comment implies that his trust in God is deep enough, but that it is sometimes missing, and that may be so. For most of us, though, the struggle is in a misplacement of our trust. And so God teaches us with passages like “lean not on your own understanding….”
Of course we can and do need to trust God both more deeply and more often, and we need to, as Vivian challenges us to do here, get out of control and truly let God guide us.
What would happen if we did? Based on my too limited experience, we would know freedom in its finest form. But alas, most of us most of the time would rather be slaves to our own ways than to be truly free in Christ.
January 29th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
None of us in the class had heard of anyone making a decision by casting lots (imagine casting lots to choose a spouse!). Is this a Biblical model of decision-making we should imitate today, or is there a modern method of decision-making we could adapt to include God’s input as the early followers did?
February 3rd, 2009 at 10:31 pm
A coin has two sides; it has a fifty-fifty probability. Which is why a simple coin-tossing is so popular for lighthearted decision making and tiebreakers. (Also, it is possible to cheat with “Eenie-Meenie-Minie-Mo,” and it sounds funny.)
Sometimes, there are one too many options to choose from, both equally appealing. Most of the time I think of this in terms of my own enjoyment: “oh good, that’s decided, now I can concentrate on it and have a fine time.”
Could it be that some options are not truly equal in value (though they appear so) and when God puts his hand to chance, the outcome is more pure than something that we decide ourselves?
Then again, there’s always the fact that chance is chance and it’s not a good idea to gamble. Have you heard the story of the man who flipped through the Bible?
It’s hard to trust God, and not get hung up on yourself, or even a particular method—such as a coin toss.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:53 am
The idea and practice of casting lots is quite prevalent in scripture, going back at least as far as Aaron, Moses’ brother and the first High Priest. In Leviticus 16 (see especially vss. 8 and 9) Aaron is to select the “scapegoat” by lot.
In Numbers 33, the promised land was to be divided among the 12 tribes by lot, and in Joshua 18 we see that being carried out.
So I was surprised when my good friend, a strong Christian man whom I respect very much and who knows scripture well, said of casting lots for the replacement apostle, “I think we all know that was wrong.”
I didn’t know anything of the sort, and in fact had always believed it was a good thing to put that decision in the hands of God — or, to be more precise, to clearly take the decision out of the hands of men.
Are there times when casting lots is wrong? It seems that there are. So what are we to do? Be obedient and faithful, and always give the decision to God. With him, there is no “chance” of being wrong.
March 16th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
I think casting lots or flipping a coin is a great way to make a decision as long as you do it as done in Acts 1:21-22, i.e. with preconditions. They started with two people that were pretty good choices because they had been with the Lord from the beginning and then they “flipped a coin.”
Suppose they had voted, and Matthias had gotten 60%, would it have been the same outcome? No. Matthias might have been distracted wondering why 40% didn’t vote for him. Joseph called Barsabbas might have said, “If they don’t want me, I’m not going to do anything.”
Even if Matthias and Joseph don’t believe God had any hand in the coin toss, they both feel better about the outcome because no one is ‘voting against them’, and the others didn’t have to go through the pressure of making the choice.
If both believe God did have a hand in the coin toss, then Matthias goes away feeling truly ‘called’ not just the most popular man at the time, and Joseph goes away thinking God has other plans for me. It’s a win-win. Just try to get that with a vote!