Tag: trust

Posted in Devotions, Through the Bible Devotions

A sure thing

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Abhishek Singh on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Genesis 15.

When I bought a house, I signed a mountain of documents assuring the mortgage lender that I was who I said I was, knew what I was buying, and understood how much I would be paying each month for the next thirty years. It was intimidating to say the least.

But that’s nothing compared to what Abram has to endure as God confirms the covenant.

So God says to Abram, “You will have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky” Abram believes. So far so good.

The God says, “I brought you here so you can possess this land, too.”

But this time Abram asks, “Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?” (Genesis 15:5-8)

If you only knew what you were asking, Abram! God instructs him to round up a cow, a goat, a ram, a dove, and a pigeon. Abram has to slice the big animals in two, and then he has to chase away circling vultures from the carcasses. When Abram falls asleep, he has a nightmare about God himself, appearing in the darkness as a smoking oven and a flaming torch, moves between the butchered animals to say in ancient covenant language, “I guarantee it.” Anyone else might have added, “I swear to God.” But I guess that doesn’t work when God is the one who is speaking.

Everything comes with a guarantee, right? At least for the first thirty days after a purchase. When I bought a cheap toaster, the Walmart cashier asked if I wanted the extended warrantee. It cost nearly as much as the toaster. No thanks.

So it’s only natural to ask God for some kind of assurance. That is, until you get to know him. When you look back in scripture and in your own life and see what God has done, you learn that faithfulness is one of his character traits. You can trust him. Plus, it’s not as messy.

Posted in holy week

Wednesday of Holy Week: the let down

Posted on by William Douthwaite

In the middle of Holy Week, Judas makes a deal to betray Jesus.

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?’ And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.” (Matthew 26:14-16)

Jesus knows Judas is going to do this. If you’ve been through a season of Lent or two, you know Judas is going to do it.

But the other disciples didn’t. They had no reason to not trust Judas. They even trusted him with the money purse. In our world, I guess he would have their Venmo on his phone.

I think the hardest lesson from Wednesday is the reality that people close to us will let us down. Some of you have already experienced this from people in your own family, in the church, or at work.

And guess what? You’ve hurt them, too. They thought they knew you. They thought they could trust you.

But something else got in the way. What was it? Money? Pride? Selfishness? Busyness? Suddenly someone you cared about wasn’t important anymore.

Ok, enough of that. Who can you trust? Jesus. Other stuff doesn’t get in the way. He gives it all, his life, for you.

Posted in faith

A deeper trust in God

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Bobbi Wu on Unsplash

A few weeks ago at a men’s bible study, the guys around my table were sharing prayer requests. One of the guys at my table, I’ll call him Tom, said, “I just want to be in deeper communion with Christ.” He had been paying attention to Sunday morning preaching, in which the pastor had encouraged everyone, no matter where we were in our walk with Christ, to take a step deeper. Tom has been a believer for a long time, teaches our men’s group, and has a daily devotional discipline.

So I asked, “What do you mean by that?” (BTW, that’s always a good first response. Get them to tell more of the story.)

Tom replied, “I want a deeper connection. I want a conscious connection with the Lord all day long. I read and pray in the morning, and then I get to work, not really thinking much about him. I want to do better.”

That’s a noble goal. But is it possible? Is it possible to consciously have God on the front burner of your heart, mind and soul twenty-four seven? Isn’t what monks attempted to do? Didn’t they removed themselves from all worldly distractions so that they could pray throughout their waking hours?

Well, I’ll tell you right now, I can’t do it. And neither can you. And that’s okay. Really it is. Let me explain why.

Let’s use the model of sheep and a shepherd. The sheep know the voice of the shepherd and follow him. They follow him to pasture, to water, and back to the sheep pen before evening. In the meantime, they eat. They bleat. They wander around the pasture. They make lambs. And through it all, I’ll bet they don’t think much about the shepherd.

But the shepherd thinks about them. The shepherd leads them, watches them, and protects them. He’s the shepherd. That’s his job. And if he’s doing his job, then the sheep can be…sheep.

Get it? If God is on duty twenty-four seven, if God never slumbers nor sleeps, if the Lord is our shepherd, then we can be his sheep. We can trust him so deeply that we can eat, drink, and enjoy our work without a care in the world. (Ecclesiastes 5:18).

You know what? That’s deep.

Posted in Moments of grace

I slept through another tornado last night

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Shane on Unsplash

My phone lit up about 6:30 this morning. It was a text from my daughter. “Hey, are you and mom okay? I saw that a tornado touched down just a couple streets from you. Hope you all are okay and safe.”

Okay, heard the rain last night. And at one point, I heard sirens off in the distance. I checked some news apps and sure enough, an F2 tornado touched down less than a mile from our house, blowing away fences, damaging roofs, and leaving a ton of debris in its wake.

My wife poked her head in where I was sitting and said, “I just got a text about a tornado in our neighborhood.” We opened the blinds and looked out the front window. Not one tree branch in our yard. Plenty of rain in the swale, though. We both breathed a sign of relief.

This is not the first tornado I’ve slept through. Ten years ago, another touched down about a mile away, damaging many more homes.

I don’t always sleep through the night, but the sounds of rain and wind can be so soothing and relaxing that I’ll miss all the excitement. That is, unless tree branches torn loose by storm winds are hitting my roof. Then I lie awake wondering what in the world is going on out there. I also wonder how much I’m going to have to clean up the next day.

While we know a hurricane is headed our way a week in advance, tornadoes drop in unexpectedly. One minute you’re sound asleep. The next, your roof is gone or there’s a tree in your bedroom. You don’t know when it’s going to hit.

Around lunch time, I took my dog for a walk and we headed in that direction to see what there was to see. The closer we got, the more debris we saw in yards. We saw the remains of fences. And we saw a whole bunch of traffic trying to drive through the affected neighborhood, so we walked back the way we came.

I read somewhere that “sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is crawl into bed, close your eyes, and sleep.” There’s not much I can do about the storm. I guess I’ll just have to trust the one who can.

Posted in death, Life

Just pay attention

Posted on by William Douthwaite

jordan-whitt-145327Here we are, reeling from another school shooting. Usual post-tragedy rants about what should be done is in full gear, at least for now. As more information about the shooter emerges, there are endless questions and debates about school safety, guns, mental health, thoughts and prayers, politics, rights and legislation.

As I was working on my sermon this past week, I found a disturbing connection between an ancient moment and current events. It seems that asking parents to drop their kids off at school isn’t much different than God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac in Genesis 22. I know it’s a harsh comparison. But in that comparison, I found some things worth thinking about. Continue reading “Just pay attention” →

Posted in faith, Life

“What is God going to do?”

Posted on by William Douthwaite

emily-morter-188019
Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash

It’s been three days. Three long days. People are starting to get thirsty. And grumpy. And panicky. We’re in the middle of the desert – when are we going to find some water?

Ironically, three days ago they had plenty of water. Actually, too much. They stood on the banks of the Red Sea with the Egyptians on their tail and no where to go. But God made a way through the water, on dry ground, and they traversed safely to the other side. When the Egyptians tried to follow, there was plenty of water to swamp their chariots and kill them all.

Three days later, three days into the desert, there’s no water. How many times did they hear the update, “I’m thirsty”? And the first thing they wonder is, “What are we going to do?”

Typical. At least for me. Maybe you’re better at this than I am. But when there’s not enough help, not enough time, not enough money, not enough whatever, the first thing that comes to mind is, “What am I going to do?”

How come I hardly ever ask “What is God going to do?”

God’s the one who brought them out of Egypt. God’s the one who decimated the Egyptians with ten plagues. God’s the one who parted the waters of the Red Sea. God’s the one who caused the waters to return to destroy the Egyptian army. So far, all the people had to do was follow him. He led them with a pillar of cloud during the day and the pillar of fire during the night. He would provide water, food and protection along the way.

When I was listening the the sermon at the hispanic service a few nights ago, one of the small parts I understood was the reminder that it’s Christ’s church. He brings the people together to do his work. It will grow exactly the way he intends. It may decrease at times, just the way he wills. But if you need anything, you go to him. He doesn’t expect you to do the heavy lifting. He just wants you to follow, trust and obey.

Maybe it’s time to stop asking, “What are we going to do?” and start asking, “What are you going to do, God?” That question certainly takes a lot of pressure off of me. It’s not “my” church or congregation or ministry. It’s his. My job? Preach the word. Watch over the flock. Equip the saints. And maybe most importantly, “Be still and know that I am God.”

So that’s what I’ve been working on lately. I’m trying to catch myself when I want to ask, “What am I going to do?” and rephrase the question to, “What is God going to do?” I’ll let you know what I learn.

 

Posted in Confirmation Class, youth

Trust, old marinara and wet dog.

Posted on by William Douthwaite

wet dogAs I reflect on last night’s confirmation class, I can’t get a couple of the student’s comments out of my mind.

The first came in the context of discussing the eighth commandment. I asked, “Do you know anyone with a really bad reputation.” Everyone shook their head yes, but one added some detail. “Everyone knows this kid is a liar, a thief and dishonest. But I trust him.” Every head turned and stared. “No really, he has my back.” Interesting choice of friends.

The other came in response to the casual question, “So how’s school?” “Ugh, I hate culinary arts! The classroom smells like a combination of old marinara and wet dog.” I’m familiar with both smells, but never thought to combine them.

Teaching confirmation class for seventh and eighth graders (and this year, a few in high school), is a unique experience for me and the young people. Altogether we met about fifty times over two years, getting to know a lot about each other. I get to know them better than many of those who joined the congregation as adults. They also get to know me better than most who attend worship. We develop a unique bond during this time.

s-Market-MarinaraThat relationship means so much. They may not remember everything I taught them. But they will know they can talk to me when life begins to happen, everything from graduations to children and beyond.