Chill Out………..
What does it mean to trust? Webster: Basic dependence on someone or something, a belief that something will happen or someone will act in a prescribed way.
If I were to ask any one of you, most of you would say that you trust God. But sometimes that’s not easy. Trusting God means we have to believe in something we can’t see and often don’t understand.
You see, we find it easier to trust in things that we can see & touch. We’re a little like Thomas, aren’t we? Remember, Thomas said, "Unless I see the nail marks in His hands & put my fingers where the nails were, & put my hand into His side, I will not believe it."
So Jesus shows him & he believes. Jesus then said, "Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen & yet have believed."
The Bible teaches us that the things we can see are only temporary. This building, the pews on which you are sitting, this pulpit, all is temporary. The churches Paul built are gone. Cars, houses, our bodies, no matter what we do to slow down the process, all get old and start falling apart.
A busy mother put her two children to bed. After tucking them in & listening to their prayers, she kissed them good night & walked out thinking, "At last, I can have some time to myself."
So she went into the bathroom, took a nice warm shower, & washed her hair. She put on her old robe, wrapped her head in a towel, applied a thick layer of white moisturizer to her face, put on hand lotion, cucumbers on her eyes, & sat down in the La-z-boy to relax.
Then she hears the sound of a pillow fight going on in the boy’s bedroom. She throws open their door, yells, "You kids get right back in bed & don’t make another sound!" Then she turns off the light & slams the door. The two kids turn to each other & say, "Who was that?"
We look in the mirror & see our aging bodies, & realize that, yes, they are temporary, too. All the things you can see & touch, are only here for a little while & then are gone. But the things you can’t see last forever.
This is a hard lesson for us to learn. Yet it is a lesson we must learn, because when we face trials & troubles in life, we need to remember that Jesus promised, "Lo, I am with you always. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Trust in My presence."
God wants us to trust Him. Moses trusted God to deliver the Israelites at the Red Sea. Joseph trusted God while in Pharaoh’s prison. David trusted God for a victory when he went up against Goliath. Jonah trusted God to answer his prayer in the belly of the big fish. Noah trusted God when he was told to build an ark in the middle of the desert.
But trusting God goes against our nature. Trusting God means that we have to admit that we are not in control of our lives. And, oh friends, we so want to be in control.
Mickey Rivers, a former baseball player, once explained his philosophy of life: “Ain’t no sense worrying about things you got control over, because if you got control over them, ain’t no sense worrying. And there ain’t no sense worrying about things you got no control over either, because if you got no control over them, ain’t no sense worrying.”
I’ve said many times that I don’t worry and I’ve heard some of you ask Wendy if it was true that I don’t worry about anything. It’s really simple. I worry about what I have control over, and since God is in control of everything, that leaves me with nothing to worry about.
Of course, let’s not be dumb about it. I trust God but if I walk in front of a semi or step off a cliff, I’ll probably be killed. God wants us to trust Him, but don’t be dumb about it. Trust Him. Don’t test Him. For example: Last weekend at retreat, came out of parking garage on Fri. nite, didn’t have clue where we were. North or South? I knew God would show us which way to go. I had complete trust He would. No worries.
Why worry when you can trust. It is like a rocking chair, it give you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere.
In Vs. 2 Jesus goes on to say, "In My Father’s house are many dwelling places." We tend to visualize a new real estate development with an agent who shows up with a map and says, "Your mansion is two blocks down and four blocks to the left.” But that’s not how it is.
The words Jesus used come from the eastern custom that when a son grows up & gets married, he brings his bride back home again. And the father adds another room onto His house for them. Then when another son grows up & gets married, they add another room. The house just keeps getting bigger & bigger, as the family stays together. That’s the layout of our future home.
Then in Vs. 3 Jesus continues, “And if I go……I will come again……”
On March 11, 1942 the Japanese forces were invading the Philippines, and on that day, General Douglas MacArthur prepared to leave, uttering what was to become probably his most famous statement: “I shall return.”
When he made the promise to return, most thought he was crazy. But about 2 ½ years later, Gen. MacArthur landed once again on Philippine soil with the words, “People of the Philippines, I have returned!”
But we don’t come on Sundays to celebrate MacArthur. We come to celebrate someone else, who said He would return.
We are not celebrating a great general, we are here to celebrate the King of Glory, who died and rose from the grave so we could have eternal life!
So we should just chill out and trust in Him. But now we must…
Pay Attention
Thomas asked directions. Was he sleeping? Jesus tells him, “No one comes to the Father, except through me.” No one can enter the Father’s house without him. Remember Jesus’ words from last week, “I am the gate for the sheep.” Now Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
What did he mean? Suppose we’re in a strange city and we ask for directions. The person we asks tells us to take the first to the right, then the third to the left, go across the square, past the church, take the second on the right, and the road you want is the fifth on the left. You’ll take off scratching your head and be lost before you get halfway there.
But let’s suppose that person says, “Come with me. I’ll take you there.” Then that person becomes the way to us and we can’t get lost. That is what Jesus has done for us—Jesus leads us, like the good shepherd, so we won’t get lost. He has prepared the way for us into heaven because He is The Way. He is the gate.
But they’re still not paying attention. Philip says, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus had patience, I’ll tell you that. He tells them that anyone who has seen him has seen the Father, that he is in the Father and the Father is in him.
That’s typical of all of us. We want to see what lies ahead. We want to know how everything is going to turn out before it gets here. We’re never happy just following.
A dying man asked his Christian doctor to tell him something about the place to which he was going. As the doctor fumbled for a reply, he heard a scratching at the door, and then had his answer. "Do you hear that?" he asked his patient. "It’s my dog. I left him downstairs, but he has come up and hears my voice. He has no idea of what is behind the door, but he knows that I am here.
Shouldn’t it be like that with us? We don’t know what lies beyond the door, but we know that our Master is there.
We’re just passing through this life, this temporary dwelling place. And just as the sheep trust in their shepherd, we have to trust in our shepherd to lead us as The Way, The Truth, and The Life.
Let us pray: Father God, we believe, help us to overcome our unbelief. Help us to trust in you. Help us to know in our hearts that you would never lead us astray and that by trusting in you we will know the way home. Amen.
