Trusting God

04/12/17 Trust…

April 12, 2017 ~ jboatfield ~ Edit "04/12/17 Trust…"

Has anyone ever let someone borrow something? Maybe you let a friend borrow a basketball because they didn’t have one and they wanted to shoot around outside. Or how about letting someone borrow a pair of pajama pants because they forgot to bring some to your house because they are sleeping over. Or how about you let a friend borrow a blu ray movie because they didn’t have it and they were dying to see it? (If anyone has Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 blu ray I havent seen it maybe we can talk after class……) If you think about it long enough you can probably come up with a few things you let people borrow, or a few friends that you would let borrow something if they needed it. But I think we can agree that the list of friends we WOULD let borrow something, is smaller than the list of friends we WOULD NOT let borrow things….

Quick story: Back in the day, way back when I was in School my friend Ryan and I would let each other borrow stuff all the time. Cds, DVDs, Footballs, Shirts, tons of stuff and it was never a big problem. Untill the day I wanted to borrow one of his Gameboy games. You would think I asked him for a million dollars…. I didn’t expect the answer I was about to receive…Let me think about it and I will let you know tomorrow…. I was shocked….Like, really man we have known each other since we were in diapers and you have to “think about it?” So the next day I ask about borrowing the game which I think was a newer Mario game at the time Im not sure, and he pulls out a contract…. Bascially a rental agreement ….This thing was intense! And in the middle of the contract was a statement that stated if something happened to the game I was responsible for buying him a new one! At this point I was kinda irritated and just asked him “Why do I have to sign a contract,….dont you trust me?!

We have been friends forever, why wouldn’t there be trust? So when it comes to who you let borrow things its not about friendship, what youre really making a decision about is “Can I Trust. Can I Trust this person with my stuff, Can I trust this person with whats mine, Can I Trust that what Im about to give you is not returned to me hurt or damaged?

I was surprised when I had a contract sitting in front of me just to borrow one of my best friend in the world’s video games. I mean we had known each other since we were babies. Our moms were pregnant at the same time.. He is literally just 17 days older than me that is it…For him not to trust me blew me away! But that’s what happens when the value of what we hold onto outweighs the trust we have for someone, even our closest friends..

So I want you guys to think about this; when your friends don’t trust you what kind of emotions does that bring up? Even if its for something small like borrowing a CD for a road trip or a book to read , little things, what does that make you feel like?

Do you think God feels the same way about you when you don’t trust him with what you’re holding onto?

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

5 Trust in the Lord(A) with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him,and he will make your paths(B) straight.[a](C)

So out of everyone we can think of, that we love or have a friendship with, who should be the first to come to mind? Who should be that friend we can trust the most?

Yes, It should be God.

However, I want you to think about how much do you trust God. What is your level of trust like with him? NOW, This isn’t a class about beating yourself up because you don’t trust God enough. Everyone in this room should trust God more about many areas in our lives. So don’t think about why you don’t trust God enough or feel bad. Instead of thinking about it like that..Why don’t you think about it like this.. realize you are about to learn about the reasons why you WANT to trust God every day and the freedom of having someone who will never break your trust!

Lets take a step back and learn about trust. How do you know you can trust someone?

Its not something you just give someone you don’t know. I mean I wouldn’t let any of you borrow my car, its not that I don’t like you, or the fact LEGALLY you cant drive a vehicle, but how do I know I can trust you with something of value to me. Our levels of trust coincide directly with the value of what is wanted from the other person. It would be really easy to let someone borrow a basketball in a gym that you were going to be in. You could watch the person with the basketball. You know how the ball was being handled and you know that it wasn’t being used for other stuff. Its easier to trust someone with a basketball than it is lets say your brand new phone or ipad. Especially if the person you let borrow the ipad is going to Florida and wants to use your ipad to take pictures and post them to facebook while on the beach!