Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Trust eliminates worry, or so they say

Numbers don't lie, someone said a while back. A guy who used to work for me, long , long ago, is on a program that is titled that on ESPN.

But the fact is, one can make numbers say what one wants them to say. Politicians do that all the time. I suspect those in the religion business do, too.

I look at numbers and what I see when I do usually is a negative, not a positive. When we have our biggest crowd, I immeditley look for why? When we have our smallest crowds, I immediately look for why.

I never simply take the time to enjoy what God is sending to us.

Every Sunday we've had, since we began this grand experiment of co-pastoring and replanting a church, has been bigger than what was before. Yet I worry the crowds are not big enough. I worry we're not growing fast enough. I worry.

The Bible says of these feeling: "But you, God, shield me on all sides; You ground my feet, you lift my head high; With all my might I should up to God; His answers thunder from the holy mountain."

In other words, I work as hard as I can, do all that I can, and the answers are in his hands. I try my best to be all I can be for Him, an the ball is in his court. I believe that with all my heart.

And yet I worry.

"I stretch myself out. I sleep. Then I'm up again -- rested, tall and steady. Fearless before the enemy mobs Coming at me from all sides." The Bible simply says the battle is his. It has always been his.

Worry comes from a lack of trust, trust that He is sovereign and that all things turn to good for those who love him.

If we believe that, then worry becomes a thing of the past.

Oh, let it be so, as I grow more and faster than does the church.

Numbers don't lie, but God is in control of those numbers. If we fail, it is only because God didn't want to move in that direction. That doesn't take the burden off of us, it simply puts the burden of trust onto Him.

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