"We Sabotage Every Aspect of Life When We Succumb to Mistrust"

"God wants us to trust Him for everything and with all of our lives."...

"We sabotage every aspect of  life when we succumb to mistrust"...

"Our level of trust determines the quality of our walk with God,"

"God is pleading with His people to trust Him." Duet. 7:9

These are a few words that  stood out from my Pastor's message yesterday.  Reading John 13 in conjunction with this message caused me to see the trust that Jesus placed in His Father and how, that trust, allowed Him to respond in love even though his current circumstances could have caused fearful anxiety.  

Now before the Feast of the Passover, 

when Jesus knew that his hour had come 

to depart out of this world to the Father, 

having loved his own who were in the world, 

he loved them to the end.  

Jesus knew what he was about to go through yet he positioned himself to continue loving those around him.  

A quiet confident strength arose from his identity as the Son of God which allowed him to act and respond in loving humility.

He knew his hour had come to die because he was close to his Father and he knew the word of God and he was led by the Holy Spirit.  

Even though most people would be anxious or fearful or both, he rested in the knowing and trusting his Father's good plan.  

During supper, when the devil had already put into the heart 

of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, 

knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, 

and that he had come from God and was going back to God,

 rose from supper.  He laid aside his outer garments, 

and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.  

Then he poured water into a basin and 

began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them 

with the towel that was wrapped around him.  

Although Jesus knew that some of his closest friends would betray him he continued to live a life of quiet humble trust in his Father.  He had trust in his Father because he knew that He had given all things into his hands, he had trust in his Father because he knew that God had sent him to walk out this life and that once his life was over he would return to his Father.  This knowing fueled his actions.  He got up out of his seat and proceeded to love on his disciples, laying aside himself and taking the role of a servant, he took the lowly position of a slave and washed the feet of the very ones that would soon betray him.

Because he trusted that God was who He said He was and that He would keep His promises to him he  walked in full obedience to the expression of the law by loving his enemies.  

We can look as Jesus' and declare that,  "of course he did all these things because he was God", but he set aside his divinity to walk out a life while on earth, experiencing the very same things that we would experience so that we would know that HE knows exactly what we are struggling with.  That is a trustworthy friend!

In order to live an abundant life in Christ, fueled by His Spirit we must trust Him.  The degree to which we trust God is the degree to which we will experience this quiet confidence that Jesus exhibited at the most difficult time of his life.  

Jesus trusted his Father because he listened to Him and believed that He had a good plan for his life even when that meant death.  

He knew what Deuteronomy 7:9 attests to;

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, 

the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love 

with those who love him and keep his commandments, 

to a thousand generations.  

When we experience fear, dread and anxiety this is an indication that we are not placing God in His rightful place.  By taking our lives into our own hands we are in essence declaring to God that we are god.  This lack of trust is actually idolatry.  

So our internal state gives us insight into where we are placing our trust and hope.  If we have a quiet confidence that allows us to love the unlovely, then we can be assured that we are walking in the abundant life of trust and rest in God.  If we are riddled with anxious thoughts and hopelessness then we can be sure that we are trying to maintain an identity apart from God.  

Jesus set aside all of his identity when he washed his disciples feet.  He assumed the position that reflected his trust in the Father.  

Abba Father, thank you that Jesus came and experienced the same struggles that we face each day yet without sin, he became sin for our sake.  You are a good good Father and we say we trust You with our lives today.  Help us see the areas of our lives where we have set up false gods so that we can walk in loving humility toward others and live a life of abundance and not lack that you died for us to have.  

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please him, 

for whoever wold draw near to God must believe 

that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.