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Written by Jim Guffey, June 3, 2005
Sometimes in our lives we have issues which cause us grave problems. Insurmountable problems. Problems beyond our understanding.
We question why. And then the big question, why me? Have I committed some great sin? Am I being punished?
The answer is yes. Or maybe no. Or maybe, maybe. What does it matter? Are you a follower of Christ? Then:
Ga 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Ro 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin.
2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which
died for them, and rose again.
We are crucified when we decide to follow Christ. We no longer live for ourselves, we live for Him. True? Then, if
our life is not our own, whose is it? It belongs to God. All of it. Christ lives in me. So what does it matter that we
have problems? Because they are really God's problems; after all, it's His life. Right? Not convinced?
Ro 12:1 ¶ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Our body and our spirit are God's. They do not belong to us. When we commit to be a follower of Jesus Christ and accept
our position as a child of God, we surrender everything to Him. Or at least we should. We are admonished to do this throughout
God's Word in both the old and New Testament's. But for most of us, it's a very slow and tedious process. A process pictured
in the Old Testament by the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness.
You may recall God delivered them from captivity and they began the journey to the promised land. All throughout this
journey they complained to Moses. Then God would deliver them and give them what they wanted and they would be happy for
a short time. Then they would complain again. And again. Over and over; yet God remained faithful. And then they came
to the promised land and it was just as God had said. It was paradise, a land flowing with milk and honey, cities already
built and crops flourishing. And God was ready to give them all of it. So they sent spies into the land to see how they
might be able to take it. And when the spies came back, all but two of them said it was impossible. There were giants in
the land. After giving the report the people were unhappy and afraid. Caleb and Joshua stood up for God and his promises:
Nu 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able
to overcome it.
But the people, because of their fear wanted only to run away:
Nu 14:1 ¶ And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Nu 14:3 the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were
it not better for us to return into Egypt?
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
Again, Caleb and Joshua stood for the Lord and tried to reassure the people, to convince them to go forward as God wanted:
Nu 14:8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk
and honey.
Nu 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence
is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
But the people refused because of their fear. And so God refused to give them this land and they were relegated to wander
in the wilderness the rest of their days on earth. All except Joshua and Caleb.
And there you have it. Many of us today who are God's children are forced to wander in the wilderness until we get to
go home to be with God. Not by God's choice, but by our choice. God has lead us out of the wilderness to the land he promised,
and we are too afraid to go in. He has prepared the way and will give us the victory. But we must believe what he says in
Proverbs 3:5. We must trust in Him with all of our heart and lean not to our own understanding. We must not give in to our
fear. Even if we don't understand. Because that's how God works. Far above our understanding, and sometimes far below are
understanding. Understand? Want some examples of things that don't make sense to us that God does?
2 Kings 5
Naaman was a captain in the Syrian army. A mighty man of valor well respected by all. But he had leprosy. In a battle
against the nation of Israel he had taken a young girl, an Israelite, to be a slave for his wife. This little girl suggested
that her God could heal her master. Naaman humbles himself to ask for help and the prophet Elisha instructs him to wash seven
times in the muddy Jordan River, at which time he will be healed. But Naaman is a great man and cannot understand the logic
of this. He expected the prophet would call upon his God in a serious ceremony and the power would come from heaven to heal
him. At the very least, he knew of much mightier rivers than this stupid Jordan River, full of mud and dirt. His pride keeps
him from going to the Jordan River. But fortunately, his people convince him to try. And once he does, he is healed.
2 Chronicles 20
Judah is being attacked by its enemies and is vastly outnumbered. King Jehoshaphat prays to God for help. God says “Thus
saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
He then tells them where to go with their men to find the enemy. But, he tells them “Ye shall not need to fight
in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you. So the direction is to go to
the enemy, face them but stand still and wait on God. Sounds a little scary but they do it anyway. They face the enemy and
begin singing praises to the Lord. The enemy begins killing each other until they are all dead. For three days plunder is
removed and taken back to Judah.
Joshua 6
Joshua's leading the children of Israel against Jericho. The defense of the city is a high wall which makes the city
very secure. God instructs them to simply march around the wall for six days once a day, and then seven times on the seventh
day. There then to make noise and the wall will fall down so they do and it does! Lean not into your own understanding!
There are many more stories than this that don't make sense to us. But they don't have to. They make sense to God and
he is all that is important. So, have we sacrificed ourselves to Him? Have we died to our self? Do we really trust Him?
As for trust, here is a great illustration. An experienced mountain climber decides to take on a very steep and rugged
mountain, covered with snow and ice. It is a difficult climb but he knows he can do it and he chooses to go without a friend.
He has the best of equipment and knows how to use it all so he has little fear of going it alone. So all alone he sets out
and begins the climb.
As the day wears on it is getting colder and colder and his rate of climb is slowing down. It's beginning to get dark
and he is still a distance from the top. As darkness settles in he cannot see and realizes he is in trouble. The temperature
is freezing and he cannot last the night, and he begins thinking of his options. All of a sudden he slips and begins careening
down the mountains icy slope in the pitch black dark. As he goes over the side of a cliff his safety rope suddenly takes
hold and he is suspended hanging in the air off the side of a cliff, unsure of exactly where he is. What he does know is
that he cannot last the night in the freezing temperatures.
As he thinks about his situation he remembers a talk he had about God with his friend. He decides to put God to the test.
He begins yelling "Help me please, God if you're out there help me. I'll do anything, just help me, please."
And much to his surprise of voice comes out of the heaven. "Do you believe in me," the voice asks? "Yes,
yes I do. Just help me get down from here." The climber is at once both pleased and surprised. God asks another question.
"Do you trust me?" The man thinks for a moment and then says "Yes, yes I do. Just get me down from here
please." The voice comes back from heaven, "If you trust in me, take out your knife and cut the rope." The
man thought for a moment and then began yelling "Help me someone else, please help me".
You see, the man understood climbing and he understood that that rope was keeping him from falling. He couldn't understand
how cutting the rope made sense, and he didn't trust in God. He trusted in the rope. Today, our rope is many things: church,
people, music, books, maybe even ourselves. When we don't like or understand what God tells us to do, we look for other answers.
Because we don't trust in him.
As for the man, his friends found him the next morning frozen to death holding fast onto the rope. The rope that held
him just 2 feet off the ground.
Nu 14:21 But as truly as God lives, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
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