Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Heavy frost last night, bit of wind today, but it is gorgeous outside.  There is a haze in the sky, I am not sure where it is coming from, but I can look out my window as I sit here and type, and see a snow covered Mt. Hood.
It isn’t real deep snow, yet, but it is coming – a good sign.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

I had to update my anti-virus yesterday and was having a bit of problems – so I contacted the provider on chat.  The person offered to do the work for me.
To do so I had to allow him into my computer.  I, like probably all of you, often get these calls from a scammer who tells you your windows program is in trouble and want you to allow him into your computer so he can ‘fix’ it.  While not the same thing, obviously, it is a matter of having to trust the tech that he will do you no harm.
I allowed him to get into my computer, remotely, to install the program.  Then I lost him. 
I am not the most patient of people so I once again made contact with the provider who assigned me another tech.  As we are working on the program the first tech’s chat page pops up asking me what happened, he had lost contact – the small screen had been hidden behind another. 
I had not trusted the process and, while not doing any real damage, it took longer to get the update done – and used the time another customer should have had.
Then, in the process, my computer had to be rebooted.  One of the reasons I was having the tech help me was because I didn’t have the assigned number for the purchase and I wasn’t sure how I could get the assistance without it.  (I did get that, by the way, it was in an e-mail verifying I had purchased the update – I just hadn’t waited long enough, it was probably there within a very few minutes.)
The computer rebooted and the screen went blank, which I knew it would, still – a bit of anxiety.  The computer came back on, I put in my password so we could work on it – and waited for what seemed hours, but just a few seconds when the tech was back in control of the computer.
The anti-virus has now been upgraded and I am good to go.
We do things without considering the faith we have in our fellow humans.  We ride in airplanes, trusting the pilots, the ground and maintenance crew – trusting the plane will get off the ground and actually fly – the people in the tower, trusting that they all are doing their job and we get to our destination safely.
We drive 65 miles an hour down a highway, past oncoming traffic doing the same speed just a few inches away and trust the driver knows what he is doing and that both cars are mechanically sound and won’t veer into the other lane.
We could not exist in this world without trusting unknown people, trusting that they are doing what they are supposed to be doing so our food, our highways, our cars, our homes, our children, our families and friends, etc. are safe.
We don’t see these people.  We know they exist because we are told they exist.  We are told that the process they use is correct and that our well-being is a primary concern and these people are doing their best to make sure we are safe.
We don’t know them, we don’t see them, we often don’t even see the results of their work, we just take it for granted and often don’t even think about it.
So why, why, do we have problems trusting in God?  There is more evidence of a Creator who has things in control than there is a person in another country who I just gave permission to go into my computer and if they wanted to they could gain enough information to make my life difficult.
Trusting is an act of will – it may be a passive act, but it is still an act. 
We need to have that same trust we have for people who are, after all, not infallible and make mistakes all the time – in our God.
He is the only entity that truly has our best interest at heart.
He is the only entity that knows our deepest heart, our deepest fears and can overcome them if we just trust Him.
How often do we try and tell God how we want something done, because it makes sense to us – because it is what we want, without consideration for Him.
The disciples were disbelieving when Jesus was telling them He said He was going away.  They were horrified when He was taken into custody, tried, convicted and then placed on a cross to die.
They were downtrodden and disheartened when He was removed from the cross and placed in a tomb.
They wanted none of that.  Not one of them would have considered Jesus’ death a good thing.  They didn’t trust God – at that time.
Yet, without that death, as a sacrifice for our sins, we would not have eternal life in Christ.  We would not have the assurance of God’s love and caring for us.  We would not have been adopted into the family of Abraham, becoming a child of God and entitled to the same inheritance that the Jews were promised once Christ came.
Jesus, the man, had to trust that His sacrifice would be sufficient for God to accept.  He had to trust Him even when He felt God had forsaken Him.
No matter what happens to us, good or bad, we must trust God.  We must understand that He is in charge and anything we do, anything we go through that He is there with us – and in the end something will be accomplished for Him.  It may not be what we thought it would be or even want it to be, but, it will enrich us and it will show God’s love and grace to others.
We often times make trusting in God so hard that we feel we cannot give our all, yet we give it to others every, single, day.
It is a matter of understanding that, trusting God is an act of the will, we need to accept God for who He is, making a conscious effort to trust Him.
After a while, we won’t even think about it – or at least very much – we will just do it and the results will be amazing.
Later, Art :-)
From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again

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