Trust God's Way

There is a passage of Scripture that I will paraphrase:

- trust God

- don't rely on what you know

- obey him always

- knowing where to go, and what to do, will be easy

Many describe this passage as their favorite. They try to follow it, and use it, as their motto for living. And I am not saying they don't. I am commenting on the fact that most, maybe all followers of Jesus trust God, when times are good. But when times are difficult, or confusing, they tend to rely on what they know.

The urge to follow "human wisdom" gets especially strong when God instructs us to do something crazy. Like love your enemies, forgive those who hurt you, or pray blessing for those who persecute you.

In a world, that is becoming increasingly against God, Jesus, the Spirit, the gospel, and God's family, it is becoming increasingly more important for God's family to follow God more closely. Christian leaders have, in the past, made calls for greater political activism. I am not suggesting we shouldn't vote, or hold million man marches. But maybe those who trust God should be organizing prayer meetings, that: invite God's Spirit into our political processes, walk in the lives of our leaders, even our enemies), and pray for love to those inclined to gun violence.

Maybe God's family needs to seek ways to love the homeless, those seeking abortions, and minorities of all sorts.

And maybe instead of filtering money through Christian para-church organizations, as good as they may be, we need to be like Jesus and hug lepers, mad men, and prostitutes. In other words, maybe each one of us needs to get our hands dirty in some way.

Jesus, who was without sin, who trusted God the most, whose prayers reached God the most, who loved best, was slandered, reviled, and accused. Can we expect less?

Paul considered floggings, stoning, prison, and shipwrecks as "momentary light affliction." Maybe we need an attitude adjustment.