Trust Signs

Have you seen the Lottery billboards along the highway? I regularly drive past two of them, and have gotten lost in thought as I've considered those big numbers. When I have seen mulit-multi-million dollar jackpots advertised, my mind has begun playing with the idea of what I could do if I had that kind of money. I’ve mused, “Wouldn’t it be nice to not worry about the kids needing new shoes again? How wonderful it would be if I didn’t need to be concerned about how we were going to pay for this and that.”

It isn’t as though I wanted to get really extravagant and buy lots of things we don’t need. I just thought, “If we had all that money, I wouldn’t need to worry.”

And, wouldn’t that be nice?

But as soon as that thought came into my head, God spoke to my heart. It was as if He was saying, “Karen, you already don’t need to worry. Haven’t I always provided exactly what you needed? Have any of your worries ever become realities? My timing has not always been as you like it. I know sometimes you’ve wondered how I was going to come through for you. But I always have, dear one. I have never failed. You don’t need to worry. I am always faithful. If you had all that money, you wouldn’t need to trust.”

Oh, I knew He was right! I struggle with trusting. But God showed me so tenderly in that moment that I don’t need to worry. I need only to trust. Because HE is faithful.

I realize we all have different worry triggers. Finances may not be your issue. Whatever it is for you, as you consider your trigger, may I encourage you to turn it into a statement of faith? This is how I’m doing it: Now, each time I see those billboards I proclaim, “I trust YOU, God!”

Karen Hossink

That’s A Good Question

I had lunch with a dear friend recently. She is the kind of person whom everyone likes; she’s sweet and kind and sees the good in people. She’s been exploring the role that Christ should play in her life and attended a church she’d never been to before a few weeks ago. She’s was telling me her impressions of the service and then she said she was confused about something. One of the people she was with — who is a regular attender at this church — was not being very positive about some of the other attendees. My friend’s question was, shouldn’t someone who calls themselves a Christian behave better than that?

I thought about it for a minute and then I said to her, “I’ll let you in on a secret. The church is made up of people.” I said it tongue in cheek but it is true. People in the world sometimes forget that Christians are human too and we are still going to fail, even after we make a profession of faith.

However, I told her that she was correct — we should be different. Matthew 5:14-16 says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bowl … Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your Father who is in heaven.”
It’s a great responsibility that God has given us. And it’s amazing when you think about it. He’s entrusted His human creation to spread the word about His saving grace! I don’t know about you but I feel quite inadequate for that job. But my friend sure got me thinking and motivated to strive to be a better example of Christ’s love to those around me.

Patty Dextrom