Trust

The Simplicity of Obedience

April 5, 2016 by Terry M. Buster, Sr. Leave a Comment

Simplicity of Obedience …. Yes or No.
Seriously, when it comes to obeying God, we have only one of two choices, “Yes” or “No”. Obedience or Disobedience. How can it be any other way? It is a simple choice. I’m not saying that obedience is easy, because most of the time it isn’t. When believers choose to obey God rather than man, we choose to reject worldly notions of what is right and what is wrong. Actually we go against the world’s mantra of following the path of least resistance in order to get along. By definition, obeying God means that we can and do step on the toes of our culture. After all, Jesus tells us that if we follow Him the world will be against us for it is against Him (John 15:18-20). We might as well acknowledge that our choices do have consequences. There will be times when obedience will be hard because we quickly find ourselves at odds not only with the world in general, but with friends, co-workers, team members, classmates, and yes, even within our family. Yet as faithful Christians, we know that God doesn’t desert us when we choose to follow His way over the way of the world. In reality, we draw closer to God through our obedience and in this we gain strength, wisdom, and peace. When we obey Him we choose to step away from popularity contests, conventional human wisdom, and figuring it out for ourselves. When we choose to obey our life is simplified because we know what kind of attitude we must have (the mind of Christ – Philippians 2:5); we know what kind of feelings we must have (the love of Christ – John 13:34-35); and we know who is in charge (Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords – Revelation 17:14; 19:16).

Think about what we gain when we live in simple obedience to God’s guidance:

Power of Obedience …. God’s Strength
When we obey, we place ourselves not only in the will of God, but also in the arena of His capabilities. Isn’t it amazing how capable we think ourselves to be? Seriously, when something needs to be done, more often than not, we jump right in to do the work and only after a season of struggling against the enemy (as well as struggling against ourselves) do we remember to rely upon the Lord’s provision. When you stop to think about it, doesn’t simple, genuine obedience begin with our reliance on the Lord’s capabilities and power? When I was 9 years old I’d flex my muscles to see how ‘big’ my biceps were. With more bone than bicep showing, my capabilities were not only limited, but obvious to anyone who cared to look. The next time you see a small child flex his muscles I guarantee that you’ll smile at the notion of just how strong that boy thinks he is. As children of God, isn’t it about time we stop flexing our muscles and begin relying on His strength? The power of obedience comes when we stop trying to get the job done in the sphere of our abilities. Remember, His strength is made manifest in our weakness. Paul clearly spells this out for us in 2 Corinthians 2:9, “He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

There is an added bonus that comes when relying on God’s strength. He is not only strong enough to get His work done through us, He also enables us to endure the attacks of the enemy and to do so victoriously. He knows just how to deal with those who oppose His will and take care of those who come after His children. Why do we foolishly think we know how to deal with our accusers when God said He’d take care of it for us? “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

Blessing through Obedience …. God’s Provision
Consider the blessings which come through obedience. Better yet, meditate on what we receive from our Lord when we choose to simply obey Him in a well reasoned, Biblical manner.

– Blessing of Assurance.
God promises to be with His children as they faithfully persevere in both the good and the bad seasons of life. Jesus promised to be with us always (Matthew 28:18-20), but isn’t His presence all the sweeter when we, like Peter, proclaim Him to be “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16)? Isn’t it assuring to know the promise that we are His eternally (Romans 8:31-39; Ephesians 1:11-14; Philippians 1:6)?

– Blessing of Confidence.
The confidence we gain when people applaud us as we follow the crowd peaks immediately. Admit it, as soon as the crowd stops cheering we seek new ways to get their approval and applause. This soon becomes a vicious cycle draining our strength. The confidence God gives in obedience builds our character in Christ giving us greater courage to face our detractors. Is there anything that gives us more confidence in life than doing the right thing, the right way? Surely our faithful obedience is the supreme act of doing the right thing, the right way, which is another way of saying doing it God’s way.

– Blessing of Peace.
Paul speaks of the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Recently I’ve come to experience the peace of God in deeper ways as I’ve obeyed Him in the simple, everyday course of life. The blessing of peace through obedience is hard to describe, but it is there.

– Blessing of Humility.
One of the key cornerstones of obedience is recognizing where true power and authority lies. The more consistent our obedience, the more we come to know just how faithful, powerful, and reliable He is. As this awareness grows in our lives, we find contentment in letting God be God in every aspect of life. One of my favorite Bible verses is Isaiah 66:2. Having declared His overwhelming sovereignty, God reminds the prophet, “…This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” I don’t know about you, but I find great blessing in knowing that in my humility, God is looking to me. Remember, humility is that wonderful virtue which allows us to set aside our ego, our obsession to figure it all out as well as our feeble attempts to advise & direct God. Aren’t these things worth laying at the feet of our Lord and Savior? I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of trying to tell God what to do. I think, no, I know that He’s got a better plan than I could ever devise. “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21)!

As I stated earlier, obedience will not always be easy. The path will be difficult as we deal with the world around us and our inner struggles. As the hymn writer so eloquently put it, we will have we have “fightings within and fears without.” In spite of the fightings and fears, there is no greater, nobler path than to walk the path of God’s Power and Blessing which comes through simple obedience.

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Got Stress?

December 31, 2015 by Terry M. Buster, Sr. Leave a Comment

Why is it that the simplest, clearest statements in God’s Word are the ones that trip us up most often? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Prov. 3:5). Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? Just trust God. After all, its His creation. He’s in charge so why increase our stress level by trying to know it all and figure it all out? Sounds easy, but we know its not. Here are four suggestions that might help us trust Him more and in so doing, lower our stress level from day to day.

1. Don’t assume that just because you don’t see it happening — its not happening.

2. Don’t assume that just because it doesn’t make sense to you — it doesn’t make sense.

3. Don’t assume that just because it isn’t the way you want it done — its not being done correctly.

4.When its not your responsibility — don’t assume that you see the situation better than those involved especially those to whom God has given leadership responsibility.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. Each of us has more than we can handle trying to take care of the joys & responsibilities God has given us. After all, our perspective on our own lives is a bit skewed. (Who doesn’t think he/she could solve all the problems of our government if they would just listen to us?) What makes us think that our perspective is spot on when we critique someone else according to our own wisdom?

There are times when we have the responsibility to evaluate what is going on around us. But we should never confuse the responsibility God gives us in one area of life with the ability to see and know what is right or wrong in all situations. As a pastor, I will never see all the ministry happening throughout my congregation. I expect our Sunday School teachers, missions leaders, and ministry leaders to have a clearer sense from God in how to lead the people given to them in those ministries better than I. When I lean on my own understanding, despair or delusion is not far away.

The bottom line is this. I must simply trust that God sees more than me, knows more than me, understands better than me, and has a better plan than me…..because He does! The sooner I learn and apply this the sooner my stress level goes down.

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Twists and Turns

December 21, 2015 by Terry M. Buster, Sr. Leave a Comment

While living in Colorado Springs we’d go to the mountains to see the wonder and beauty of God’s creation. My enjoyment of the majestic Rockies began after the car was parked. While driving, I suffered from ‘white knuckle’ syndrome as we travelled the twists and turns of the mountain roads. In my mind, I knew that my traffic lane was wide enough for my car. I knew that if I stayed in my lane I wasn’t going to fly off the side of the mountain. I knew that untold thousands of other vehicles had traversed this very same highway safely. I knew that I could trust the surveyors, engineers, highway construction workers, and those who maintained the roads to keep me safe. In my mind, I knew these things. But as I drove, I gripped the steering wheel as tightly as I could, hence the white knuckles. There was a part of my mind that got the best of me as I imagined all that could go wrong and how bad things could be. I had to trust those who built and maintained the highway to get to my destination.

Those mountain roads came to mind as I listened to a sermon Mark Dever preached from Revelation 4-5. Dever referred to Romans 8:28-32 (…all things work together for good….) saying, “Trust God with the twists and turns of your life, your family, your career. Don’t say that you’ll only trust Him with the straight and easy times. What does that mean? You trust Him exactly with the twists and turns you don’t understand.”

I need to give more than lip service to Romans 8:28-32. In the twists and turns of my life God gives me opportunities to reinforce my faith while demonstrating my belief in God’s Word and His plan for my life. I get to trust God. I get to demonstrate to myself and others that regardless of what roads I travel in life, His path for me is the best way to go. As Dever puts it, what good is my faith if I only trust Him when things are smooth, straight, and I can see how ‘easy’ the road ahead is?

I don’t know what lies beyond the twists and turns ahead. (And just in case you haven’t caught on, you don’t know where your twists and turns are going to take you.) What I know, in increasing measure, is that God knows and He has provided the way for me to give Him glory and arrive at my destination with a gracious ‘well done.’ I pray that God will give me the faith and determination to trust Him more every day. In so doing, I will look forward to arriving at my destination while marveling in the journey every day with my God.

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