TP3

Ok, it's taken me a while to go through the 7 verses that I promised a couple of weeks back, but I've been taking some time to think through them before I sit down and write about them. This verse has probably one of the greatest impacts on my daily life that I have yet to attain perfect understanding, yet it sits at the forefront of my conscienceness in hopes that I will pass it's test.

Verse 3: Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? Isaiah 2:22.

I had a conversation today with another individual who said, "I see no point in religion." I've heard this many times in my short life and it doesn't fail how my heart sinks each time I hear it. It doesn't get old and I haven't grown callous to hearing it like I have with some other things. It's also not something that a short conversation will cure. While in many ways, I see and agree that there is no point in religion, it's really not religion that most people are talking about I think. It's HOPE. I envision people really saying, "I see no point in having any hope in this world." This is where my heart really starts to hurt because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt a person who says this is reacting to a religious person who has hurt them.

When we get hurt, we stop living with any hope. It never fails to happen this way. If you are a believer, these experiences can become a challenge to living a greater life for Christ. It affects your personal fulfillment, your outlook on the church, your desire to help others and your priorities in general. But why does this happen? Please understand this point: WHEN WE PUT OUR TRUST IN MAN, WE WILL BE DISAPPOINTED. Yes, everyone you know will disappoint you. Your neighbor, co-worker, parents, friends, best-friends, and even your pastor. Yep, even your pastor. So what I'm saying now, please write it down in your memory banks, because everyone you know will eventually disappoint you. And you will eventually disappoint someone else. There's no stopping it, no running away from it, no evading it. It will happen! I could go on and on about this, but I think my point is very clear.

So what must we do? First, we must understand that God knows people will hurt us. This is why He gives us the priority to trust in Him. It's when we trust in Him alone that we are able to deal with the hurt and disappointment we will face in this world. It's not if, but when. Isaiah even says that man is but a finite creation having no ability to be trusted in the first place. Secondly, COMPASSION and GRACE go much further in our own lives when we use it to extend to others who have hurt us. These are tools available through the promises God has given each of us who believe in Him. And finally, when we continue to seek God first, we experience a supernatural freedom that only comes from Him who stills our burdened hearts. If we can just let go and let Him free us from these burdens, we can truly experience a greater life, an abundant life that John 10:10 talks about.

But we must trust in God first, and be ready and mindful of the simple reality that we will be hurt by our fellow man. Right or wrong, we have to choose to respond out of faithfulness to Him, rather than vain or selfish defensiveness that only turns us away from living a greater life of faith.

I've been hurt several times by people whom I thought would know better about how to treat people. I've also been disillusioned by just watching how people treat each other even within the church without being directly involved. Do I expect more? Sure, I expect more compassion and grace from those who have accepted it as part of their faith. But I have to be honest, none of us ever live by these things all of the time. The end result is, it directly affects others and ourselves, whether we are an innocent bystander, the hurter or hurtee. So I must be ready to extend forgiveness to those whom I would want forgiveness from. I will never be perfect, just as those whom I come into contact with will never be perfect. So I must take my trust out of their abilities and transfer to once and for all to Him who is worthy of my complete trust. For in Christ, I've placed my hope and my salvation.

Oh God, please forgive us for our selfishness. Please forgive us for our lack of faith in you. Please forgive us for our own deceitful ambition to be right in our own hearts and minds rather than right in your eyes. And please help us to trust in you alone so we may be free from the possibility of losing hope in this world, and turning our back on making a difference in the lives of those who need that hope. Amen.