Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.  Job 13:15

The story is told about a certain mountain climber who slipped and fell off a cliff, but on the way down, he grabbed the roots of a tree and held on for dear life.  Looking beneath him, he saw a sheer drop of several thousand feet.  He yelled for help but none came.  Finally, he cried out, “God, help me!”  And then came a voice saying, “Just turn loose; I’ll catch you,” but looking around he didn’t see anyone and not liking the alternatives called out again, “Anybody else up there?”

We smile or perhaps chuckle, but a lot of people live that way.  When they don’t  unconditional obedience and commitment.  Five simple guidelines that will help you turn loose of a problem, when you feel like holding on:

1)  LEARN ABOUT THE NATURE AND CHARACTER OF GOD.   I never cease to be amazed at the distorted concept many folks have of God.  He’s not a cosmic icicle, or a policeman, or a decrepit grandfather who would like to help out but isn’t strong enough.  God is God, and though your earthly father may have disappointed you, you will never live long enough to meet a person who can honestly say, “God let me down; He disappointed me!”

2)  BECOME A STUDENT OF THE BOOK.   This is actually the flip side to my first Guideline, because in the Bible you will learn about the nature and character of God.  Reading good books about the nature and character of God, such as Knowing God by J.I. Packer, or A. W. Tozer’s Pursuit of the Almighty, is good, but there is no substitute for reading the Book itself.

3)  REALIZE THAT TRUST IS A MATTER OF GROWTH.   I wouldn’t fly with a pilot who had never flown before.  I wouldn’t go to a doctor who had cheated his way through medical school.  I wouldn’t trust an attorney who had never graduated from law school, and until you come to know that God is good, you won’t trust your life and future to Him.

The more you see God’s intervention in your life the easier it will be to trust Him more completely. By talking with men and women who have walked with God for many years, you can learn how God has met them and will meet you as well.

We need the attitude of a young man who had just turned from a life of drugs and rebellion to Jesus Christ.  The man, however, wasn’t about to go to work, when an acquaintance, Bob Vernon, who happened to be a policeman, opened a worn New Testament and showed him a passage from 2 Thessalonians, where Paul says, if you don’t work you don’t eat.  Finding out that this was part of God’s purpose for his life, the young man replied, “Well, if it’s in the Bible, it’s for me!”  That’s the kind of commitment which allows us to grow spiritually.

4)  REALIZE THE LIFE OF OBEDIENCE IS A ONE‑STEP‑AT‑A‑TIME WALK.    When I was a young man, a friend gave me good counsel when he said, “God’s will is like a flashlight in a dungeon; it doesn’t shine around corners or illuminate the next cave; it only gives you light for the next step.”  A great truth!  Don’t worry about five years from now, or even next month.  What is it that God wants you to do today?  Do it and trust Him for the next step.

FINALLY, REALIZE THAT WITH GOD’S DEMAND FOR OBEDIENCE COMES HIS COMMITMENT TO PROVIDE AND PROTECT YOU.  With such assurance, how dare we ask for more?  He will provide for you. He will protect and guide you. He promised that. Take it by faith. Act upon it! That’s what faith is about.

 

Resource reading: Isaiah 40:28-31