October 13 – The weapon of trust

Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated—it can only bring harm.  For evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put their hope in the Lord will inherit the land.  (Psalm 37:8-9 HCSB)

Those of you who have kids, do you remember teaching them not to scratch a mosquito bite, or worse, not to pick at their chicken pox?  It’s so hard to get these little ones to understand that if they do, everything will get worse. The bite will become infected and grow and feel even itchier, the chicken pox will take longer to heal and might leave a permanent scar. We wish we could get them to just trust and believe us.  They look at us, wondering why we keep insisting that they leave their wounds alone, even when days go by and the itchiness and irritation is still there.  “Just wait, believe me, it’ll get better,” we say.

We know that things will definitely get better because we are older and more experienced.  We can see beyond the pain and beyond the sickness and know for a fact that the restraint it takes to not meddle in the matter, is worth it in the end.  But those who don’t learn this kind of restraint when it comes to trusting in God for the unfairness of life, also make things worse.  

We know we’re not supposed to take justice into our own hands, and that we’re supposed to trust in God.  But just like impatient children, we jump the gun when it seems to be taking too long for relief to come.  Each time we try to force things to happen in our anger or agitation, we exacerbate the problem instead of allowing God to heal it in a perfect and healthy way.  

The problem is that the devil convinces us that the virtues of trusting and patience are the same as being passive and doing nothing.  The fact is that trusting requires greater strength of character and courage than exploding in anger ever would.  A passive person couldn’t care less what happens.  One who trusts, cares intensely, but chooses to focus all his faith and attention on the justice of God and not on his own means.  A passive person lives in a sense of defeat, one who trusts is certain of a coming victory.  They both can appear to be doing the exact same outward actions, yet be worlds apart in their spirits and attitudes.   

Choose to fight the devil and all that is unjust with the weapon of trust.  Just as Jesus fell asleep in the boat during a violent storm, we are being asked to discipline our emotions to rest, believe, trust.  The promise He give us is that we will inherit the land, our promised land, the land flowing with abundance of peace, joy, justice and His presence. Much like we teach our children, God is telling each of us in a very deep and profound way, “Just wait on Me, believe in Me, it’ll get better.”