“Trusting Jesus for eternity is easy. Why is trusting Him for Monday so hard?”
Pastor Matt Rodin
At our last Sunday morning service before the Christmas holiday, our teaching Pastor made this profound statement, followed by a profound question. I am not certain if it was meant to be profound, or just an entertaining quip, but it struck a chord that resonated through my life and the lives of just about every professing Christian I know.
The reality is that most Christians are quite confident that Jesus has their back for the long term, forgiveness of our sins, eternal life and all that. Monday, or whatever the next big thing is that we have to face, however, is another story. We seem to live like we are taking care of that part of life ourselves.
Why the Reluctance?
If we can trust Him with the big stuff, why are we so reluctant to trust Him with the little stuff, the everyday stuff? I think it all comes down to control. It is human nature to want to control what is around us, so we delude ourselves into believing we have some control. In truth, we have no control. We can take precautions, have backup plans, and make the best possible choices with the resources at our disposal, but the future holds whatever it holds. It is not in our control at all.
Trusting Him vs Control
While we are trying to control our little two foot by two foot square, everyone else is trying to control theirs, and that leads to conflict when those squares overlap. Then there are issues of health, economics, and circumstance that will invade our two foot by two foot square when we least expect it. We, as individuals, have no control over who will be diagnosed with cancer, who will be hit by a car, or who will have an investment portfolio skyrocket or tank tomorrow, and we never will.
By trusting Jesus we can however control how it affects our spirit. Trusting tomorrow and every day to Him does not insure that nothing bad will ever happen, but it does insure that when the unexpected comes, we are not alone. Whatever happens we have His strength to lean on and His grace to comfort us. He is there for us today the same as He will be in eternity.
The Illusion
To begin today to trust Jesus with tomorrow is about relinquishing the illusion of the control we think we have. It should be easy to give up what we already don’t have, shouldn’t it? Not so fast Grasshopper! (If you did not get that one watch this video clip, click the link, or Google Kung Fu.)
It is not easy because we have an enemy.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1Peter 5:8
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 10:10
The job of the enemy is to keep feeding us the lies that make us think we can have control. Countless variations of the same lie the serpent told Eve in the garden, are coming at us in countless ways. Therefore it becomes an ongoing struggle to separate the lies from the truth. Trusting Jesus with everything we have and everything we are is control we must relinquish day by day, even moment by moment. It is an ongoing battle that rages between mind, body, and spirit, and the precious moments when we find ourselves fully at peace are evidence of the battles we have won.
We Are His Soldiers
We will never escape this spiritual war between light and darkness. That is what we signed up for when we became Christians. As we learn to recognize it for what it is, and fight it on a spiritual level with our praise, and our prayers, we will learn to trust Jesus with more of our Mondays.
Blessings & Adventure,
Lynn “lynnibug” Rios
