Trust and Obey

I used to be the pianist at a church.  Granted, the crowd never got larger than about fourteen members on a good day, but I played nevertheless.  Looking back now, I see a valuable lesson in one of the songs I played.  I remember the number and even the key (#447, F major).  The pastor had me play it every Sunday for nearly a month, which meant that I practiced it several times a day for the entirety of that month.  To this day, I can still remember the run that I added to the left hand in the second line of the piece.  I broke the rules.  I played what wasn't written.  I branched out from the safety of the ink on the page, and wrote new notes with a pencil.  Talk about being bad to the bone, huh?


Alas, I digress.  So this whole "trust" thing.  It's pretty much never been defined to me before.  Despite the several times it's mentioned in the Bible, all you ever hear in the church sermons is "Trust in the Lord," and "Put all your trust in God."  What you don't hear is how.  Reader, you probably know, but on the off-chance you didn't (or you just kinda sorta want to hear my take on it), then this is all I've got.

Let me start with faith.  I've heard plenty of Bible studies that touch on this teensy little four-letter word.  You can't have hope without faith, and without hope you can't trust.  These past few weeks have been rough--I'm not going to lie--but God is merciful.  Despite my shortcomings, He has given me faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13).  It's kinda funny how these things seem to go hand-in-hand.  

"remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."

1 Thessalonians 1:3

Work of faith; labor of love; steadfastness of hope.  Those are some pretty heavy words when you really think about it.  

"So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."
James 2:17


"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant."
1 Corinthians 13:4


"For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?"
Romans 8:24

Don't think that I'm preaching at you, Reader.  I've been struggling with these concepts lately, but there's something absolutely divine about getting a glimpse of them in the midst of a hardship.  

Oh, how glorious it is to actually use those gifts:  faith, hope, and love.  I am not perfect, and so I will freely admit that for me to even partially grasp the goodness that is found in them had to be brought about through a time of suffering...wow that sounds morbid...is trial a better word for this?  or maybe a bump in the road?  Just pretend it's an adjective I haven't used yet. 

I have faith that there's a purpose for this time in my life.  For the first time ever, I'm actually holding on to the hope that a week from now will not be filled with so many brief moments of caffeine induced happiness, but hours of joy brought about by the simple miracle of keeping a flower alive (cheesy much?).  And I love the Lord, who I know is sufficient.  

Reader, if you've hung in there this long, please bear with me for only a paragraph or two more.  All of these--faith, hope, and love--help build the trust I have in the Lord.  As I was bicycling the other day, a song began playing on my iPod.  I was not paying attention to the music at all, but out of nowhere, my focus was drawn to the words of the song that was playing, and it rang out, "Doesn't matter what comes crashing down/I'm still gonna stand my solid ground."  It means so much right now.  My Solid Rock is in control.  Even if everything around me crumbles, God is an unchanging God, and I trust Him for that.  

"When we walk with the Lord

 in the light of His word,

What a glory He sheds on our way.

Let us do his good will,

He abides with us still,

And to all who will trust and obey

Trust and obey, 

for there's no other way

to be happy in Jesus

but to trust and obey"

God is good, Reader.  If there's nothing else that you get out of this huge jumble of words (so much for the "conservation of language" method) then know that the Lord is sufficient.  In fact, He's more than enough.  

So that's my bit for the day.  Sorry for the length, but I've never been very good at getting an accurate point across with limited words.