2008-06-17 09:49:00
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him” (Jeremiah 17:7).
Several years ago we went to a family reunion in Colorado and while we were out that way we visited several notable tourist sites throughout the state. We drove to the Royal Gorge where the world’s highest suspension bridge crosses over. I parked the van on the west side of the canyon although we were heading east. We slowly approached the bridge on foot and, with a knot in my stomach, proceeded to walk across. My fear is not really heights but being near or looking out over any edge. Well, as you already know, I made it across safely and we visited the various attractions on the east side.
We rode the world’s steepest incline railway down into the canyon and back up, and crossed the gorge in the world’s longest aerial tram suspended by what appeared to be a thin wire. My confidence was rising! By the time I walked back across the bridge toward the van I could finally look over the edge. But I still had my biggest challenge; driving the van across the bridge. I could either do that or backtrack about fifty miles.
I put my trust in a lot of brilliant engineering, quality materials, competent construction, diligent maintenance, conscientious inspections, and ultimately in God. My confidence grew as I saw many others going on before me safely. I carefully drove across and was so grateful to be back on solid ground on the other side!
Our daily text was written by Jeremiah in the historical context of the Southern Kingdom’s final years. God’s judgment was imminent and Jeremiah was one of the faithful prophets proclaiming this unpopular truth. But the terrible message of judgment also had within it a tremendous message of hope: “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.”
When we look around and consider all the things that are blessings in our lives we may fail to think of our trust in the Lord as a blessing. People outside the faith would consider their possessions, health, and perhaps other people as blessings in their lives. Those of us who believe and follow Jesus Christ would certainly consider these to be blessings, but we would put the tremendous dimension of our salvation in Christ at the top of the list in addition to every blessing associated with that. Of course that would make the list infinitely long! In fact God has “blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). We will continue to calculate our blessings in this life and all throughout eternity!
What a tremendous blessing it is to place our trust in the Living God. The line from an old hymn declares, “Those who trust Him whol-ly find Him whol-ly true.” Even as my trust in the reliability of the bridge was not an unproven trust, how much more so is the trust I have placed in my Lord and His Word. His claims can be tested and have been by millions throughout the ages. Indeed, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.”
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, the great blessing in trusting You is the confidence we walk in as we look to You for everything that we have need of. Jeremiah draws the contrast of those who depend on humans for strength and have stopped trusting in You. They don’t even know about the good things that You can give. They are like a bush in a desert that grows in a land where no one lives, due to the heat and bad soil. But we who have placed our trust in You have found You to be faithful. Instead of cringing fear we walk in confident faith because it is not in ourselves that we trust but in the Living God who is trustworthy in all areas of our life. Now, give us grace to trust You even more, in the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
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