Trust and obey.
If I could sum up what God has been whispering to my heart over the past year, it would be these two simple words: trust and obey. When I begin to worry about the future, or my children, or finances, or ministry, or the housing market, he gently reminds me to trust and obey.
Simple, but not easy.
Trust requires me to give up control. Trust implies that I am not to worry, fret, or concern myself with how everything is going to work out, but to rest in God's strength. Trusting God when nothing in the world proves trustworthy.
Obedience requires me to step out in faith - to take action regardless of how I feel or what common sense would say. When the Spirit prompts me to speak, move forward, pause, or hold my tongue, I must obey. God's ways are far beyond our ways, far beyond our understanding. But his ways always have our best interest at heart.
A simple "formula" for spiritual growth, but certainly not an easy one. He doesn't demand self-sufficiency but complete God-sufficiency. He doesn't ask us to figure it out, come up with a plan, or get our ducks in a row. He doesn't expect perfection. He asks us to let go, trust, and follow.
To find the very thing we are looking for- the beauty of life in Christ that we've been bumping around in the dark for- we must stop wreckless wandering and start trusting and obeying. Abandoning ourselves for the glory of God.
So, how do we do this? How do we trust and obey? How do we step out in this very noble endeavor? First, we can not do it on our own. We need God, and we need others. So relieved am I that I don't walk this spiritual path alone. Not only is there a deep intrinsic desire in me for relationship and friendship, but this is also God's desire for me. None of us were intended to live our lives as lone rangers. We were created for fellowship. On my own, I will spend a lifetime striving to trust and obey. And on my own, I will fail. However, when I find myself facing a challenge, requiring more of me than I can give, that is when I call out to God, and I call on a friend. No matter what situation demands my trust and obedience, I can overcome through God's strength and the strength he pours out through a fellow believer.
With the support of a friend or friends, I receive the direction given to me by the Holy Spirit, and I am empowered to trust and obey. It's not about willpower but the will to allow God's power to work in my life and through the life of The Body of Christ.
Is this an easy answer? Probably not, but spiritual growth is not easy. Spiritual growth hurts. Just as the body endures the pains of growth, so do our spirits when God is pressing in to us and drawing us to a deeper relationship. Reaching out to people, too, requires trust. And for some that is too high a risk. At some point in our lives, however, we have to make a conscious decision to reach out and take that risk. Otherwise, we will stay the same forever, repeating behaviors, feeling frustrated and disappointed with God, and ultimately feeling the weight of failure on our shoulders because we just can't seem to figure out how to get beyond this place.
Simple, but not easy.