Tuesday 1 October 2013

Trusting in Christ Alone For All

Trusting is about rolling our all onto Christ, and leaving it there – easier said than done.  It’s about depending upon Him to do what’s right and best.  We have no one else really in whom we can trust always.  Trust in the sovereign Lord is not a vain thing.  I know how easy it is to become all theological and say all the right things, and I also know how hard it is at times to put all this trust into practice.  We fail so often; and it’s then that we have to cast ourselves unreservedly on our Lord for His mercy and grace.  Thankfully, it is we who fail, not our faith (Lk.22:32); because it is our faith that takes us straight back to our glorious Lord and Saviour, our only hope and refuge. 

The good thing is, this is true however we feel.  How futile a thing it is to trust in our         feelings!  We have feelings and feelings have their place; but they can be so deceitful if    allowed to rule us.  In dare not act on the basis of my feelings just now because these         could encourage me not to trust the Lord.  Wasn’t Edward Mote (1797-1874) quite correct when he penned those immortal words:
 
        My hope is built on nothing less
        Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
        I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
        But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
        On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
        All other ground is sinking sand.
 
If I were to trust “the sweetest frame,” I’d be undone.  It’s a case of “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mk 14:38).  Our Lord shows that there is a distinction between the lack of faith and the weakness of the flesh.  No matter how clearly we see and understand the teaching, yet when faced with situations we cannot control, we feel fearful.  God understands our human frailty and has made provision for it by reminding that His greatest servants of old were mere men like ourselves – Abraham, Jacob, Noah, Elijah, Elisha, David, Peter, Paul - I could go on.  So how wonderful it is to know that human fear combined with God’s unerring Word is then order of the day. 


Why am I writing these things?  To teach myself those precious truths that will minister to my weakness and fear, and overcome them.  It’s to get my mind and heart fixed afresh on Christ, and to “Wholly lean on [His] name.”  It’s about re-gaining spiritual perspective, and moving on from there.  It’s about standing on Christ the solid Rock Who will never let us down, whatever His plan is.  So we rest content in this.

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