By Derek Maul
So here we are in the middle of summer. The world continues down this troubling path, leaders repeat the same interventions that consistently failed in the past, and those of us who follow Jesus fall into the trap of thinking politically instead of trusting God.
Trust. That’s the key idea I’d like to keep front and center. Do we trust God? Oh, we like to say that we do, but then we press on with business as usual as if being a disciple is irrelevant to the day-to-day living that gets us so distracted.
We routinely leave our relationship with God on the sidelines, because we tend to practice the kind of faith that says, “Well being a Christian really hasn’t got anything to do with this…” or, “Jesus didn’t intend to say anything about security, and war, and terrorism…” and, “It’s just not practical to think like a disciple when we have to deal with the real world…”
We find that another week has gone by, or a month, and we’re not any closer to living in the way that we know – on a deeper level – Jesus is calling us to.
So do we trust God? Or is it all conditional, or part-time, or piecemeal, or compartmentalized, or convenient, or just a facade?
Then Jesus said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost” (Luke 9:23-25)?
Instead of trusting, do we believe we are the ones with the answers? Really? Are we seriously confident that we have things figured out that well? Are we that close to world peace, political detente, and domestic nirvana – so confident that we don’t need to trust God? If so, how exactly is that approach working for us?
Peace, and more peace – DEREK
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Derek Maul has written for many news outlets, including the Tampa Tribune, The United Methodist News Service, All Pro Dad, FOCUS Magazine, Newsweek, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, Presbyterians Today, Guideposts, Chicken Soup for the Soul and many other publications. Read Derek Maul’s daily blog posts at www.derekmaul.wordpress.com
