Want Results? TRUST!

The past few months I’ve encountered more and more discouraged people who feel that getting the results they seek is a thing of the past. Most of them are decent, hardworking people whose lives have been impacted by taking pay cuts to keep their job, lay-offs, or long futile job searches.

But there have been some people who have been able to get results even in these economically turbulent times. I met one a few weeks ago. He lost his job when it was moved offshore. Within a month he had secured a new position in a different industry and as he put it, “I’m doing what I always wanted to do, but because I had family and financial obligations was afraid to make the jump.” He went on to explain that since he had lost his old, well paying job, he decided he had nothing to lose.

I prompted him to tell me the secret formula he used to transition so quickly. “That’s simple,” he said, “It is a formula I learned as a child and when I have used it, I always get amazing results—not always what I wanted, but better than I ever imagined! That formula comes from Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (KJV).

During almost forty years as a pastor, I have seen this formula get amazing results for people facing all kinds of problems and difficulties; in fact, I myself have experienced the miraculous results that come from applying this formula to situations I’ve faced. The Contemporary English Version, strips away the poetic tone to give us a real down-to-earth, he-man or she-woman formula, “With all your heart you must trust the LORD and not your own judgment. Always let him lead you, he will clear the road for you to follow”.

There are two things we need in order for this formula to get results for us. First, we need to “Always let him lead us”—that means trust that God knows best for us, knows where he wants us to be and follow his guidance. When we do this, we are assured that “he will clear the road for us to follow.” And second, regardless of how bleak things appear, how impossible the situation or stalled our progress seems, we must continue to trust WITH ALL OUR HEART—which means that we “trust the Lord and not our own judgment”.

Trusting God for most of us is something we learned as little children, but as we got older we became “sophisticated” and more cynical about life. Sure, we still believed in God, but at least in certain areas of our lives he has shrunk down from being able to “do anything but fail” to a distant law-giver whose only interest was in the hereafter and where we would spend it.

We began listening to our own judgment, and dismissed the fresh, wonderful dreams God continued to plant in our minds as being improbable for us and thus made it impossible for them to come to fruition. That is why the Good Lord hasn’t been able to “clear the road for us to follow”—we’ve allowed roadblocks to trust to be erected. Let me tell you about two of the most prevalent roadblocks I and others I’ve know have had to deal with.

THE ROADBLOCK OF EXCESSIVE INVESTIGATION: When the Good Lord shows us a wonderful future or an innovative approach to our problems, instead of seeking a deeper understanding of it by praying we begin fraying it by analyzing, criticizing and researching the minutest details until we’ve taken the possibility God has for us and placed the dream killing prefix IM in front of it rendering it IMPOSSIBLE for us to trust God’s guidance, insight and plans. Now, that isn’t to say we shouldn’t “try the spirits” but we shouldn’t paralyze ourselves by limiting the result God wants to give us when we trust His guidance, stay with his plan and lay aside our finite judgment in deference to his insight.

THE READBLOCK OF EXCESSIVE SPECULATION: Whether our investigation is formal (researching books, trends, etc) or informal (listening to friends or thinking based on past experiences of ourselves or others) it often leads to excessive speculation. This is the most future altering roadblock because we our thinking becomes so consumed by all the things that can go wrong that we find our initial trust in the dream and result God has shown us begins to falter. William James, father of modern psychology illustrated it as being like an experience mountain climber who found himself on a ledge that he was unable to move off of without jumping three feet across a chasm to the other side. If the climber, who had made similar jumps in the past began thinking “maybe I’ll miss the ledge” or “what if I land wrong and break my leg or arm” his trust in his experience would create inaction that would lead him to simply stay on the ledge until he died of exposure to the elements.

When God gives us a dream or shows us wonderful results in our future, we need to be like Abraham, Moses and the disciples after the resurrection—don’t engage in excessive investigation and speculation; instead let the vision of the results God wants to give us individually and as a church become a shining INSPIRATION to us. Then, our trust is emboldened because we know that God’s planned results for us are for “good, not evil” and that inspiration leads to IMPLEMENTATION of the guidance God has provided and we begin walking down the path He has given us to follow, knowing that He is going clear the road that leads to the right result for us as long as we TRUST Him and not our own judgment!

Life gives you a snow storm...make snow cones!

What a glorious, peaceful scene we've been given this week!

You may be saying, "What the heck are you talking about--we've beensnowbound for almost a week." You might be thinking, "I've missed work,haven't been able to go to the store, nor have I been able to take care ofa million little details that are part of my life."True, most of us have been stuck in the house--but as a wise man (orprobably a woman from whom a man stole it) once said, "We can't always control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond to it!"

Friday night, I went out on my front porch (yes I have a real porch, myhouse was built in the 1920's) and just sat looking at the snow and thestreet lights gently reflecting off of it. After a few moments I becameaware of a sense of peace. I was transported in my mind back to thosedays as a child when snow meant happiness, joy and a sense of adventure.

I recalled my father, Rev. Robert L. Hidde with his pipe clinched betweenhis teeth helping me build a snowman in our front yard...

My mind transported me back to those days when before my wife and I were married. She was Oklahoma A&M (opps, it was O.S.U. then), me at The University ofArkansas--we were home over the week end and a snow covered the ground,but we still went out. The roads got slicker, the snow deeper but we still stayed out until her curfew!

I rememebered being stuck in downtownDallas at our daughter's highrise apartment by a snow strom, puttingpuzzles together for several days...

I guess the point I want to make is even in the most adverse situations wecan find positive memories that lift us from the present situation. If we take the time to let the beauty of nature's peaceful blanket settle gentlyover our souls, we can find a sense of joy, renewal and yes, resolve thatassures us that not only "this too shall pass" but with God's help we canovercome it and spring is just around the corner.

Celebrate the Way, the Word and the Wonderful Life Experience and LiveConfidently No Matter What!
Pastor Hidde