Early in my life, I learned who to trust and who not to trust. Grandpa was always the one you had to watch. My grandpa would always lean over during church and ask me strange questions like, "Do you have a dry pocket?" I never understood this question to have any solution to his next statement, which was, "cause I gotta go pee." I'm not sure why he thought this was funny, but it made me laugh.
Or maybe it was the uncle who claimed by grabbing the tip of my nose, he had stolen my nose completely. What ever the reasons people use in teasing children, we always knew Mom or Dad was trustworthy.
We could find comfort in their advice about life, girls, or how a spanking hurts them more than it did me.
This was a perfectly acceptable way to function when we were children, but most of us reading this are not children anymore. Most of us have families of our own. So, why do we still function this way. It's as if we still believe someone is always going to make all the tough decisions.
Paul addresses this very issue in his letter to the Corinthians:
Or maybe it was the uncle who claimed by grabbing the tip of my nose, he had stolen my nose completely. What ever the reasons people use in teasing children, we always knew Mom or Dad was trustworthy.
We could find comfort in their advice about life, girls, or how a spanking hurts them more than it did me.
This was a perfectly acceptable way to function when we were children, but most of us reading this are not children anymore. Most of us have families of our own. So, why do we still function this way. It's as if we still believe someone is always going to make all the tough decisions.
Paul addresses this very issue in his letter to the Corinthians:
"When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things." 1 Cor 13:11I think most of us, including myself, have never got away from this thinking. When we got married, we either elevated our spouse to the Holy place or we kept our previous counselor as our Holy filter.
Every Christian marriage counselor will tell you that your marriage is like a triangle, with God on top and you and your spouse on the opposite corners. This triangle tends to be difficult in most marriages. The premise is that each of you should focus on God and God will draw you together. This proves difficult if you are still operating with your Holy filter. Even though your marriage may be close, someone is always dictating your decision making.
The breakdown is that most of the people given the authority of the Holy filter haven't realized they have been placed there. What happens when we take their advice and it fails? Certainly they are to blame, right?
This is what I call the "Adam and Eve Complex".
"The man replied, 'It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.'" Gen 3:12As we learn from the scripture, Adam blamed Eve for causing his failure. How many of us seek the advice from others, just to blame them when it does't work.
As a child we always had the dumb kid in our circle of friends. This kid was the one we would pressure to try it first. If this doesn't sound familiar to you, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it.
When we got older, somehow we still find someone to carry the burden of blame when life doesn't work out. By seeking wisdom from someone else with complete trust that they would advise us with our best decision in any situation, we are actually causing them to be accountable to a decision that is not theirs to make.
Too many times in the church we operate the same way. Our pastor is our divine filter of God, this way we can blame him when things go bad.
"It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble." Luke 17:2Jesus is very serious about causing a child to sin. He says it's better that you were to die than to cause a child to fall. Have you ever thought maybe he wasn't referring to the age of the child, but those who think and act as a child?
This could be me. If I still seek advice from others before moving forward in obedience to what God has said, I am clearly still using that person as my Holy filter. What God desires, is that we draw from Him alone as the decision maker in our life.
When we draw energy from people, who are flawed and linear in their vision, we run short of resource. But, when we draw from the resources of our everlasting Father, the author and perfect of our faith, all-knowing, all-seeing, creator God; we are filled with an energy that refreshes us like the cool waters from a fountain.
Don't hear me as saying the burden of decision falls solely upon us. Quite contrary. God moves into the drivers seat of our lives and the tough decisions begin to seem effortless. They don't go away, but when we take the hand of our Heavenly Father, He begins to light our path. He promises us that in scripture.
"I am the way and the truth and the life....." John 14:6What frustrates me the most, is that God never makes the decisions or tells me His decisions when I want to hear it. Erwin McManus writes in his book, "Chasing Daylight", that what we want is a map and God gives us a compass.
The only way you can produce things of God is to completely surrender all of your ways and thoughts to Him. It isn't until we get out of the way and submit to His authority in our lives can He begin to work.
"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt 11:30His ways are not difficult. As a matter of fact, His ways are quite simple, but make no mistake about it, they are not easy.
I'm reminded of my favorite quote from A.W. Tozer:
“The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We're still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us.”
Will you trust Him? Will you follow?
