However our faith is somewhat shaken when we see the next
photo of the same ship and if we were on board we might not be so impressed by
the luxury surrounding us either, particularly when we see the captain being
one of the first people to abandon the ship by going ashore!
The great lesson to be learnt from this is that it is a mistake
to place all our faith in things and people, certainly we do have to trust them
or we wouldn’t venture outside our house but when we do venture out we should
ask God for the “Back Up” He has promised. That way if the people or things we
are relying on fail us, we won’t be left “Floundering in the Water” so to speak,
because He “Will give His angels charge
over you to keep you in all your way” (Psalm 91). Promises like this one
need to be claimed in prayer before we
leave our house because they are like the safety belt in your car; you fasten
it around you before you drive off;
it isn’t that you are expecting to have an accident, it is just sensible
preparedness. Prayer is similar to a safety belt except that it is also a type
of email that helps cement our relationship with our Heavenly Father who loves
us with an everlasting love, is all knowing and completely reliable; just the
one in whom we should place our faith. However not everyone feels comfortable
to do that. Which is a great shame as Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6 says that “it is impossible to please God without
faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He
rewards those who sincerely seek Him”.
The trouble is that we are “all like
sheep”. Well the bible says we are. Let me tell you about sheep: they eat
grass and drink water and grow, but it never occurs to them to be amazed that
grass contains all the nutriment necessary for them to form bones, flesh and
blood and that they have an incredible gut capable of converting all that grass
into these items I’ve just mentioned. When they drink water it never occurs to
them to think just how important this fluid is to their bodies either, it is
H2.0. If it had been H2.02 it would be Hydrogen Peroxide and that would never
do.
You see the sheep don’t think about the perfect world
provided for them. If they did they would ask “Who designed this remarkable
system”? They would never be so naive as to imagine that such complexity could
have designed itself! That being the case then we are not as smart as sheep.
However we are like them in that we do follow the leader; I saw a mob of sheep
on an island surrounded by flood water when one decided to try and cross the
flood, it went into the flood water and was carried away and drowned; the rest
followed and all drowned, you see leaders are not always right.
We need to look at the incredible world around us which has
every item necessary to sustain us and supply all our needs, recognise that it
was all designed and supplied by God and give Him the glory by placing our
faith in Him, He and his word in the bible is absolutely reliable, not like
ship’s captains, airline pilots or even scientists, who may or may not be
reliable.
I’m not talking theory here. Millions of people over the
years have proved God’s faithfulness. Every single one of us has to make our
own independent decision to “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” and have faith
in God. There is an urgency for us to make that decision too, because we could
be “called home” any time, irrespective of how old or young we are (22 people
were killed in car accidents this Easter) and to be a non-believer or faithless
on such an occasion would be a disaster beyond description for that person. Best
wishes as you think about all that, Tom.
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