From time to time I am asked to officiate at a wedding. It is one of the benefits of being a clergyman.
The couple have some latitude in the planning of their wedding ceremony with regard to some items. It is always insightful as the couple and I go through the planning, discussion and selection process. One of the questions I always ask them relates to the form they wish to use as they make their declaration of intent. Do they prefer to say “I will” or “I do” when they promise to take the person as their spouse?
I’m not certain that any deep insights can be gained from the choice of answer to THAT specific question. It is really more a matter of minor importance in this specific context. But I was reflecting upon those two words in light of today’s verse.
THE WORD OF THE LORD HOLDS TRUE, AND WE CAN TRUST EVERYTHING HE DOES
That is a pretty broad statement, I’m sure you’ll agree.
THE WORD OF THE LORD HOLDS TRUE
He watches over His word to perform it. Yet His ways are above our ways, and so we don’t always see precisely how He will do what He says He will do.
It gets worse. There are times when we cannot see THAT the Lord God is fulfilling His word. In fact, it appears to us that He may not be!!! Shocking, I know. What it really comes down to is us looking at a situation and concluding that, if it were up to us, we’d be doing it differently.
So we are basically telling God, “You know, Father, IF I WERE GOD, I’d just …..” You can fill in your own blanks here.
It’s really comical, when you look at it written down, isn’t it? But we all struggle with thinking from time to time that God’s approach isn’t really the best one. We’ve all looked at situations and thought that there was a better way than the one The Almighty had chosen. I could list example after example here, but I don’t need to. Just like in my mind, you’re own brain is already filling in the examples of times in your life when God’s choices have left you scratching your head, or holding your heart.
That brings us to the second part of the verse.
WE CAN TRUST EVERYTHING HE DOES
The bible just lays out the statement. We can trust EVERYTHING He does. We can.
It doesn’t say “We can UNDERSTAND everything He does.” For us to be able to understand the totality of God’s choices would require us to know the totality of what God knows. So understanding what He does in its all its fullness, that’s not within our grasp.
But we can TRUST. We can.
And that is because trust is called into play when we DON’T know or understand a SITUATION. Trust is what we do when all we have to rely upon is our knowledge of the PERSON we are being called upon to trust. Trust is what we employ when we are asked to speak about an unknown situation with respect to a known person.
During a wedding ceremony I ask the following question of the groom with respect to his bride. “Do you promise to love her, honor her, comfort and keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?” Standing there at the altar, the soon-to-be wife is listening. At that moment, there is much she does not know, cannot possibly know. She has no idea what challenges may lie ahead, or when they will come. The SITUATIONS they will face as a couple are unknowable from the standpoint of the altar.
But what she DOES know is who it is that is standing before her and making the promises. It is her knowledge of the PERSON that gives her the strength to trust in the promise.
THE WORD OF THE LORD HOLDS TRUE, AND WE CAN TRUST EVERYTHING HE DOES
When a couple makes a decision about the format of their wedding intentions, the choice of “I will” or “I do” is inconsequential. When you make you choice about whether to trust God, the choice between “I will” and “I do” is much more significant.
In the context of living life, “I WILL” is a future statement. It is akin to saying, “I’m not doing a certain thing right now; but later on, I will.” It may be something we fully intend to do, but it is not something we have done yet.
In the context of life – and in the context of choosing to trust everything God does – we need to make a decision. “I DO” is where we need to be.
We need to give God our “I DO” when we don’t understand. WE CAN TRUST EVERYTHING HE DOES, AND I DO.
In this Advent season, we are reminded of Mary being faced with a challenge to trust God with something that was utterly incomprehensible.
That she, a virgin, would become pregnant without the normal male involvement. She was being asked to trust that the child which grew within her and to which she would give birth would be the One who would save the world from their sin. Forever.
Think of the situations in which Mary had to hold onto the promise that God would prove Himself faithful in the end …
… when they lost Jesus in Jerusalem as a boy of twelve
… when the crowds in HIs hometown wanted to throw Him from a high precipice to His death
… when His brothers were convinced that He had lost His mind
… when He was hanging on the cross as she watched the last bits of life drain from Him
… when she stood and watched them roll the stone in front of the tomb
She had to choose to trust, in spite of what she did not know. Trust is what we do when we DON’T know or understand a SITUATION. Trust is what we do when all we have to rely upon is our knowledge of the PERSON we are being called upon to trust.
She gave God her “I DO” and chose to trust when all seemed lost, when her heart was breaking, when every hope she had held seemed empty.
The psalmist told her WE CAN TRUST EVERYTHING HE DOES. And she Gave God her “I DO.”
THE WORD OF THE LORD HOLDS TRUE, AND WE CAN TRUST EVERYTHING HE DOES
And I DO, by His grace.
Give Him you questions. Give Him your fears. Give Him your pain and your doubt.
Then give Him your “I DO” and choose to trust the PERSON who loves you, in spite of being unable to understand the SITUATIONS you face.
Give HIM your “I DO”
THE WORD OF THE LORD HOLDS TRUE, AND WE CAN TRUST EVERYTHING HE DOES
