“Oh, I trust him, it’s just that…” Sounds familiar? Trust seems such a basic thing, and in a way it is. How many of us expect the glass of water we dropped to hit the ceiling? Why not? Why do we trust ‘natural laws’? (As an aside, they’re not natural laws, they’re God holding this world in His Hands). So how can we have this same kind of unshakeable faith when it comes to trusting God?

Trust like a Child

One of the things I learned is the importance of the first few weeks and months in a baby’s life. You know, those weeks when they simply, sleep, cry, feed, need cleaning up, and sleep again? Yes, those weeks. Those weeks are essential. And then the early toddler years, where they drop a toy from their highchair, and you pick it up, only for them to drop it again. And again…and again… It’s essential. You see, it builds trust, it builds a picture of this world and it’s ‘natural’ laws. It shows them your trustworthiness, and how they are loved and cared for by you. This means that when they’re older, asking for a snack, you tell them, “Not now,” and they trust you. When you tell them you’ll be waiting at the school gates in the afternoon, they nod and smile, for they trust you.

We might get tired of the same old games, but children need those games. It is how they learn. When they are little, they simply trust us, but they trust us in small things, asking for small matters. We can be like that too when we first come to know Christ. We have so many needs, so many requests, and big dreams. We can see ourselves turning the hearts of millions of men and women. Like children, thinking they’ll grow up into hero firefighters. And you know, we might, just like our children might become heroes, saving people’s lives. That might not be God’s plan for our lives though, just like our child might become a humble secretary in a humble company, showing kindness, faithfulness trustworthiness and grace to all they work for. We might be called to serve God in small matters, as it’s not the size of the job that matters. Over and over Paul points out that we were adopted, not to conquer worlds, but to the praise of His glory. Do we trust God with the outcome of our lives? Do we feel, like adopted children often do, that we have to earn our rights to belong, to be part of a family? Do we feel we have to prove to God that He made a good choice when He placed us in His family? Or do we trust Him when he says in verse 5 that He predestined us unto adoption according to the good pleasure of His will?

When we’re faithless, God is faithful

When children are adopted, trust is a massive issue. Watching my children, I learned more about being adopted into God’s family. When my children see me dishing out food, they trust me to feed them. When it’s lunchtime, and I’m finishing another task, they are very anxious. Have I forgotten? When I tell them that no, they can’t have chocolate as I’m dishing up dinner, they cry, Nobody loves me, I never get what I want! Aren’t we like that too? When we pray, we acknowledge that we trust God as our Heavenly Father, but we’re anxious, because our prayer doesn’t seem answered, and we expected the answer to arrive Tuesday, and now it’s Thursday already. Has God forgotten us? How often do we find bitter thoughts come into our minds because the answer we were given didn’t match our finite ideas?

We clipped a family photograph onto our children’s bag when they went to school and nursery. That photo had our family on there, as a token of their belonging. We would point at the picture and explain that we would pick them up, we would never forget them, never desert them. After all, we were a family, and the picture was proof of that, like a seal. Paul mentions a similar thing in Ephesians 1:13. We heard, believed and trusted, and we were given the Holy Spirit as a seal, to remind us and assure us of our inheritance in Heaven. The Spirit points us to the Word of God and reminds us of our salvation and the fact that we’re in Christ. My children doubt us, they wonder if we will be there at the end of the day. They look at the photo, and there might be a bit more hope in their hearts… What happens when we look at God’s promises? Do we trust His Word explicitly, or do we say, Well, I can’t imagine a Holy God wanting someone like me in His family?

Pause for a moment. Close your eyes. Imagine yourself as being average. Easily forgotten. Unimpressive. I bet the idea of it makes you squirm so much that you can barely sit with such a thought, can you? In a culture that esteems recognition, what should notoriety mean for us as Christians and how do we reckon with the reality of being unimpressive?

This morning, I stared at my dead cactae in the corner of my room. I watched its contorted frame, bent, lifeless, lacklustre. What was more apparent to me was its irreversible state. There was nothing that could bring my plant back to its former glory. More vividly, I was reminded of my own mortality. My yearning to be recognised and acknowledged was all contained inside this flesh which would, sooner or later, become like my cactae, withered, lifeless, it’s glory forgotten.

For “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls.

1 Peter 1:24

Where do you find your worth?

Joseph Solomon, a Christian artist, begins his podcast Flights and Feelings with a powerful statement: ‘Chances are you won’t live a life impressive enough to be remembered in stone.’ 

Nowadays it seems as though being remembered is our never-ending goal. We must either be well-known or known well. We will only ever feel as though we have something valuable to say unless there are enough people listening to us while we say it. We feel as though we won’t be making enough impact unless there are many people watching us while we do it. Social media validates this insecurity. Numbers don’t lie – figures, engagement, analytics have become the bedrock of our worthiness. Fame, recognition, notoriety are synonymous with capital and wealth. We always feel like we need it, and we never feel as though we have enough. Our culture feeds this insatiable longing. More ways for us to build our platform. More ways for us to be seen, have an online presence and become well-known for our efforts. More ways for us to become disillusioned with wanting to be impressive and build a legacy that will ensure we won’t be forgotten.

But you will be forgotten. Your work, achievements, your contribution to the world whether public or private will be ‘covered by the dust, hidden by moths.’ If leaving a legacy of art, social impact or cultural change is meaningless vanity (Ecc 4:4), why do we still pursue it all the more? Solomon describes it as a strange almost twisted pursuit of own immortalisation. We seek to have our deeds and achievements outlive us in a way that once we die, our name immortally remains. Jesus objects to the idea, deeming these attempts as being futile;

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

John 12:25

Be forgotten so that Christ is remembered

The idea that a man or woman would deem himself or herself as worthy of being eternally remembered, so much so that he or she spends every waking hour of their brief life holding their flame to the light for everyone to see, is absurd. So absurd because that very flame will be so soon blown out just as quickly as it was lit. As absurd as recklessly losing one’s life despite carefully and lovingly holding it so dear.

The point is, we must be willing to be forgotten so that Christ is remembered. We must desire to be unimpressive if it means that Christ is highly regarded. We must be prepared to hate our own lives and deny ourselves of our desires and longings to recognised and approved of, so that we can enjoy being eternally approved by the One in whom our lives are hidden, until He appears.

The moment our thirst for recognition supersedes our desire of making Christ known in our world today, we will have lost the true meaning of immortality. We will have traded the gift of life eternal in Christ for a few cheap moments of the world’s attention guised in false eternity.

As we read through the Bible, it is clear to see that God asks much of us. This statement might sound confusing since Christianity is mainly characterised by grace. So, the question we are left with is ‘are grace and effort contradicting realities in the Christian life?’. And if they are not, how can we reconcile these two seemingly distinct realities?

Why can’t it be easy?

The Bible is replete with promises for the Christian. Jesus offers us eternal life (John 3:16, John 14:6), freedom (Galatians 5:1, John 8:36), love (John 15:9, Ephesians 3:18-19), joy (John 15:11, John 17:3), peace (Philippians 4:7, John 14:27), comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3) and security (Romans 8:35-39, John 17:12). Jesus doesn’t just offer these promises, but so much more, so it is understandable as to why many find it difficult that the Christian life would require effort. There are some that argue that sanctification should be effortless and that faith in God should be unshakeable since, if you’re a Christian, you have been united with Christ. The problem with this line of reasoning is that it undermines two things that have been made available for the Christian; The Church and God Himself – The Holy Spirit. The fact that the Christian life requires effort doesn’t undermine the power of the cross, it confirms it. Christ set His affection on helpless sinners, lived for them, died for them, rose from the dead for them and now reigns supreme for them. Now this resurrected Christ grafts these redeemed sinners into His body (The Church) and empowers them by His Spirit (The Holy Spirit) to live out holy lives (1 Peter 2:9-10). And the scriptures inform us that we need the Body (1 Corinthians 12:12-26) and the Holy Spirit (John 14:16)

We often forget

The scriptures don’t just give us many promises but also has many commands. And if the Spirit of God lives inside each believer then surely obedience should be easy? Experientially and scripturally, we see that obedience is not easy; hence why we have the Holy Spirit who causes us to obey (Ezekiel 36:27) and the Church who is called to bear with its members (Ephesians 4:2). Jesus makes it clear throughout the gospels that obedience to God is evidence of love for God (John 14:15). So, why do Christians fall short so often when upon conversion the love of God has been poured into their hearts? (Romans 5:5). Well, Paul puts it like this :

“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing”

Romans 7:18-19

Here we see Paul express the reality that is common with every believer, you have received Christ and your heart has been changed as evidenced by new desires and behaviours, yet you still find yourself drawn to the things antithetical to your newfound faith. And as we are tempted by these former loves we forget the glorious truth of the gospel – Jesus is better. This is why God in His infinite wisdom calls for us to be in community (the local church) so that we are constantly reminded of this and can help each other combat the sins that wage war against our soul (1 Peter 2:11, Hebrews 10:23-25).

Not by works alone

The danger with acknowledging that Christianity requires effort may result in both Christians and non-Christians thinking that their effort somehow merits their righteousness before God. It doesn’t. We are saved by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8). We are also kept by grace alone (Jude 24). The effort we produce to live right is by grace (1 Corinthians 15:10), furthermore the desire to initially want to do what is right is also by grace (2 Thessalonians 1:11). We can take no credit for any act of righteousness we do because all righteousness ultimately comes from God.

Final Encouragement

Paul lets the Christian know that God is willing and working within our efforts for His glory. In other words, our effort is energised by God’s grace for God’s glory and our good.

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,  for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure”

Philippians 2:12-13

The undergirding of our Christian efforts is the God who works in our efforts for His glory. The God who calls us to obey gives us the heart to want to obey and delight in obeying (1 John 5:3). This should cause the believer to have great joy because the Christian walk does not rely on our strength but on God. Therefore we can trust that God will grant us the grace to empower our Christian efforts for His glory and our good.