pastorrudytlc

We live in a world where things go wrong, and many of the things that do so are beyond our control. Accidents happen randomly with no rhyme or reason. People that are well and strong and in the prime of life are suddenly gone from us in ways that are so ironic. Miami Marlins Pitcher, Jose Fernandez, the young man who escaped from Cuba to Miami as a refugee and literally in route jumped out of the overcrowded boat to save his own Mother on the treacherous journey to America, died tragically and shockingly in a boating accident with the best of equipment. He was only 24 years old, had so much talent and a young bride and new baby on the way. It truly makes you shake your head in painful wonder.

Christians can be faithful and fast and pray and still be disappointed. People long for marriage and remain single. Couples long for babies and miscarry. Believers long for peace and live in literal war zones. At times it almost appears like life is conspiring against us. The soil is plowed, crops are sown but the rain never comes. Things go so wrong and we ask why and we receive no reply at all!  So many things are just not right and we are powerless and perplexed!

 But sometimes there are real reasons for our trouble. The consequences that we face are our own fault and even though we may know this deep down inside, we still may not be ready to admit it! We actually bring the pain upon ourselves because of the choices that we make. These heartaches are the result of actions that we end up doing and even worse, behavior that we fail to do! But instead of repenting for our mistakes and getting our hearts right with God, we end up playing the blame game! And this dysfunction leads to many individuals stooping so low as to shaking their fists at Heaven rather than folding their hands in prayer. Unfortunately this path away from the Lord is very self-destructive. It traps us in a delusion of our own making. It damages us physically, morally, spiritually and cuts us off from the only true source of healing and that ultimately comes from above. There is no hope for any of us until we face the facts and man up and admit our blunders and accept the blame and acknowledge our need for help!

 Are you saying that God expects “Blind Trust” and I say “Yes!” How often does God say something for you to do but because of what you see, you doubt him? You need to close your eyes and listen with your ears to what God says and let him lead you to where you would not go without Him! What is blind trust? Good question. Blind trust is when you give your total and I mean total, full, unconditional allegiance in God. Blind trust is like a horse in a burning building. First you must cover the horse’s eyes before you can lead him out or he won’t be going anywhere! Sometimes God doesn’t explain what’s happening to us or where He is leading us because he knows we couldn’t handle it. Like a loving Parent trying to get their children through a scary passage, Mom or Dad covers their eyes for their own good. This is ultimately an act of love! When the Lord chooses to keep us in the dark, it is to literally lead us to the light. We are to blindly trust that he sees everything and knows what he’s doing!

 God may allow circumstances in our lives that are way beyond what we can handle on our own.  They have Louisville Sluggers and we have Whiffle Ball Bats! They are wearing PF Flyers and we have the Payless Brand! They are driving a Lexis and we have Mopeds! All good reasons logically for us to back down except when God says get up! Is there an area in your life today that you are fooling yourself thinking “I Can’t” when the answer really is “I Won’t?”

 God is the God of love and he empowers and equips us unloving followers to love like him! God is the God who rescues and he enables us who were once caught in webs of shame to now offer words of hope and healing. God is the God who calls us to obey so he can use us as his redeemed examples to show people the way! But when we say we can’t, what we are really doing is walking the won’t of defeat! And that has consequences that go way beyond your own life. It affects the lives of those in your family, your church, your community and your world!

 There once was a young lady who was very gifted by the God who made her. She was given an incredible singing voice that stopped traffic. It melted hearts, it made people smile, and it also invited them to explore their emotions. She was so beautiful in so many ways and was adored by her fans. But this gal, like so many women, never believed that she was that special. She believed herself to be a fat pig that disgusted those who saw her and she really believed that if she could just be skinny enough she could finally be loved and cherished and accepted. Obviously, she needed help but nobody talked about “Anorexia-Nervosa” back then. There was a critical turning point in the adventure of getting this lady well but it took her Mother to express the words, “I Love You,” to her daughter. As they sat in that counseling session, Mom said “That’s not the way we do things in our family. We don’t say ‘I Love You.” The Counselor, once again, asked Mom to tell her daughter that she loved her. The Mother said “I Can’t!” What the Daughter heard was “I Won’t” and a short time later, this beautiful flower lost her place in the garden. It wasn’t that Agnes Carpenter couldn’t say, “I Love You,” to her daughter Karen. It was that she wouldn’t! Whenever anybody talked to Agnes Carpenter until she passed in 1996, the first words out of her mouth were, “I didn’t kill my daughter.” Who was she really trying to convince?

 “Can’t is the Won’t of those who Don’t!” God may be asking you to do something that may not come natural or you don’t find easy but if you want to experience life and restoration, we can no longer be slaves to fear.  As children of God, we need to start believing so we can be behaving in the power of our Lord! Remove, “I Can’t” from your vocabulary and replace it with the same response that Mary gave to the angel when she said, “Let it be just as the Lord as said.” Here I am Lord, now lead us on to make a difference; because together, we can!