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| Monroe |
This afternoon, as part of my prayer and alone-time with God, I read some more of John Wimber's The Way In Is the Way On. Wimber has been a major influence on my spiritual life.
Early in the book Wimber writes about trusting in God. To illustrate the importance of trusting God he recalls a story told by Hannah Whitall Smith. There was a physician who was having doubts, unbelief, and fearfullness towards God. She asked him:
"Doctor, if there were somebody here in the hospital that you could treat and was under your care, but they just simply couldn't trust you to take the medication, the direction, and the treatment that you wanted to give, what would you do with that patient?"
He replied, "I couldn't do anything with a patient that didn't trust me."
Smith said, "Well, that's the way it is with you and your God."
The antidote to doubt and unbelief is trusting God, as an activity. This might sound contradictory but it is not. If you have an illness, and the doctor says "Take medicine X and you'll get better," you might have your doubts about this. It's only in the taking of medicine X that this doubt can be resolved. In doing this we trust in our doctor. Remember that in every act of trust there is uncertainty, since trust implies risk.
We learn a lot by actually trusting. Wimber writes: "Imagine what God could do in and through us if we just trusted Him, abandoning ourselves to Him in each moment."
Today trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Don't rely on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him.
And He will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5-6)
