Trusting God

I was at the bank earlier in the week to order some traveller's cheques to take back with us and noticed that the exchange rate was down yet again. I was reminded of some thoughts I had read on Matthew 6:33.

The article I was reading asked the question, "Do we really believe God when He makes promises in His word. Do we believe what we read in the Bible?" Many of us will say yes, and with every true intention believe that we do or will. However, when we are pushed, we find that our trust in God is not quite what we hope it will be, and we become anxious, or worry, or try and solve problems on our own.

One well known promise in the New Testament found in Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek first his [God's] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." The context is that all our needs will be met by God when we fulfill the conditions stated.

On the face of it, I think we will all agree that we believe this to be true. The article I was reading made the statement about how often we don't really believe this verse, and a number of examples were given where we fall down in our full trust in God for our every need.

There was a time when it was a real battle to say yes to God and trust Him fully about our financial needs. When we returned to the UK in 1992, I found out that I didn't really believe this verse, and it took several months of anxiousness and worrying about how the future was going to work out; of struggling to find a job and to provide for the family, before I came to a point where I could honestly say, "God you have promised to provide, and I believe you will keep your word. I commit this matter into your hands." That didn't suddenly mean that I now had no problems about money, or that everything was going smoothly, but it did take a great burden off my shoulders, and the worry about the future left me. God was faithful, and over the weeks and months since then we were never without. My faith was continually being tested. God was seeing if I really meant what I had said. In different ways, God provided, and our trust in God has been strengthened.

But now, once again, I feel we are being tested. Do we still trust God with our future needs? Can we still rely on Him? The economic down turn has affected our in-comings considerably. But will we still trust God with our every need? It is a challenge, but something I feel confident about that God is in control, and I can trust Him. My prayer is that I will continue to look to God for every need that we have, and not lose our trust in Him. We will have to tighten our belts, and be wise in how we use what we have been given, but I believe that God will keep His promises as He has done in the past. God is faithful.

Breakfast

My comment about breakfast in my last blog prompted quite a bit of curiosity. I suppose for the social historian, what people eat for breakfast is of interest as they research and study how diets and eating habits change. I can say that we have been enjoying the variety of cereals available here in England. We are quite limited to what we can get in that line in Japan, and some of it can be quite expensive. Cornflakes, a granola type muesli, and a few other very sweet cereals can be obtain in the shops, but generally the variety is not available.

Some of the breakfasts I remember while growing up in Japan were dripping on bread or toast and fried bread, food with a high fat content that would probably not be recommended today. We also used to have scrabbled egg, boiled eggs and 'soldiers', fried eggs, and also puffed rice occasionally when the man would come round and do it in the street for us.

Our philosophy about eating now is to eat what is available, and what we can't get we don't particularly crave after. All food is good, and should be received with thanks to God (1 Timothy 4:3-5). God created it for us to enjoy. While it may be true that there are foods we like and dislike, and perhaps even some that we react to, yet, God in His goodness to us does provide all things for us to enjoy.

Passing it on

I must confess that I have been quite resistant to blogging and social network sites. Partly, because I felt that I didn't particularly want everyone to know what I had for breakfast, and other, what seems to me, to be very superficial comments about people's lives. People are not interested in those kind of mundane things.

However, with the encouragement of two of my sons, they wanted me to share what I am thinking, and other aspects of my life which could help them know where I was at and what was going on in my life. So here I am, at the home of my third son who has helped me set up this blog.

I was reading in Psalm 78 this morning, and the first 8 verses highlight an aspect of what I feel I need to do with this blog.

Psalm 78

1 O my people, hear my teaching;

listen to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in parables,

I will utter hidden things, things from of old —

3 what we have heard and known,

what our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children;

we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,

his power, and the wonders he has done.

5 He decreed statutes for Jacob

and established the law in Israel,

which he commanded our forefathers

to teach their children,

6 so the next generation would know them,

even the children yet to be born,

and they in turn would tell their children.

7 Then they would put their trust in God

and would not forget his deeds

but would keep his commands.

8 They would not be like their forefathers —

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

whose hearts were not loyal to God,

whose spirits were not faithful to him.

NIV

The point that I got from reading this psalm was that fathers have a responsibility to be passing on to the next generation the thing that they had learned from God. The purpose was so that the next generation too would trust God and keep his commands. The rest of the psalm deals with various aspects of the works of God and the how the people responded and the consequences.

So here we are using modern technology to communicate with the next generation.

Let me introduce myself

Welcome to my blog page.

My name is David. How do I identify myself? Many experiences have influenced who I am. Born in China, brought up in Japan of missionary parents. Educated in a school for foreigners in Kobe, mixing with many different nationalities, which broadened my view on life. Trained as a physiotherapist, married, had five children, moved house 28 times since I was married. But who am I? My identity is based not on what I have done, and do, but who I am, the son of my heavenly Father. It is this which gives me my true meaning and purpose in life.

I first met my heavenly Father when I was 10, at a camp in England at which my earthly father was giving the Bible talks. I realized then that without this relationship with God through Jesus Christ, I was lost and going no where. As the years have past, I have learnt more, and experienced a greater relationship with God.

My purpose in starting this blog is to record things that I learn in my continuing walk with God, and to share what is happening in my life that is part of my life experience. Often, however, it is not until after an experience or event, that the full impact of the event is understood, and so there will be times of reminiscing on past events and situations from which things were learnt.

So I trust that my experiences and the things shared in this blog may be of interest to others. Please feel free to comment.