Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose trust is the Lord (Jeremiah 17:7, NASB)
Scottie Scheffler has become the subject of considerable analysis. What makes him so special and better than the best of the best? Some point to his overwhelming competitive nature. That is so true, but it goes much deeper.
Scottie trusts the process and the outcome, carrying a bank full of memories that confirm he’s on the right track. He not only knows but also trusts. Every swing! Every outcome!
He also believes and trusts in the One true God who created him for the marvelous home Jesus has prepared for him after he stops winning golf tournaments or when his time here is over.
Can you imagine that followers of Jesus, like Scottie, will be forever in this home, promised to all who love and accept Jesus as their Savior?
Brennan Manning gets real when he talks of the abounding trust of so many revered saints of old. I am not talking about trusting to accomplish a beautiful golf shot, but trusting God when it may cost them their life or the life of someone they love.
In Brennan’s book Ruthless Trust: “Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God. Fear of the unknown path stretching ahead of us destroys childlike trust in the Father’s active goodness and unrestricted love. When all else is unclear, the heart says, as Jesus did on the cross, ‘Into your hands I commit my spirit.’ The very essence of our faith must be trust, which he says is a matter of the heart. Can you imagine what this is like even when the path chosen for us leads to persecution, torture, or death as it did for some revered saints?”
Trusting is more challenging than merely holding an intellectual belief because trusting involves actions that put our faith into practice.
The children of Israel believed that God would provide a way across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Still, nothing happened until the priests stepped into the river, which was at flood stage, and the water backed up a great distance away, allowing them all to cross on dry ground (see Joshua 3:15-16).
Abraham believed God. Remember, he is known as the father of faith, but he is also the father of trust. He went up the mountain with a knife to sacrifice his son, Isaac. God knew Abraham’s heart and miraculously provided a ram for sacrifice instead of his son, Isaac.
Whom and how much do we trust now? My friend Allen Levi wrote a book about the last year of his beloved brother’s life, who lost his battle with glioblastoma.
He became the caregiver and support for him, which he chronicled in his book The Last Sweet Mile. “We never gave up hope, but we did surrender, not to the disease but to God. We would trust Him. God is for us.”
And if God is for us, who can be against us? God never fails us. Never. When will we ever learn to trust our awesome God who told us, “Trust Me”?
Prayer: We are a grateful people who trust our faith in You alone.