Thursday, February 16, 2012
Weekend Speaker: Ben Sigman
Theme: Not Afraid - GOING ALL IN
Read: Matthew 6:33-34; Matthew 18:1-4; Mark 8:34-35; Matthew 13:44; Luke 12:31-32
Think: It was easy when we were children to work through a storybook fear. Most of us never saw a big bad wolf at our door. But as we grow up and experience the realities of the world, it's much harder to rid ourselves of the fears that our individually storied life experiences can place on our hearts. Once we have had our heart broken, been betrayed, robbed, lied to, deceived or suffered a loss or two on "a sure thing", we can easily be as the old saying goes "once bitten, twice shy". In other words, we are far more likely in our hurt and heartache to be far more careful next time in avoiding similar situations.
Some of that's wise growth. But when it comes to our relationship with God, it's likely not wisdom we are buying into, it's a misunderstanding rooted in fear. As Pastor Ben pointed out, our biggest fears say more about what (1) we value most (i.e. safety from reliving or encountering similar circumstances) and (2) where we trust God the least. But these fearful weaknesses of our will are just waiting for God to help show us how they can be used to reveal His strength if we are willing to "go all in" with Him in handing them over to Him.
For example, the word I filled in as I was listening to Sunday's message to finish the statement "I am not trusting God with _________" was FINANCES. This is a tough one as my spouse and I have really struggled to pay back a lot of debt over the last couple of years because of loss of business and debts related to that as well as some foolish choices we made years ago. It's been a trying experience and one that has tested us individually, as a couple and definitely in our faith walk with God to work through it. But as we both look back on the progress we have made so far, there is no question that where we have been faithful, God has been right there working with us in it too. For us, going "all in" has meant:
- HUMBLING ourselves to seek help by reading Dave Ramsey's books and taking the Financial Peace University classes to learn more about how to manage our money and submitting to financial counseling from others with expert knowledge.
- Taking the RISK of feeling like we are missing out on some things we would like to do financially or perhaps what our debt has cost us with children by missing out on some things so we could snowball and repay debt.
- A significant INVESTMENT of our time and energy in doing regular budget review meetings to plan and set goals and then review and be accountable in how we are doing in meeting those goals.
- Tithing is an area that has touched on all three of these aspects. It's HUMBLIING to pay God and not ourselves first. There's a RISK that we might not have as much money at the end of the month and it's definitely a significant INVESTMENT to give 10% of our budget. But as we remind ourselves, we have made more consistent progress in reducing debt the months we have tithed faithfully than in the months where our money fears got the better of us and we chose to do things the old way that helped get us into this mess.
Do: Looking at your own life, answer the question "I'm not trusting God with ______" for yourself. How can you humble yourself, take a risk and invest more to go "all in" with God in this area of your life?
Pray: God, help me to go "all in" in the areas of my life I fear turning over completely to you. Show me how to trust you knowing that you will make all things new if I surrender them to you. Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.