“Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19).
IF OUR HEARTS HAVE NOT COME TO REST IN GOD, WE WILL SEARCH IN VAIN FOR ANY OTHER PLACE THAT IS SAFE. Our Creator is the only personal being who can be counted on unreservedly. We may commit ourselves to Him without fear, there being no possibility that He will ever betray us or fail to keep His commitments.
From our vantage point, there may seem to be times when God has forsaken us, although that is never actually the case. A child, thinking that a monster is hiding in the dark corner of his bedroom, may fear that his parents have forsaken him, when in reality they’re standing just outside the door. Just so, there may be times when our immediate circumstances cause us to doubt God’s faithfulness, but if we could see everything that is going on, our doubts would disappear. We shouldn’t let either our short-term vision or our feelings call God’s faithfulness into question.
We tend, perhaps also because of short-term vision and feelings, to try to find a perfect source of trust in other human beings. When we do this, we set ourselves up for disappointment. No one except God can be counted on perfectly, and the ways in which we find this out are often heartbreaking. David, who was more than once betrayed by a close friend, knew the sadness of this experience: “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance” (Psalm 55:12,13).
We should not become cynical or bitter about our fellow human beings in this regard. Indeed, we must keep our hearts open to trustful relationships. It’s more than worth the risk. But we shouldn’t expect of others what God alone is able to deliver. Only God can be a perfect source of confidence, and it’s sinful on our part to try to make anyone else fill the role that He alone was meant to fill. He is infallibly trustworthy. We may “commit [our] souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”
“People change and fail. You cannot depend on them. Those that are for you today may be against you tomorrow. They are as variable as the wind. But Christ is eternally faithful” (Thomas à Kempis).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
