The pastor at our church when I was a teen-ager once told the story of a man who put his young son on top of a table and coaxed him to jump into his arms. He kept telling the boy he would catch him, and after some time the boy finally jumped. The father let his son fall to the floor and then told him, “Never trust anyone, not even your own father.”
It is a terrible story – hopefully, not true – about the cynicism so many can have in life. We may fear that we are completely alone in life, facing temptations and troubles without the benefit of anyone who cares.
We must remember the comfort Paul offers in this passage. What does Scripture (Isaiah 28:16) tell us? What is God’s attitude toward all people?
Temptation can be very hard to resist. When confronted with one of the greatest temptations – the desire to take care of ourselves first – it is difficult to have an attitude of self-sacrifice. We may fear that we will fall and there will be no one there to catch us. It can be so difficult to trust that if we are giving we will also receive.
But if we can take on an attitude of sacrifice, an attitude of putting God first in our lives and trusting in the eternal presence of the Lord, then we can be blessed in our lives. God will be there to catch us if we fall. He will be there to pick us up when we stumble in our walk of faith. And He will be there to strengthen us as we face the temptations of life.
With God as our first concern, with God as the center of our focus we will never be dismayed or put to shame. It doesn’t matter who we are, whether we are the strong Christians we are supposed to be, the ones who have just begun a journey to perfection, or those who doubt and fear. God is ready to bless us all.
We must learn to call on the name of the Lord. We must be willing to make God our dwelling. We must place the Lord at the center of our heart to guide us and direct us in our lives, and to be that ever-present source of strength and comfort.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What will help you take a leap of faith for God?
