Ruthless
Trust!
In
the 2 months prior to my departure from Germany I had the privilege of being
hired at O’Henry’s Coffee in Homewood. In one of the many conversations struck
up behind the counter, I made a new friend in one of our regulars. We began
talking about the idea of living life in the freedom of Christ without the
limitations of man’s approval and self deprecation. This book is speaking to my soul along with the past two
messages from Stephen Spanjer of Neuenburg International Church.
From
Brennan Manning’s Ruthless Trust:
“To
live without risk is to risk not living,” my paternal grandma used to say. The
way of trust is risky business, no doubt about it. To change careers suddenly
because one feels unfulfilled, to assume the energy-depleting care of elderly
parents, to retreat for three days of silence and solitude with Jesus without
climbing the walls, to volunteer for a summer in the sub-Sahara with only
meager spiritual resources, to take an unpopular position with rumblings of
hear in the background, to conquer fear and disillusionment when one finds
untrustworthiness where least expected- all of thee challenges require a
willingness to risk a journey into the unknown and a readiness to trust God
even in the darkness.
A
person should not act impulsively of course. A careful discernment process
involving family, friends, and a spiritual mentor should recede every major
decision. But when the appropriate time comes, only the disciple with an
unflinching trust in God will dare to risk. And that trust is not naïve- it knows that the possibility of making a
mistake and getting hurt is very real. But without exposure to potential
failure, there is no risk.”
