WHERE TO PUT YOUR TRUST
Psalm 118:8 "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
It was getting late. The sun was already behind the mountain and two of us sat in the float plane watching closely for our pilot to appear on the mountainside. Darkness was setting in quickly, soon it would be too dark to fly.
We had left the dock 4 hours earlier in full agreement that we must be back to the dock in 4 hours. We were hunting blacktail deer on Kodiak Island, a place with a very high population of Kodiak Brown bears. I had taken a trophy buck and as we were skinning and quartering we saw several bears above us on the mountains and below on the shore. And now I was seconds away from spending a very long uncomfortable night surrounded by very dangerous bears.
We were there sitting & hoping the pilot would get back in the next few seconds, to get us back to the dock before dark. With a float plane there is no way to see the waters surface in the dark, and with no way to see how close the pontoons are to the surface of the water... there is no safe way to land.
So here I was, my first day out with a float plane and I'm wondering if I'm going to spend the night with nothing between me and the blown bears but a thin layer of airplane skin... and we had bloody meat inside with us. All this and our 24 year old pilot certainly wasn't the most reliable person on earth.
Looking back on the day on Kodiak Island I realize that putting our trust in any person is futile. It doesn't matter who it is, counting on people in life will eventually lead to a let down. I've let people down in the past and I'm sure I will again. We might not set out to do it, but we will.
But we have a choice to trust in men (or women) or putting our trust in God. While we know that people will let us down, we can be assured that God will never let us down. Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Now, it takes faith as we might not see it at the time, but we can know that we will never be let down by Him.
So, when can we trust in God?... in all circumstances.
1) When we are unsure of our future, of the way to go, we can trust Him for direction.
Psalm 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
2) When we struggle with times of weakness...trust him for our strength.
Isaiah 26:4 "Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:"
3) When we don't understand... trust His love and concern.
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."
Did we spend the night with the bears? Obviously the bears didn't get me. At the last possible time our pilot showed up and after a 30 minute flight we landed in the last seconds of light.... It was almost impossible to see the water's surface... I believe it was because God was watching out for us that we didn't spend the night with bears or crash in the dark.
So when can we count on the Lord? In all things and all times.
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