You've heard the verses, I'm sure.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.That's ... interesting. Simplistic, perhaps. Not "current," certainly. I mean, where's the "check YouTube" or "follow the right media outlet" kind of things? Nothing in that text suggests "vote for the right person" or "campaign for better laws" or anything like that. Well, of course it doesn't. They had nothing like it at the time. Solomon, who wrote it, had no idea that we'd have Google or CNN or Congress or a president to vote on. So he just offered a simple "Trust in the LORD" approach and argued against trusting your own understanding. Imagine that!
(Prov 3:5-6)
Your response here likely expresses your heart. Me? I don't trust the media. I have no reason to think that Google or Facebook or CNN or Fox are reliable sources of facts, let alone wisdom. I have no reason to trust YouTube's "the truth about" searches because all of it is produced by people whose minds are blinded (2 Cor 4:4) and whose hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer 17:9). I am not counting on a better president (nor fearing a worse one) or better (or worse) laws or more accurate reporting. "Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation," Scripture says (Psa 146:3). Instead, "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes." (Psa 118:9) Whether it be princes of industry or princes of government or princes of media, that's not where I'm going to place my confidence. My constant aim for me is to trust in the LORD with all my heart, to renew my mind rather than conform to the world (Rom 12:2) and trust in people hostile to God (Rom 8:7). You go with what you think is best. I think I'd prefer to change course to God's way.
4 comments:
I don't know. It sounds like you're saying the opposite of what you've said in the past. I've said that I feel like my vote doesn't matter, so I don't think its important to vote, but you and others come down on me saying it is very important (to varying degrees) that I vote.
What I assume you mean is, do those things you think will help, but don't depend on the world systems. But that's only because I know you. Otherwise, it sounds like you're contradicting yourself.
Yes. God uses "ordinary means" to accomplish His plans. That would include you voting and me going to church and us reading our Bibles and praying and so on. The difference, then, is that I'm not counting on those means; I'm counting on the God who uses them. We should all aim to do what we ought with the underlying confidence that God will always win out.
Trusting in the Lord is a good thing. We all should be trusting in the Lord. But that is, to trust Him above all else. That's different than saying, "I trust my wife not to cheat on me", or "I trust this government official over that one". The trust I put in fellow human beings, or their attempts to do right does not trump my trust in God which is paramount and the first practice. If we do not seek out others who put God first, or at least have proven to move in His direction, so to speak, we can't truly be trusting that God will work through anyone or anything. On what basis than can we say we truly trust Him if we dismiss putting some trust in others? To some extent, regardless of whether or not we put any trust in any people, God will do what God will do nonetheless. But I'm put here to do His Will and in doing so, I have an obligation to rely upon others for seeing that Will be done. This is not to say that His Will won't be done anyway, but as I exist, I'm to sit back and just wait for His Will to be done, or should I move toward seeing it done to whatever extent is possible by Him working through me and others?
Said another way, do you not hope that God uses you for His purpose? I trust that He will do so should He choose to do so.
Starting to ramble. I'll leave it there.
I think I addressed that in my reply to David.
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