Friday, November 10, 2017

Finding the acorn of truth in the forest of the Mouse

Do You Trust Me?

Learning about Trust from Mickey Mouse

By Rev. Adam Fox


It is hard to avoid Mickey Mouse and Disney. They are everywhere! Including possibly buying 21st Century Fox. But Disney is still Disney, and they produce amazing cartoon movies. But this got me tho thinking, what is the best Disney cartoon Princess movie. Ariel? Belle? Lion King? To me, my favorite Disney movie in the Golden age was... Aladdin!
It was in my opinion, the best of the best. It had adventure, love, comedy, magic, everything any boy-teen-adult would need. What kid didn't want to ride a magic carpet, have a friendly monkey and a Genie! (Bless your soul Robin Williams)
Outside of the amazing music, one of the coolest scenes was when Al asks Jasmine to trust him and come with him on his magic carpet ride. "A whole new world..."
That is a loaded question. Do you trust? Do you trust others? What about God, how much do you trust Him? Trust is defined as "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something."

Trusting is hard for some people. Sure, they trust the chair that they sit in to hold them. But on a larger scale, they have a hard time trusting in sentiment, in God, in their fellow man. I have a friend, but am going to give he/she a fake name ... Batman. 

He - Batman - struggled in this area. I do not know if his history or what made him struggle in this area, but he did. And Batman is no different then the rest of us. Call me jaded, but when an election occurs, I do not trust or believe in the freshly elected candidate that they will accomplish a majority of their promises made. 

Trusting is hard. Trusting in the goodness of man, in people doing the right thing, in our leaders leading as civil servants, trusting in our celebrity heroes, trusting that the work we do actually matters. 

Trusting is hard. And then there is trusting God - which is even harder. 
As believers, we are called to trust the Lord, the triune God who loves us and created us. But it doesn't mean that it is easy. 

But if we are charged to trust the Lord, why is it so difficult? 
My friend Batman has struggled with this. He knows God loves him, and has a perfect plan for him. But never understood why his day is filled with so much disappointment and struggle and fear. How much easier if God would have written that He promised to never put us in a place of danger. But that is not what the Bible says. Instead the Bible tells us to trust the Lord at all times. 

In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me? Psalm 56:4

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 straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

The Scripture is filled with a calling for us as believers to trust the Lord. Trust God completely. 
It does not mean that if we are 100% trusting in God and His will for our lives that we will be completely problem and struggle free. 
WE still live in a fallen sinful world. Satan is going to do everything he can to drown us with fear, to keep us chained and bitter and untrusting towards everything and everyone - especially God. 

Let me remind you of my friend Batman. If you have noticed, I have only used past tense to talk about him. That is because over the last few weeks, Batman has surrender his fear to God and Trust him. Every day I talk with Batsy, and even though Batman is scared and afraid of things. He still trusts that God will provide and will protect Him. Trust is like a new born pet. It is small at first, but grows and matures over time. 

For my friend Batman, He is like that small doge or cat, his trust in the Lord is growing every day. While there is still fear in work, in family, in America, in World Powers, in finances, in so much. God is bigger than our fears. We need to trust the Lord more so. 
Look at what the prophet Jeremiah says, when we trust we are like a tree. Trees grow and enjoy water and sunshine. Trees do not fear the winter or the frost or fire, the tree keeps growing and does not stop producing. 
In-spite of bad circumstances, the tree grows. 

We need to be that tree. Produce fruit, even under the worst of circumstances. 
So where does that leave us? How do we learn to trust? What is the quickest and easiest answer? Bad news my friends, there is not an easy fix. 
Learning to trust someone, or something, and especially God is not a miracle pill. It is possible, but it takes strength and a lot of patience. 

David understood that trusting in God was most important to him. David, the man who had such a difficult life, filled with family drama, fighting, escaping, murder attempts, and so much more said in a psalm
In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me? Psalm 56:4

As believers, I and we need to trust God. We cannot let men, rumors, fear of any kind trap us from being the light of God everywhere. It will not be easy. But I am greatly encouraged when David says, "what can man do to me?"

Let us learn from the example of Batman or me. Trusting in the unknown and unseen is difficult and challenging, but it is worth it. To become the men and women of God, or as Jeremiah says a tree that is planted by the river and does not change due to circumstances. 

Until next time my friends
Cheers and Excelsior!

Pastor Adam

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