Aug 07
24
In God We Trust?
Posted by Stephen24
Tags: fears, Joel, prayer, protection, trust
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At bedtime prayers with the boys tonight, Joel asked me to pray for “keep me safe of dinosaurs, dragons, monsters and things like that.” So I did.
A thunderstorm was passing by, and knowing how much Joel dislikes thunder I also prayed that God would protect the boys from thunder, lightning and the storm. Then as I tucked him into bed I reminded Joel that God would keep him safe. He replied, “Daddy keep me safe.”
I smiled at my son’s vote of confidence in his father, but felt a little sad at the same time. When faced with the choice between trusting a powerful, wise, loving, faithful God, who is also invisible and intangible, or trusting a fallible parent, spouse, sibling or friend, who is actually physically present, who we can see and hear and touch, don’t we often choose the one we can see, the one who is so obviously here? To put it another way, don’t we rely on our own abilities (and those near to us) to provide, protect, comfort and sustain? We turn to God as a last resort rather than as our first choice.
The psalmist had his priorities sorted out:
I love the Lord because he heard my plea for mercy, and listened to me. As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help.
Psalm 116:1-2 (NET)
If I say,
