Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: TRUST (07/21/16)
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TITLE: The Missing Ingredient | Previous Challenge Entry
By Steve Thomas
07/26/16 -
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Through her mouth did not move, her eyes and her countenance made sure that the message was delivered without ambiguity. There was no mistaking what I was being told. There was no need in prolonging the conversation. Assassins do not shoot you in the foot and then check for a pulse. They do not waste bullets.
Still I was tempted to ask a question or seek a lifeline, but there would be none of that. Not today. Never again. I cleared my throat, and steadied myself in an attempt to save face or at least gain additional clarity, but she put one finger up to her mouth, and silenced me, this time without bullets.
When my eyes opened again, I was by myself. Even though there were no holes, the bullets had left their marks. But more important than the silence that I did not enjoy, was a feeling of being tried, convicted and sentenced for a crime that I did not know I committed, if I committed it at all. And yet here I sit waiting for what happens. When life delivers a major storm, we suddenly feel as if life is outside of our control. We become prisoners of the next storm, not knowing if there would even be a next storm, but bitten by the bug that carries the disease only known as hesitancy and fear.
I am imprisoned by a cell with no bars and the person responsible for guarding the prisoner is the prisoner. And yet, realizing that, I am no closer to the answer to the question: why am I here? There is something about faith that often gets ignored in conversations about faith. Faith is often married to works but, there is something about that friendship that seems to get looked over. Faith, unless accompanied by works, is deemed as incomplete or unsatisfactory. I believe in you, but is that alone enough? I believe in you, and so I am going to act like I do. I believe in you, but has my belief moved me to action? Has my belief in you given birth to something more than just faith?
The missing ingredient seems to be trust. Trust, like works, requires action. It is more than just belief in you, it is a belief in you that inspires me to trust you and entrust you with more and more. Jesus does not need me to build the house, but He wants me to entrust with him the materials that I have. I trust God so much that I am willing to trust Him with my (insert your answer here).
Faith is about believing and works is about doing, but trust is about giving. Trust is not the interest earned on your bank account, it is the bank account. It was at that very moment that I realized what I had been doing wrong. I apologized for being late. The jailers scowl turned into a smile and I realized that forgiveness had come to me long before I walked through the door. Trust, in this case, was extended long before it ever had to be used. And even though we understood there would be times that we would have to dip into that rainy day fund (trust fund), the important thing was knowing it was there if ever needed. The look on the jailer’s face said: I trust you.
I kept the bullets.
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