Contingency - a provision for a possible event or circumstance
(lexico.com)
It is prudent to plan for contingencies on just about everything
nowadays. Since we cannot predict the future with certainty, it just makes
sense to make plans for this or that. Some words related to contingency are
emergency, likelihood, predicament, eventuality, incident, event, circumstance,
and probability. Please note that I did say it was prudent to plan for
contingencies on just about everything, but I didn’t say for
everything.
Since there are some legitimate contingencies to prepare for in
life, I want to direct your attention to something we should never make a
contingency for; you may even amen what I am about to say, but it can be very
challenging at times to handle this verb properly in the eyes of God, and that
is, trusting in Yahweh. We are dirtying up that verb to our spiritual
detriment, perhaps unwittingly?
Have you ever noticed how many things we encounter that are
counter-intuitive in doing the will of Yahweh? And yet, I have seen time and
time again that He who is in control is in control of what I see is spinning
out of control!
Keeping in mind that God is all-knowing, often our trust in
Yahweh isn’t about committing to His will at all; rather, it is going through
the motions of trust or mistrust. If trust doesn’t work out, we quickly bail
out of His will. We are in effect saying, “God is not big enough to handle this
load for me; I need to take things into my own hands,” leaning to our own
understanding; we go to Plan B.
Biblical trust takes two hands. It is not about holding onto God
with one hand and a contingency plan on the other. Why do you think Solomon
told his son to trust in Yahweh with all of
his heart (Prov 3:5a)? Because we have a tendency to depend upon our own
understanding in the way we should go; the inclination of the flesh is to go
outside of His will if left to our own understanding (Prov 3:5b; cf. Prov 3:7).
Trust is all about doing Yahweh’s will, and He will
show you which path to take (Prov 3:6, NLT)!
Having not only the right object of trust is one thing, but it
is of necessity that the heart, the seat of our intellect, emotions, and will,
are all involved and focused on trusting in Yahweh, to the exclusion of everything else!
We cannot trust in Yahweh in a way pleasing to Him while hanging on to
something else for insurance!
If we are honest, we do this more than we know, but that is not
a biblical trust, the kind of trust required in serving Yahweh according to
Solomon. Often, our own understanding has a tendency to combine trust in God
with something else. Our dependence, our confidence must be solely on Yahweh.
If not, we have let go of biblical trust in Him. The combining is the culprit!
If our heart is not fully committed to trusting in Yahweh, if we
choose to rely on our own understanding or experiences over the Word of God, if
we have no desire to seek His will in all that we do regardless of the
circumstances, we cannot reasonably expect Yahweh to show us the path to take
(Prov 3:6); why should He reveal to us that which our hearts have already let
go of?
Let’s state the obvious; the sole object of our trust is to be
in Yahweh, not divided by some psychological or chemical crutch or relying on
our own strength or on our checkbook or on others or whatever. We are to trust,
to be confident, safe, and secure in our reliance upon Him without fear. Our
hope is in Him, not in Him plus something else! To what extent are we to trust
in Yahweh? In Prov 3:5a, we see that it is with all your
heart. Nevertheless, we often combine trust in God with something
else as a backup plan in the event things do not work out like we think they
should with trusting in God, yes?
So, let me offer a biblical proposition concerning this matter
of trusting in Yahweh. Trust in Yahweh plus something or someone is not trust
in the biblical sense of the word. When we look at trust in Yahweh in the
context of Prov 3:5-6, we quickly realize that trusting in God when it is
convenient is not biblical trust because we are not committed to seeking His
will in all that we do regardless of the situations.
Obedience to God’s will demands a trust that has no
contingencies or any baggage attached. This would make sense if our investment
in trusting in Yahweh involves the totality of our being (trust
in the LORD with all your heart), relying on His wisdom (and
lean not on your own understanding), not on our own (cf.
Jdg 21:25; Prov 3:7), and seeking His will over our own desires (in
all your ways acknowledge Him). Only by doing these things is the promise
given, and He shall direct your paths. Yes, this
promise is conditional!
Many believers struggle with knowing God’s will in a matter as the direct result of either currently sinning in knowledge, willful ignorance of
the Scriptures, or not being fully invested in biblical trust, causing the
promise in Prov 3:6 not to be revealed. This happens when we dirty up our trust
in Yahweh.
I was sharing with my old friend Dr. Womack, over dinner last
evening, that I have come to look at the purity of biblical trust in the same
vein as I do grace, the unmerited favor of God – adding anything to either one
dismantles their true biblical meanings. He concurred. These two wonderful ideas
in Scripture are very sensitive to contamination from being misunderstood,
mishandled, and mistreated.
This insight was dramatically brought to my attention not too
long ago of someone dear to me struggling with holiness before God and
exacerbating spiritual healthiness before Yahweh and others. How often do we
tell people in tough situations, “You just need to trust in God!”
We may mean well, but unfortunately, our generic messaging, to a
“rebukee” that is often on the defensive, only comes across more like a stern
and insensitive condescension than a right word at the right time by a wise
“rebuker,” though I am not discounting the value of tough love (agape),
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in
settings of silver (Prov 25:11).
My objective here is rather simple; that we take a different
look at biblical trust within the framework of Scripture and our own lives and
avoid heaping contingencies upon this very important verb in the Christian
life. “In God We Trust” is more than a motto on a dollar bill; it is a way of
life (or should be) for all spiritually regenerated believers.
If we are found guilty of dirtying our trust in Yahweh, we can
mislead others on what it means to truly trust in Him. Like it or not, people
are always listening and evaluating our words, watching our behavior on social
media and in our concentric circles of influence and interaction, particularly
under trying circumstances to see our response and faith in God.
I mentioned about the purity that both trust and grace shared
earlier. When that purity is compromised, the biblical meaning of what it means
to trust in Yahweh or the meaning of grace in salvation is corrupted. When
Paul was talking about the Jewish remnant according to the election of grace in
Rom 11:5, answering the question that God has not cast away His people, he made
this statement about grace in contrast to works in Rom 11:6,
And if by grace, then it is no longer of works;
otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it
is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
Here we see that the idea of grace and work is diametrically in
opposition to one another when it comes to election. Opposites attract doesn’t
work here, folks! Paul stated in v5 about the election
of grace. There is a lot to unpack in Rom 11, but for brevity’s sake, I
will simply remind us of the purity of grace and the importance of it in
salvation.
Paul, in v6, argues that if the election of the Jews was of
grace, and he did in v5, then the election has nothing to do with merit, or in
Paul’s words, no longer of works.
If the election was of works, which it is not, then Paul concludes that the
election is no longer of grace.
So, the election of the remnant of Jews in the future cannot be both.
If the election is of grace and there is an inkling of works, it
is no more an election of grace. If the election is of works and there is a
smidgen of grace, it is no more an election of works! This is the relationship
between grace and works; they are at odds with one another.
This concept also applies to our salvation in Jesus Christ (Eph
2:8-9, for by grace you have been saved through faith…not of works.
I have roughly handled Romans 11, but you get the idea concerning the purity of
grace for the remnant of Jews and NT believers and believers presently.
Trust in Yahweh with all your heart is just that, with all of
our hearts. He is the sole object of our trust, plus nothing, minus nothing. For
Prov 3:5-6 to work for us, there are no contingencies, no backup plans just
in case. Trust in Yahweh plus something else is not biblical trust.
For trust to work it has to be pure and free of contingencies; we are foolish to
sully it up by adding qualifications to it. In such a case, our trust has
been compromised by sin and our stupidity.
If we quit dirtying up our trust in Him with all of our
alternative plans, we will discover the path we are to take that not only
pleases Him but glorifies Him as well. When we work the Word by taking it at
face value rather than retooling it, we will experience victory and blessings
rather than living in self-defeat and misery! Trust cannot and should not be
tampered with. If we attempt to redefine the biblical meaning of it, we will
never know the way that is pleasing to Him.
Dirtying up our trust in God will never bring blessings into our
lives until we learn to trust Yahweh with all of our hearts, depend on His
wisdom, and seek His will in all that we do. That, my friends, is a clean
trust, a biblical trust that discovers the path of God’s will that brings glory
to Him along with eternal blessings to us. <><
%20MG%20t-bkgrd%2060x44.png){kind=small}
%20sunflower%20makeover%2045x63.png){kind=small}
