I love the imagery in this passage. A tree full of life with its roots right down to the river; contrasted directly with a desert shrub parched with thirst in a salt land. Sometimes I think that it says all that is needed. I know that is an overstatement, but when you boil Christianity right down to its essence you find that trusting in the Lord is really the whole point. These two stark images are each the result of one’s placement of absolute trust. Place your trust in the Lord and live life abundantly, or the other, the constant thirsting with no real hope at all as the consequence for trusting in man. This illustration is a picture of the immense value of trusting in the Lord, and the total futility of trusting in oneself.

On a recent sailing adventure to the San Juan Islands my wife and I received three distinct lessons in trusting the Lord. Each bears some lasting imagery for us as well.

Our boat is thirty years old, and so is its engine. It should come as no surprise then that no matter how much faith I put in the engine it is still susceptible to failure. Strange as it may seem, I was surprised and quite disappointed when the engine failed after carrying us nearly sixty miles in just two days. A part of me thought, “Lord, this is not fair. I wasn’t trusting in the engine, it’s old. I was trusting in you.” In the end, of course, I had to repent of that thought. Certainly the Lord knew how old the engine was; moreover he knew just how badly it needed a new fuel pump. He helped it along for the first sixty or so miles, allowing it to fail only after safely reaching a marina where there was a skilled boat mechanic to help us find and solve the problem. The Lord will provide; even while we vacation.

A couple of nights later we were anchored in a crowded little bay when the wind came up during the middle of the night. We awoke to find that our anchor was not holding, and that the wind was slowly driving us toward other boats. It was like a nightmare for us as we spent the next forty minutes motoring in circles trying to re-set the anchor with wind gusts fighting us at every turn. The next morning as I watched the peaceful sunrise, I remembered an impression from childhood of Jesus being the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (found in Hebrews 6:19), and I thanked the Lord (my true anchor) that our engine had been repaired before the wind storm.

On the final day of our journey we had to traverse the sixty miles home from Friday Harbor in just one day. We got up early so we could take full advantage of the current only to find that the entire channel was covered in fog. As disheartening as this was we still hoped to get out on time. As the early morning passed we watched the fog slowly start to clear. We prayed for safety before leaving, and as we proceeded we chased the fog all the way to Cattle Pass. The fog hung thickly there and the pass is narrow. It would be dangerous for us to go through. At the entrance there was another boat waiting. We pulled alongside to discuss the situation with them only to find out that they were merely waiting for their radar to boot up. They quickly agreed to let us follow them safely through the pass. Psalm 37:5 plainly states; “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.”

“Some trust in chariots” (boats?) “and some in horses,” (engines?) “but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” Psalm 20:7 (ESV)

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.   Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

I find this passage encouraging and timely.  It is exactly the kind of message we need today.  So often in our culture when we (finally) stop to think about the Lord we are faced with the horrible reality that we have not been spending our time for Him at all, but rather for ourselves.

During the day we rush about for our employers or for our customers at our jobs.  It seems easily enough justified since it is our good performance at our job that pays the bills.  Unless of course you stop to realize that it is God himself who is your provider (see Acts 17:25).

In the evening we fill our time with families, television, and the Internet.  This too can be justified with little effort since we led such a stress filled day.  We simply want to relax and to be entertained.

Even in the dark of night when we should be sleeping; we lie awake for hours worrying about our lives, our goals, our friends, our families, and the list goes on.  There is little to justify here.  More likely this exasperation with our lives is what drives us back to a place where we can see just how badly we need to be with the Lord.   I hate to state it like that, but it is true.  We need to be with Him.   We need to be with Him in prayer, and in His word.  We need to have our minds fixed on the things of God or else our lives will consume us.

I am afraid it is much worse for many of us than simply squandering time on self-centeredness.  Much of our time is spent on a wide variety of unhealthy lifestyle practices.  There is a long list of these “works of the flesh” found in Galatians 5:19-21.  I am of course speaking of sinful behavior.  This is not how the life of a true believer should be lived, but unhappily these are the realities of the modern Christian.  Today’s worldly culture is prevalent in the lives of professing Christians, and the danger is obvious.

We make so many of our decisions (big and small) without thinking of Him, but only of ourselves.  This is certainly not how we intend to live our lives, so we find ourselves at a loss for a way to change.  Thankfully, the Lord knows our weakness and has provided us a way out.  Paul states it this way in our passage, “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” We need to keep our head in the game.  We are not of this world, and we have a living Savior who is not powerless to save us.

I am not writing to you as one who has already achieved a faultless lifestyle, but as one who is also in need of rescue from the self-absorbed culture of today.   I urge you to join me in a fresh start.  Begin each day by reading the word of God, and in prayer.  Ask the Lord to fill your day with reminders of Him and of His kingdom.  Read a Psalm when you find yourself burdened during the day, and ask the Lord for strength to respond rightly to trials.  Look for opportunities to reach out to those around you, keeping in mind all that the Lord has done for you.  Above all, do not get caught up in worrying about yourself, because it is no longer all about you.  You died the day you became the Lord’s, and your life is now hidden in Him.  Let us see if we can together discover a working definition of a life hidden in the Lord Jesus Christ.