And He Will Make Your Path Straight

Life is great when midterms are over! :) Among all the studying and group work at school, there are also subtle reminders & teachings that we can see from God - if only we take the time to think/reflect over it.

For me, one of these lesson came while I was working on a group project.

How it began
For a while now, I've been trying to make sense of the phenomenon of devout youths leaving the church and denying God. And by devout, I mean people who appear to be very knowledgeable in the bible, who attend seminars regularly, and serve zealously in multiple ministries. But when they fall, they have a huge impact and rock the faith of those around them. (Understandably, Satan always targets those whose fall would have the biggest impact on the congregation.)

So when I hear stories like these, I feared that I would fall and dreaded the possibility of  causing others to fall. "It's not that I don't trust God," I'd say, "I don't trust myself."

Worried about losing faith?
Now I know God is faithful. The bible tells and shows that to us in so many places - including in 2 Tim 2:12-13
"If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him;
If we endure we will also reign with him;
If we deny him, he also will deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful - for He cannot deny Himself." 

But... How much do I really trust God? If I really believed that He's faithful, why would I live my faith in fear?

The reality hits: there's a difference between knowing the truth, and believing the truth.

Story time
So what does all this have to do with my group project?

Well, have you ever been so sure of something, so 100% certain that you were right, but then to find out through time/turn of events that you were utterly wrong? That's what happened. I don't think I've ever been SO sure (mind you, I'm not usually this/overly confident) that my recommendation was the solution despite my group's objections, and I held onto my views because it was just so logical to me. And as silly as this sounds, it wasn't until I was proven wrong that I realized I had actually placed a whole lot of emphasis on my own judgment and understanding (despite what I said earlier about not trusting myself).

So this is the problem...
Returning to the topic of people leaving the church - this is one major problem: when people place too much trust on their own way of understanding (or presumptions of how things should be), it gets in the way of believing in God's truth. 

It goes without saying that when too many "I thinks/I feels" gets in the way of your belief in God's truth, you are trusting yourself more than you trust God - you are being your own king/master. Especially for those who think they already know God or think they already understand what He's like, it is difficult for them to turn back. But the reality is, they have not fully seen nor understood Him.

Doubt is also a problem. Doubt = trusting yourself > you trust God. When you allow doubts to stay, you are letting your distrust of God accumulate. And once you put yourself in the place of God, you stop seeing God, stop believing in Him, and leave.

And this is the take-away

This is why Prov 3:5 tells us, to "trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding". Because we ourselves are untrustworthy. Despite how certain we may be or how logical we think we are, we make wrong judgments all the time. We are human - lowly and limited. Without God preserving us and renewing us, we are ugly/wicked inside and slaves to sin. 

This is why we need to trust God and let Him be king, and rely on His guidance. And if we want to remain in Him, to be preserved by Him, we have to obey his commandments (John 15:10). Since God gave us the freedom of choice, we can choose obedience. 

Because choosing obedience is showing that we trust God. Choosing obedience is believing that God knows what's best for us. Choosing obedience means acknowledging we are lowly and God is greater. (Acknowledging God equals submission)*. As Prov 3:6 says "in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." - and that path, my friends, leads us to Heaven.
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So fear not

God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can handle, and He has also given us His Holy Spirit to empower and guide us. But during our daily lives, when we do hear the Holy Spirit reminding us, we can choose whether or not to obey&remain in Him.

As for those who have left, I wholeheartedly believe that God is still calling them back and working in them in ways that we cannot see. However, ultimately, it is our own refusal to listen to Him and to trust Him that prevents us from returning home. But as the father who waits for the return of his prodigal son, God is always waiting for us to return to His love & healing. 

So today, what will you choose? 

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*in NIV, "acknowledge" is translated as "submit to"