NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

Day 347 – Trust AND Verify

Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World

Scripture focus: At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, peace to all men and women on earth who please him. As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed. Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told! Luke 2:13-20 The Message

The sheepherders began the day freaked out. An angel appeared and gave them great news. These guys were terrified. The pronouncement was followed by an unplanned, free angelic concert, held in the heavens above them. The songs reminded the shepherds of God’s prevailing purposes – he intends to bring peace to all men and women on earth who please him. This small group talked all this over, and decided to verify the pronouncement of the heavenly messengers. These guys were onto something. They were scared and excited. They desired to trust this message of hope, but were afraid to count on it. I understand that. After all, they lived in a cruel world. Lest we forget, Herod had the power to order the death of all young boys around the age of two and under – and this act of barbarity was executed in obedience to this earthly ruler. Could these young men truly trust that God’s intentions were for peace – in a world where this kind of power was abused by mere mortals?

So these guys make a very wise decision – the same kind of decision that people who live satisfactory lives make every single day. They trusted God enough to verify his pronouncement. They left, and according to the scriptures ran to see if what the angels said was true.

They trusted – and verified.

That’s what I pray for you today…and tomorrow…and next year. I pray that you will trust God, and verify. So as you’re reading God’s word (which satisfied people do), and you come across an instruction like – love your enemies, forgive those who offend you, love God, feed the hungry, give to the poor, visit those in prison, etc. – you run out and do it! This is the verification process.

My life experience has led me to conclude that I cannot truly trust that which I am not willing to verify. I’ve got to practice these principles in all my affairs before I can dare distrust, deny, or denigrate the instructions of holy God. As the shepherds discovered – seeing is believing.

So before you make the decision about the rightness or wrongness of faith – trust and verify. Perhaps that would be a grand experiment worth pursuing in 2009!

Recommended reading: Obadiah 1 and Jonah 1 in the morning; Revelation 4 in the evening

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