Quote from Forum Archives on August 9, 2001, 11:41 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

"Who do you want to trust?" That's the question Larry Davies
poses in his entertaining message today. This message comes from
Larry's summer series of "favorite messages". I distinctly
remember this one from my wimp, er, I mean, my friend! Larry
talks about the things that we fear, and where we place our
trust.

I can honestly tell you that one place I do not fear is the
Dentist's office. In 1998, I did, in fact, have a root canal
performed to rid my mouth of a sharp pain. I would have done
almost anything to get rid of that pain, so visiting the dentist
carried no fear for me, but there are things that concern us, and
sometimes even frighten us.

When you get right down to the question of who and what you are
going to trust, you realize that there are many things that you
do, in fact, trust every day. I trust that when I get up, my
legs and feet will support me. I trust that I will have my
family in the house with me. I trust that when I get in my car,
it will work. Most of these things are trustworthy, but not
always.

Earlier this week, one of the messages quoted Proverbs 3:5-6:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your
own understanding. In all of your thinking, acknowledge God, and
He will direct you in the way to go". (My paraphrase).

Larry takes an amusing, but useful look at the issues of faith
and trust in his message today. I hope you find it not only
amusing, but helpful in remembering the things worthy of our
trust and faith.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

Reply-to: "Sowing Seeds of Faith..." <sowseeds@nesbeonline.com>
Subject: Trust, Faith & "The Dentist Office"

Sowing Seeds of Faith

Trust, Faith & "The Dentist Office" Larry Davies

Name three scenes from movies that were so scary, you still have
occasional flashbacks.

* To this day, I cringe upon seeing a flock of birds sitting,
watching, and waiting. Do you remember hundreds of them
attacking school children in Alfred Hitchcock's, 'The Birds'?

* Whenever I hit the beach and enter the water- something in me
looks for a telltale fin and the familiar musical cadence
begins- dum-dum, dum-dum. You guessed it: 'Jaws.'

* Do you remember 'The Marathon Man'? Dustin Hoffman is strapped
in a dentist's chair while Sir Lawrence Olivier, the villain,
stands over his open mouth with a drill and says, 'Tell me
everything'- You hear the whirring sound as Dustin Hoffman'
'screams!'

I had a chance to relive all three scenes recently while waiting
in the dentist office. The birds were perched on the chairs
watching, waiting and the familiar musical cadence began-
dum-dum, dum-dum as I heard the nurse call my name. Suddenly I
was strapped in the chair, looking up helplessly as the 'mad'
dentist held a whirring drill over my mouth and said, 'Tell me
everything!'

I'm kidding but I did go to the local dentist for root canal
surgery. I couldn't stop my overactive imagination. Every time
he placed that drill near my mouth, I wanted to- 'scream! Oh
that hurts!'

'Come on Larry, you're being a wimp!' Yes, I know. He was an
excellent dentist who took great pains (poor word choice) to do
everything just right- so far! But he could make a mistake!
After all, he's only human. Something could distract him. The
drill could slip! Couldn't it' Ouch!!

Actually, the surgery went well with no complications but for two
long hours the future of my mouth was dependent upon someone
else's skills. I had no choice but to place my teeth and my
trust in the hands of another. I hate to admit this, but trust
does not come easily for me.

A dictionary defines trust as: 'a confident reliance on the
integrity, honesty or justice of another; faith.' Trust for me
is a confident reliance on the skills of my dentist. Trust for
you may be-

* - beginning a new relationship after a messy break-up.
* - preparing yourself for needed surgery.
* - allowing your children appropriate freedoms and responsibilities.
* - giving God more control over your life.

Trust would best describe Jesus' attitude while approaching the
end of his earthly life and ministry. Shortly after a last meal
with disciples and friends, Jesus went to the garden of
Gethsemane to pray. 'Father, if you are willing, please take this
cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.'
Jesus knew about the suffering to come yet in the end placed his
confident reliance on the integrity, honesty and justice of
God. There can be no greater trust.

Jesus' prayer was answered, not by having the suffering removed
but by receiving strength. 'An angel from heaven came down and
strengthened him.' (Luke 22:43) It was enough. Even on the cross
Jesus' last sentence was from Psalm 31:5: 'I entrust my spirit
into your hand'- in other words, I place my total trust and
confident reliance in God.

Some other Biblical examples of trust:

* 'That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to
heaven, Jesus the Son or God. Let us cling to him and never stop
trusting him.' (Hebrews 4:14)

* 'Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we
have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.' (Hebrews
10:23)

* 'For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting
Christ to give the victory.' (1 John 5:4)

In other words: 'We have Jesus to cling too. God can be trusted
to keep His promise. We defeat evil by trusting Christ to give
the victory.' What about you? Are you learning to trust others?
How much do you trust God? Learning to trust is a critical part
of faith. So, the next time I go to the dentist office, I may
still relive a few horror movie scenes but I'll do my best not
to- 'scream!'

Would you like to share a prayer concern with our ministry? We
have hundreds of people who pray regularly for others. Just
click here: www.sowingseedsoffaith.com/feedback.htm

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Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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