Doug Van Pelt

Trusting in Chariots

Psalm 20 is an empowering prayer. It starts off with:

"May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the Name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May He send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion...
...May He give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans suceed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the Name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests."

Then David the psalmist affirms that,

"Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
He answers him from His holy heaven
with the saving power of His right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the Name of the Lord our God..."

God is a firm foundation we can stand on. We can trust in Him. King David saw this first hand. I've seen it in my own life. When my wife and I felt bummed out about our old church's dwindling numbers, changing staff, and eventual merger with another church (whose larger numbers and personality swallowed up ours), we were unsure of the future. I hate the idea of church-hopping and bailing out whenever something tough or challenging comes up, but the church that I fiercely felt loyal to no longer existed -- in name, people, or personality, so we sought the Lord about leaving Mission Hills (which changed names to South Shore and has since changed names and locations to Red River Church) and felt His leading to Calvary Chapel of Austin. It would've been easier to move over to Hope Chapel, which was the "parent" church that planted Mission Hills back in 1986, but we trusted the Lord. And that move has been fantastic. We are part of a church that is growing, has wonderful people, and we've been so blessed by their support (they sell our magazine in their store, along with the Rock Stars on God book -- heck, they've even sold our shirts and stickers there -- what other church would do that?). And that's just a tiny example of seeing God show that He is trustworthy when we follow Him.

Trusting in magazines, chariots, record labels, distribution companies, lame people who don't pay their bills, bands, even friends can let you down. But God is unwavering and unchanging. He can certainly be trusted. I'm glad I don't have to "check my brain at the door" when I worship God or enter a church, but I even trust God with my mind. I know that He won't abuse me or manipulate me. He gave me a brain for a reason and I don't fear submitting it back to Him.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at April 22, 2005 09:12 AM