Trust and the Father's Will
Greetings and good morning, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This morning we seek to understand the relationship between trust and the Father’’s will.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Trust and the Father’’s Will
"Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him." Proverbs Chapter 30, Verse 5
Brothers and sisters, in today broadcast, we shall examine the relationship between trust and the Father’’s will. We shall define what we mean by trust and the Father’’s will. We shall give examples of the implication of this trust or failure to trust the Father, and finally we shall show why it is impossible to accept the guidance of the Father without trusting him.
Trust is a essential at almost every turn of life. Where ever there is a social group functioning, trust is essential in order to maintain the cohesion of that group. The functions of the group can not be carried out without exercising trust. And this trust is based upon the moral nature of human beings, the sense of responsibility to one another. Trust is that quality that allows us to invest ourselves in others. It means having faith in the promises of those whom have become the object of our trust. Trust allows us to accept a future return on what we invest today. There are so many areas of our life that we take for granted the trust function. The employer- employee relationship for example depends upon the employee trusting the employer to provide compensation for the work done.
Today our economic system is undergoing negative stress because of the default of those who were trusted with certain responsibilities. They allowed their greed to override their responsibilities to the group. We are all aware of the devastation of this betrayal of trust because we suffer from it. In our complex society, we are interdependent: when something happens in one area, it is sure to effect other areas in ways that we may not even be aware of initially.
The Father’’s will is the will of God, which lives in our minds and in our souls. The Father’’s will spiritually transforms as we submit to that will. The Father considers our wills supreme in moral and spiritual matters. If we are to survive this life, we must submit our wills to the Father’’s will, and this requires trust. There is a way that seems right to man but the way thereof leads to death. Without trusting him, we will never choose his will or follow his guidance. As we live our lives, we are dependent on the heavenly Father for all things, even though we may not realize this. Without God, nothing can exist. So being spiritual children, the Father has put in place a mechanism that will allow us to choose his will.
Fortunately, the Father has placed an urge within us---a desire for him--that can never be filled by anything or anyone else. This desire creates a hunger for and a desire to know him. Always will we know him because we trust him. His will pervades our soul with his goodness and this goodness instructs our souls to trust Him. This goodness it breeds loyalty. In choosing the Father’’s will and accepting his guidance, there is a real choice being made, though the conscious self may not be aware of the source of the choice, or even that it is choosing the Father’’s will.
The self is aware of two inner natures, one of which is of God. The self certainly can choose between the two, and does. Jesus reveals the Father to us. The altruistic impulses of love and the unselfish regard for others is the manifestation of the divine nature, along with the revelations of truth, beauty, and goodness. By choosing the Father’’s will, we enter the kingdom of heaven, where there is joy, peace, and righteousness. Happy is he who does the Father’’s will.
The other aspect of the Father’’s will is his guidance: wisdom, understanding, and truth discernment. This guidance is contrastive with the guidance of self, which moves in selfish direction and onto the path of least resistance. This path does not lead to success or increase in status. When we choose higher guidance, success appears and an increase in status occurs.
When confronted with a fork in the road of experience, there are two ways we can proceed. We can proceed according to our way, the way that appears easier or more expedient, the way that may bring about instant gratification and satisfaction, or we can choose the Father’’s way, the way of delayed gratification, the way of difficulty, and growth, the way of an increase in status. If we choose the Father’’s way, then we choose the decision with the highest value, the decision reflective of the highest understanding and wisdom that we possess. Now whether we are intellectually conscious that choosing the decision of the highest understanding and wisdom is the choosing of the Father’’s will is not paramount as long as we choose that course. There is this perfection urge, the Father’’s will, that urges us on to greater and greater achievements, and we respond to this urge of perfection by making the choice of the highest value, the Father’’s will.
Accepting the guidance of the Father is to always accept the choice of the highest value, the way of struggle. Our experience has taught us that the way to true success is by effort, perseverance, and faith. This the way of progress, and is according to the Father’’s plan for our lives And this guidance is made possible by trust, for if we trust the goodness of the Father, we will choose his way; if we do not we will choose our way. But what is the validation that choosing his way is superior to the human way? Personal experience reveals the results of choosing the Father’’s way. The way of progress is the way of the Father, and to choose the way of progress always leads to an increase in status, intellectually, morally, and spiritually. Choosing the Father’’s will allows us to perform in ways that we could not perform prior to choosing his will.
As we look back over our lives and reflect over some of the difficult decisions that we had to make, we realize that the Father guided us through the decision-making process. And even though these difficult decisions may have been emotionally upsetting, we recognize that they were the right decision, and we became better because we made them. We experience an increase in status. We can identify several key decisions in our lives that made us what we are today; and we also realize if we had chosen our will rather than the Father’’s we would have a much sadder story to tell. And we must continue to make these difficult decisions; we must continue to trust in the goodness of the Father so that we can choose his will through His Son, Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Finally it becomes obvious that we cannot do the Father’’s will without trusting him because without trusting him, we will not choose his will.
This concludes today's message on the relationship between trust and the Father’’s will. We hope you find something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day.
Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry.
Your Kingdom Come; Thy Will Be Done!
Trust and the Father's Will
Inspirational Messages
By Dr James Perry
