Sitting with the Lord and sipping on some gold (coffee) in the humble walls of the coffee shop our YWAM base has (YWAM is where we are staying while in Thailand). A dad and his about two-iiisshhh year old son walked in. Dad orders some coffee and his son says…
“it is hot daddy?”
and Dad says “yes, it is hot. Do not touch it. It will hurt.”
*his son touches hot cup of coffee.
“OUCH DADDY! IT IS HOT”
Friends, we are like this dad’s son. We are this little boy. This is us when God warns us about sin. A Good Good Father tells about something that is a bad bad thing. We do what He says not to do.
We think we must experience it to believe it. Usually, we only believe something because we have encountered it and have had a past with it. But the belief that we have a hard time understanding is believing in the things that are unseen and unencountered. There’s a belief that is out of line with our human instincts. This belief isn’t in things that have already been seen or experienced. It is a belief that is by faith—that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. Faith is the confidence that what hope for will happen.
And what we ultimately hope for to happen is to find a light.
Our urge to walk into the area that says “do not ” derives from the fire and wonder in us to seek some kind of form of a light. We don’t trust that when a loving Father says “do not touch”, it is actually beneficial for us to not touch and He is looking out for us.
Leaning into the darkness does not promote light nor does it promise it. Seeking what we are told not to seek is motivated out of our eagerness to step outside the safe walls of God’s word and thrill the void inside us with tempting, yet false treasures. Not treasures at all actually…more like bedazzled trashcans. We’re looking for more. For void fillers. For happy things. For unsustainable sugars this world is selling. Leaning into the darkness is motivated out of us thinking that we know what’s good for us and placing the banner of “God” over us instead of letting God be God.
With Jesus. With the One that knew no sin, but became sin so we didn’t have to be enslaved to sin. With the Light of the world… we don’t have an untrustworthy voice or a hand full of unreliable words when He speaks. We have a faithful and straight up helpful friend in what He says. Faith is believing who Jesus is, what He claims to be and what He says. Faith contributes to an agreement to let His call change the way we live. Faith is not a status, but an investment in the person of Jesus.
The verb “believe” is often followed by the Greek preposition eis. Which means “into”.
When God says not to touch the hot cup of coffee…trust in those words, abide in His love for you in those words, and buy into what He is saying in those words. Tap into the promises He has. Tap into His light. Tap into what He says.
Because it is safe for you. It is actual treasure.
His word isn’t a smelly bedazzled trashcan.
And if He says “the coffee cup is hot, don’t touch”….trust when He says “don’t”.
A full treasure chest of life, found only in the name of Jesus, is waiting to be opened by your faithful obedience.
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. Hebrews 11:1-3
