Trust in God with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
Trust is the essence of relationship building. Trust is defined as belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective.2 It is an important aspect of any relationship, without trust there can be no true intimacy, respect, and honor. For us to enter into a relationship with God or any person there must be a foundation of trust. Without trust the relationship will be superficial and unimportant. Trust is an identifying nature or an important feature of a relationship.
Those who become great leaders understand that your position might give you authority but trust and respect is something that is earned. Without trust there will be no true influence nor obedience. An analogy is the good shepherd versus the hireling, the sheep listen to the voice of the good shepherd. Trust is also defined as the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. Does this person really love and care for me or is there another agenda. Relationships are developed through trust. Being a parent, leader, or discipler is impossible without trust. Trust is something that is developed over time.
I believe one of the reasons God chooses not to deliver "overnight" and why we go through renewal and transformation is because through this process we learn to trust in him, his grace is sufficient. We learn to trust in him to live, this is walking in the Spirit. We learn he is always faithful, true, and good so we turn to his truth, refuge, and trust in him. We become loyal to him, even to the point of death of ourselves. Such a death is impossible without a trusting relationship. This is what God wants for his purpose in eternity, he wants loyal followers who trust and obey him, who put forth his amazing workmanship. Such is a powerful mechanism to understand.
We learn much about trust through our relationship with our earthly father, or mentors. This relationship has a tremendously impact on how we trust others and our Heavenly Father. Have you ever had someone who would stand with you during difficult times? The fatherless know no such people and to gain their trust is not so easy. They have had many people say they love them, like their earthly father, they are abandoned to their own demise, and this becomes a cycle of emotional abandoning. There are many fatherless children growing up this way and most will become another statistic. I believe it is the call of every Christian father to take on the task of defending the fatherless, this is God in his holy place.
Trust is the essence of relationship building. Trust is defined as belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective.2 It is an important aspect of any relationship, without trust there can be no true intimacy, respect, and honor. For us to enter into a relationship with God or any person there must be a foundation of trust. Without trust the relationship will be superficial and unimportant. Trust is an identifying nature or an important feature of a relationship.Those who become great leaders understand that your position might give you authority but trust and respect is something that is earned. Without trust there will be no true influence nor obedience. An analogy is the good shepherd versus the hireling, the sheep listen to the voice of the good shepherd. Trust is also defined as the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. Does this person really love and care for me or is there another agenda. Relationships are developed through trust. Being a parent, leader, or discipler is impossible without trust. Trust is something that is developed over time.
I believe one of the reasons God chooses not to deliver "overnight" and why we go through renewal and transformation is because through this process we learn to trust in him, his grace is sufficient. We learn to trust in him to live, this is walking in the Spirit. We learn he is always faithful, true, and good so we turn to his truth, refuge, and trust in him. We become loyal to him, even to the point of death of ourselves. Such a death is impossible without a trusting relationship. This is what God wants for his purpose in eternity, he wants loyal followers who trust and obey him, who put forth his amazing workmanship. Such is a powerful mechanism to understand.
We learn much about trust through our relationship with our earthly father, or mentors. This relationship has a tremendously impact on how we trust others and our Heavenly Father. Have you ever had someone who would stand with you during difficult times? The fatherless know no such people and to gain their trust is not so easy. They have had many people say they love them, like their earthly father, they are abandoned to their own demise, and this becomes a cycle of emotional abandoning. There are many fatherless children growing up this way and most will become another statistic. I believe it is the call of every Christian father to take on the task of defending the fatherless, this is God in his holy place.
- 43% of US children live without their father [US Department of Census]
- 90% runaway/homeless children are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]
- 71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father. [U.S. D.H.H.S press release, Friday, March 26, 1999]
- 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]
- 85% of children who exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. [CDC]
- 71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. [National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools]
- 71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. [National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools]
- 75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes. [Rainbows for all God’s Children]
- 70% of juveniles in state operated institutions have no father. [US Department of Justice, Special Report, Sept. 1988]
- 85% of youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home. [Fulton County Georgia jail populations, Texas Department of Corrections, 1992]
- Fatherless boys and girls are: twice as likely to drop out of high school; twice as likely to end up in jail; four times more likely to need help for emotional or behavioral problems. [US D.H.H.S. news release, March 26, 1999] -- 4
Defending the fatherless is a good cause, if anything it would make society a better place. James goes even further he calls it pure religion; they are not at fault, we can fault an adult who is an alcoholic, it is their fault. but not a child. Every organization that says they are of pure religion should support such a cause. Defending the fatherless is to reflect the image of God, a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.5 God wants his kingdom here on earth. Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, defend the fatherless...6
Early Roman and Greek society did not value their children, they were often discarded, used as work slaves, sex slaves, or abandoned. Early Christians took on the cause of the fatherless, many of the schools and educational systems were developed around the concept of defending this cause. These early Christians changed the world. Today in this country the divorce rate is around 50%, so believing that 43% of US children will grow up without a father is not a stretch. If the early Christians took on such a cause changing the world, what an opportunity for Christianity today!
Strong God
Fathers In The Field
Early Roman and Greek society did not value their children, they were often discarded, used as work slaves, sex slaves, or abandoned. Early Christians took on the cause of the fatherless, many of the schools and educational systems were developed around the concept of defending this cause. These early Christians changed the world. Today in this country the divorce rate is around 50%, so believing that 43% of US children will grow up without a father is not a stretch. If the early Christians took on such a cause changing the world, what an opportunity for Christianity today!
Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord....
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,7
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord....
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,7
Strong God
Fathers In The Field