Trust and Obey Part 2

The other half of this duo is Obedience.  Now we have plenty of practice at doing this
since our childhood.  We have to obey our parents, our teachers, laws, rules, government,
etc. And when we choose not to obey well, let's just say the results can be anywhere from
mild to dissaterous! So coming back to the point of obedience when it comes to what God
wants us to do why do we find it so difficult?  Did you know that God isn't going to give you
some great, overwhelming thing to do right off the bat?  Perhaps that is what scares some to
not accept Jesus as their Savior.  Perhaps they anticipate that if they accept Christ then God
will ask them to get out of their comfort zone and do some great thing like give away all their
money or go to some foreign land.  Well the truth of the matter is that God might ask them
to do something like that but probably not right away if ever.  We first have to do the basics
such as tithing.  Yes, I see tithing my income back to the church to be a matter of obedience
as well as one of trust.  I am often tempted not to tithe and for many years did not.  Oh, I'd
give a twenty here and there and pat myself on the back for it, but that isn't what God has
asked me to do now is it?   Once God sees you can be trusted with the small stuff then and
only then will you be trusted to do bigger things.  In Matthew 25:14-30 we read the parable
Jesus told of the Talents (money and lots of it too!)  A man was going on a journey and he
had some servants to whom he entrusted his property.  To one he gave five talents, to another
two talents and to a third he gave one talent.  Now we can assume these servants were
given this sum of money each according to his proven ability in prior duties.  These were men
trusted to be faithful and obedient.  Two of these servants were faithful to invest their sums
so that they could give their master even more.  But the third servant hid his money and
didn't invest.  There was plenty of time to do something good with it since it was a long time
before the master came home from his journey.  It is obvious that each was supposed to
give back more than he was given as he gave them "according to their ability."
The ones who invested wisely were given more responsibility, but the one who did not
invest was cast out from the master's presence into outter darkness where there was
weeping and gnashing of teeth. I've been told that "gnashing of the teeth" is not from
the pain but from contempt.  There was no regret; no sorrow; only contempt toward
the master and that is the very reason that servant failed to invest what he was given.
These days we tend to equate talents with gifts or abilities and that would be a very
good comparison to make. One of my abilities happens to be taking photographs.
I'm not as good as I want to be yet but I'm trying to use it to glorify God.  What He
does with what I give is up to him.  I'm obedient to use this talent/gift because I trust
Him. 
Now just how can I illustrate this point of being obedient?  I think in this case there
are several photos I could use but I will use this photo of a boat.  Why a boat?
What's obedient about a boat you might ask.  Well a boat reminds me of Noah.
This man and his family were told to build an ark.  It took Noah a hundred years to
complete his assignment, yet he was obedient.  Now Noah had to have been a man
who God knew he could trust to be obedient.  I'm sure he had the traits God could use
to do the task.  He must have been good with following directions.  Perhaps his wife
had something to do with that as he may have had his share of "honey do's."
This was most likely not the first time God had depended on Noah and he saw in
Noah a steadfastness which had to have been developed over time.  So be obedient
in the small things.  Trust God and then Obey!  You aren't going to be asked to build
an ark, but perhaps be a friend to a neighbor or use a gift you have to bless another.
You never know how many lives you touch.  The dollar you gave to missions might
have helped others come to know Christ as their Savior.  No matter whether you
are a child or an adult, its never too late to begin trusting and then with your trust to
be obedient.  God will be faithful to use whatever you give him and will multiply it.