July 2018 - Ondrea Robbins

Trust in God: It’s a Matter of the Heart

Trust

Trust. What does it look like to trust in God? This question plagues me because it is my biggest struggle. I struggle with trust in several areas of my life. I want my relationship with God to shift from a head knowledge of trust to a heart knowledge.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3

Trust Defined

First, I want to define trust and see how it applies to God. The English Oxford dictionary defines trust as “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” I love words and their meanings, and based on this definition it would seem that it should be easy to trust in God.

Is God Reliable?

I absolutely believe that God is reliable. I have evidence of His reliability from this summer on my trip to Haiti. He sent people who had key connections that would take care of us by guarding us as we walked the streets. We were able to find hotels with rooms available for us to stay. We knew our prayers were being heard and answered by a God who is reliable. He has shown me He is reliable by sending people into my life to speak words of encouragement. I did not accept Christ until I was a teenager. I needed plenty of encouragement and direction because I was hard-headed. God was always reliable and always sent the answer I needed.

Is God Able?

I know what you are thinking, is this really even a question? I believe in a creator God who “is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20) Genesis 1:2&3 should be enough to illustrate that. “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” My favorite part is next because scripture tells us, ” And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” God spoke a word and light was created. His word is strong and powerful enough to create. When you look at all of the “And God saids” in Genesis 1 can you see how He is able? When He speaks creation obeys. He is able.

Is God Strong?

Scripture tells story after story of God fighting battles for Israel. Gideon in Judges chapter 7 did not fight the Midean army alone! Samson was not strong of his own accord. It was the strength of God that led to victory. Psalm 9:9 says, “The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” We can turn to Him because He is the source of all strength. I can testify that the Lord has been my strength. This last year has been a stretching season for me. I was finishing up my Master’s Degree in Elementary Education, working full time as a third-grade inclusion teacher, my husband is a youth minister, and I have two fabulous children. The Lord was the only thing sustaining me around March of this year! He was strong when I was very weak.

Can I Believe What He Says is True?

Let’s be real, all of this is based on whether I believe His word is true. Did He do those things from the Bible? Did Jesus really walk the earth, heal the sick, and forgive sins? The Bible contains historical fact, poetry, and prophecies that God wanted His people to read so that we could know His character. You can fact check the Bible for historical accuracy. I believe with all of my heart that the word of God is inerrant. It is remarkable that God used humans to convey His message to us. These men saw the works of Jesus and even though they did not use the exact same words or structure, they told the same story. I love the word of God because it is His gift to me so that I can learn more about Him.

So What’s My Problem?

Why is trust an issue for me and so many other people? Why is it when I am going through a stressful time I try to step in and take God’s place? My problem is that I have plenty of head knowledge about how reliable, truthful, able, and strong God is but my heart hasn’t gotten the message. I want to live out the trust I have in God. I want it to move from belief to unwavering trust in the God who is bigger than all of my fears and problems. So my plan will be to focus on Philippians 4:8. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” I want to think about things above because Proverbs says this leads to perfect peace. Not that everything will be perfect, because that is not how the world works. The world is a cruel place. Following the way of Christ is not popular or easy, but we can have peace. If our minds are on “stayed on Him” the circumstances won’t matter. We can begin trusting God with all of our hearts.

Do you struggle with trust like me? What truth can you hold on to in your life? What can you think about that is worthy of praise? How can you begin to trust with your heart not just your head?

Music: Reckless Love

I have been a worship leader for several years. I love music, but most of all I love lyrics. Reckless Love has gotten a lot of love on the radio and in worship sets in the last few months. Some people have said that it has become the next Oceans, and I can see where they are coming from. I do believe that with all the radio play a song can lose some of it’s power. This is why I think that Reckless Love by Cory Asbury is not one of those songs.

Reckless Love: The Lyrics

Verse 1

Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me

Chorus

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

Verse 2

When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me
You have been so, so good to me
When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me
You have been so, so kind to me

Bridge

There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me

First of all, everyone can identify with the lyrics of this song. I have had times in my life when I needed rescue because of the dumb choices I made. The lyrics refer to Matthew 18:12-14 where Jesus says, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” We are all sheep and have moments where we need the good shepherd. This is a message that everyone can identify with in some way. The church needs songs like this right now. The American church has become a nation of people who are hiding behind nice smiles and cute church clothes when our hearts are crying out for someone to see who we really are. We all mess up. We all have imperfections. The church should be the place where we can say, “I just need Him. I need His love.” We all, at one time or another, have been the 1 he left the 99 to save.

Reckless Love: The Author’s Heart

I listen to Annie Down’s podcast as much as humanly possible because she is amazing. She doesn’t know it yet, but one day we will be friends. (Who knows? It could happen.) In March, Annie had Cory Asbury on her podcast “That Sounds Fun” to talk about the song, along with several other things. On the podcast, he talks about the love of God and how nothing else matters. He desires for his record to bring the peace of God that passes all understanding. The record was a labor of love for him, not just another money making machine. You can find that podcast here. You can also see his passion for the lyrics here on Instagram.

In Worship

I love using songs in worship that sing words to God, not just about God. I think when planning a worship set it is important to remember that the music portion of worship should point our hearts to scripture. Music is only one part of worship. Prayer, scripture, and music should all work toward the purpose of tuning our hearts to the message God has for us. So, do I believe this song should be sung in every worship set because it speaks to our hearts? No, I don’t. I do believe that it is popular because the church needs the song. I always think singing a song that people know and identify with is important to worship.

Haiti and Why I Will Always Go

I have a responsibility to show you how much I love Haiti and why I will always go. I have tried for days to sit down and write my thoughts and feelings about my 5 days in Haiti. Every time I do my mind goes blank. It’s almost as if I don’t want to admit what really happened. Haiti has been in the news this week for protests and riots because of political unrest. Despite what I saw this week I will continue to go.

The Problem

The average American spends $140 a day. The average Haitian lives on less than $2 a day. Sometime on Friday, the government in Haiti raised gas prices 38%, which may be good for the businessman in Haiti but not the average man. Understandably the people were angry, and that is why they were rioting and protesting. There were people in the crowds we saw on the news that was just trying to get home from visiting family. Innocent people were being punished because a select few resorted to violence to respond to a corrupt government. The people you saw on the news throwing rocks are not a good representation of my beloved friends from Haiti.

Let’s Get Real

I want to be very clear about a few things. The first is that we were in a very dangerous position because we drove through blockades. We also walked through an active area on our way to a hotel that promised to be a safe haven for us. We saw angry people throw rocks and we heard gunshots. The tire fires burned hot and the tension was very real. The second thing I want to make clear is that there are some amazing people that worked very hard to keep us safe. Not just the group from my church, but other groups as well. So, while there were people being injured and even dying on the streets I was being led by an armed guard to keep me safe. We even had a worship service at the hotel that gave us refuge.

Go: But Use Your Privilege for Good

I know it was necessary for us to stay safe because we had students with us whose families were counting on us to bring them home. My own children were waiting for their parents to come back. At the same time, I wanted to run through the roadblocks and yell at them to stop what they were doing. I wanted to tell them to stop the violence and come up with a better way. I knew that would not be the best use of my time there or the influence I could have. If something had happened to any of the groups while the rioting was going on, fewer people would want to go serve. The best use of my American privilege is to shed a light on the need in Haiti but also tell you about my wonderful friends. It is my job to be a witness so you will see Haiti and why I will always go.

Go: Give Hope

The need in Haiti stems from a corrupt government. They seem to pander to big business and make the rich even richer causing the poor to stay poor. My beautiful friends need Americans to go so that we can bring awareness to the problem. We can use our American privilege to bring much needed medical supplies and food. We can sponsor children so they can go to school and get a meal each day. They need us to go and give them some hope.

The friends I have in Haiti are kind and loving. They share so that no one goes without. They see orphans and widows and give them shelter even when they have so little themselves. I’ve given a hungry child a pack of crackers, expecting them to consume the whole pack by himself, turn around and share with his friends. Our group goes to visit families who welcome us by bringing out chairs so that we will stay and visit. The Haitian people are a beautiful group of people. They sing passionately in worship and love each other well. I go to Haiti to offer the hope I have in Christ.

“Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” 1 Peter 3:15

I will continue to go to Haiti to share Christ because that is what God has called me to do. Our church partners with But God Ministries because they equip Haitians to help each other. They offer a medical clinic, child sponsorship for school, ways to help with food and water, and clothing when available. They aren’t trying to make Haitians like Americans. I don’t want Haiti to be like America. I want them to know Jesus. Even the protesters and rioters. Especially the protesters and rioters. I will continue to go and give them hope, the hope of Jesus.

I pray that someone reading this would be compelled to go. Go online to But God Ministries and see how you can get involved.