The Risk of Trusting God
Amazing things happen when people surrender themselves to the will of God. The Scriptures are full of examples of surrender, but the ones that catch my attention are the very young ones. Samuel, Josiah, David, the boy who offered his lunch to Jesus all experienced amazing things because they were not afraid to trust God.
There are many such stories in the history of The Salvation Army as well. However, the one that started it all was a young William Booth, co-founder of The Salvation Army. At the age of 16, while working as an apprentice in a pawn shop, he felt compelled to kneel down on the floor of the boiler room in that shop and surrender to God’s will in his life. It is reported that his request was "that God would have all of William Booth." From this initial act of surrender began an amazing ministry that crossed all socio-economic barriers and crossed national and political borders like nothing else before. Today, The Salvation Army provides help, healing, hope and salvation in more than 130 countries across the globe. Countless men, women, boys and girls have had their lives changed as a result of this surrender.
As we celebrate National Salvation Army Week in the USA, we are reminded that it all started with a young boy taking the risk to surrender to the will of God. As we reflect on this, we are also challenged to consider what more could be done for God and His mission of salvation and restoration if we surrendered “all there is”to His will.
Jesus promised His disciples that they would do great things in His name“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. . John 14:12-13 (NIV2011)
So the question remains, what is stopping us?