October 28, 2008

It's Halloween, time for chocolate and other such goodies. Things that my mom told me would rot my teeth if I ate too much. In 1956, plus or minus ten years, I remember going out "Trick or Treating" on the street where I lived. It wasn't much of a street but my friends and I usually ended up with a grocery bag full. That may have been because we traded costume masks and made the circuit of houses at least three times. That night, when I finally got home, I took my bag into my room and dumped the contents onto my bed. I went through the stash as if looking for the crown jewels in a bag of rocks. I was looking for the prize, something that I sought after more than anything else, a Snickers Bar.

If it was a good year, there may have been more than one Snickers Bar. That year there was loads of popcorn balls, a couple of apples, some bags of that weird looking candy corn, and the ever present cheap hard candy. But in that mound of stuff there was not one Snickers Bar. I was devastated, heartbroken to say the least. How would I survive the night, or the next year? I didn't have a job and the term "allowance" had not been invented yet; that didn't happen until 1962 at my house, the year my dad told me it was time for me to find a job. Needless to say I was not a happy camper that Halloween. I ate the other stuff, including the ever present cheap hard candy, trying to find a substitute for the prized Snickers Bar. Time passed, days and even years, and I found ways of getting my hands on a Snickers Bar every once in a while.

When I was younger I trusted that someone on my street had enough wisdom to know what I was looking for when I came to their door dressed in my strange costume.

(SEE PHOTO ON RIGHT)

This is not really me in 1956, but can you imagine what my neighbors would have thought when they opened the door and saw me in all my glory? That could have been my last time of going out Trick or Treating.

Over the years I have trusted that other things would come my way; some did but others didn't. I sometimes put my trust in others and sometimes the "OTHERS" didn't come through. There were times that others put there trust in me, and some "I" didn't come through.

So who should we put our trust in? John 14:1-3 says:

 1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

New International Version

Jesus is saying we can trust him. He is also telling us to "believe" in God�not a generic "god" but the "Mother/Father God" that Jesus is leading us towards. We make a choice to trust Jesus and believe God will help carry our troubles with us.

So what's troubling you; the economy, the upcoming elections, the lives of your children, or how you're going to face all the things the trouble you?

We may have to come face to face with these issues that trouble us, feel the intensity of the problems, listen to what is demanded by the problems, and then offer it in complete abandonment to God.

As we look at those things that trouble us maybe we should pray. Pray "Lord, I choose you." Take the prayer with you and say it over and over as you go through your day. Let God help shoulder your troubles.

Jesus is promising us that we won't be alone facing those things that trouble us, we have help, someone we can trust.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."