Do You Really Trust God?
Matthew 17:24-27 records the temple tax event with Peter and Jesus. The focus of this narrative is verse 27: “Go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find
a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.” There was a need to be met—the temple tax. There was a resource available—a coin. At issue is how the resource gets matched to the need. Philippians 4:19 reads, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” What need do you have in your life right now? God has the resource to meet your need available already. What you need to understand is how He plans to unite the resource with your need; it is through a vehicle called trust. In our narrative, how did Jesus make the match of provision and need? “Go …” walk down to the water, throw a hook in and catch a fish. Oh, by the way, Peter, one fish, the first one, will be sufficient. Imagine being in Peter’s place. He had time as he walked to think about the instruction. Peter was a fisherman, but he used a net to catch fish, not a line and hook. He caught fish to sell at market price, not for a coin to pay taxes. This event took Peter way out of his comfort zone into unfamiliar ground. How far out of your comfort zone have you gone for Jesus Christ? It is God who decides how the resource He makes available is matched to the need. Problem: there is a “gap” that exists between man’s need and God’s provision. The bridge that spans the gap between man’s need and God’s provision is trust. God’s blessings usually wait on the other side of a threshold called … “compromise” and we will often settle for Satan’s good, missing God’s best. Peter had to trust Jesus and do it His way. Trust is going forward obediently in faith that God will respond and meet the need.
Sin cera, Erik
Erik O. Garthe is Associate Pastor at Canton Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.