Thought for November 9

 History:

• 1620: The Mayflower spots land--Cape Cod
• 1821: First US pharmacy college opens in Philadelphia
• 1857: Atlantic Monthly first published
• 1862: General Grant bars Jews from serving in the Union Army
• 1906: Theodore Roosevelt is first serving President to visit a foreign country
• 1925: Nazi Party creates the SS
• 1938: Al Capp creates Sadie Hawkins Day
• 1953: Major League Baseball ruled exempt from anti-trust laws
• 1969: Simon & Garfunkel record "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
• 1984: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Three Soldiers completed [You may see Frederick Hart's working model at Belmont University]
• 1984: "A Nightmare on Elm Street" premiers
• 2020: Busiest hurricane season on record when Theta named 29th tropical storm
• 2020: Covid-19 vaccine proclaimed 90% effective
• Born: Benjamin Banneker [surveyor of Washington DC], Gail Borden [condensed milk], Florence Sabin [1st woman graduate of Johns Hopkins and first woman lifetime member of the National Academy of Sciences], Hedy Lamar [actress who invented radio guidance system for US torpedoes], Sargent Shriver [Peace Corps], Spiro Agnew, Carl Sagan, Mary Travers, Bob Gibson, Tom Weiskopf, 
• Died: Henry Cabot Lodge, Neville Chamberlain, Dylan Thomas, Charles de Gaulle, John Mitchell [Watergate], Art Carney, Stieg Larsson, Ed Bradley, Tom Heinsohn

Thought:

I have underlined 2 Chronicles 20:20 in my Bible, "put your trust in the Lord your God, and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed." 

This is so simple, why do I have so much trouble with it? What great promises:

• Put your trust. Think about that. 
• I have to make a choice. I have to choose to trust the Lord. I could choose to trust my eyes, my ears, my intellect, my feelings. Instead, I must choose to trust the Lord. I could trust an advisor, a relative, a famous person, a gifted writer, a television personality, a media influencer. Instead, I must choose to trust the Lord. 
• I have to trust. What does that really mean? I feel good about this person; I think this is a better than average person. I believe the person is pretty honest. No. Trust here means I totally rely, I put everything on the table, I hold nothing back. I am all in. Now who do you really trust so much that you will risk/invest everything you are and everything you have. Where is your life safe, secure, protected? Sometimes I think trust simply means I think, I believe that someone can do something. I trust the pilot can fly the airplane; but really trust means, I get on the airplane. For me, I trust that God can do all things, but sometimes hesitate, hold back from going all in. 
• You will be established. Reminds me of that old hymn, "How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in His excellent word." Jesus told the story of the one who built on the rock and the one who built on the sand. We sing about Jesus the cornerstone. If I put all my trust in Him, I will not be shaken, I will not fear, I will not doubt. So when the wind of temptation comes, the world seems to be unstable, the economy is turbulent, my health is failing, the world seems a foreign place, I can stand, immovable, unshakeable. And then comes opportunity to witness to those being tossed about by circumstances and situations. I am not the solid ground, but I know the Rock, I stand on His promises and I can offer hope to those that are tossed about. 
• You will succeed. What is success? Depends on my goal. If my goal is to be like Jesus, trusting His word for the way, the path, the light, will take me to success. If my goal is to live with Him and for Him forever, then trusting His Word will lead me to success. 

This verse makes me ask, do I really trust Jesus with everything and do I really have as my goal to be like Him and with Him? Good questions for today.

Blessings

Larry