A man went sightseeing in mountain country and found a perfect place to stop his car and view a vast open valley that went for miles. But as he got caught up in the scenery, he didn't notice he got closer to the edge of a cliff. Without even knowing what was happening, he slipped on loose stones and sailed over the edge. 

On the way down, he grabbed at everything that sailed past him, and upon hitting a few branches that slowed his rapid descent, he managed to grasp onto a lone branch that clung to the side of the rock wall. There he hung with both hands clutching the branch, several hundred feet in the air. 

As he looked around, he found no means of climbing back to the top and no way except falling to reach the ground. There was no way up or down, so he began yelling for help, but after several minutes, he realized it was a hopeless situation. 

Suddenly, from nowhere, a voice spoke to him. The voice only spoke two words. "Let go." As the man looked around, he saw nothing, not a soul in sight. Then the voice spoke again, saying the same thing: "Let go." Bewildered and running low on strength, he asked, Who's there?" The voice answered, "God." Again, the voice said, "Let go."

The man was quick to reply that God was asking for a preposterous action for him to take. "Let go?" "Again, God repeated His command, but the man began to argue with God against such a ridiculous idea.

God asked the man if he trusted Him. The man was quick to reply, "Certainly." So, God, once again, told the man to let go.

The man pondered God’s command and finally asked, "Is there anyone else up there?" 

We love stories, but they're not so funny when we find ourselves in the situation of the man dangling from the cliff, but we've all been there. Sadly, in our view, we often find ourselves in predicaments that we find no easy solutions. Sometimes, we cause situations by our foolishness. But usually, they are simply facts of life – very complicated facts of life: a loved one passes, a serious illness grips us, a job loss, retirement funds are not enough, unexpected single parenting, a lost love, the stress of life, unexpected debt, and a long list of other complications. But none of them are funny. Rather, they're almost life-crippling. 

Did God intend it this way? The answer to that (in my view) is, "No, but He knew they would happen to us." Let me explain. As a paster, many people think we have all the answers to life, but we don't, especially in this realm of things. This gets into the sovereignty of God, and I'm not equipped to handle the topic, but I must. Please stop and understand what I just wrote. I'm not equipped to handle the topic of God's sovereignty, but I must tackle it. And here's the other aspect of the topic. You must learn of it because you have to deal with it so often – and so do I.   

Okay, the dirty word is out there: theology. Most Christians don't want to deal with theology, and you haven't heard me talk about it much because I know people don't like to hear about it. But theology is something that all Christians must dig into.

C.S. Lewis explained theology as a map that guides us to a coherent and practical understanding of God 1. John 1:1-5 is theology.

1 Christianitytoday.com. What Is Theology? https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-terms/what-is-theology definition.html

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all humanity. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1:1-5 (NIV) 

Now, that wasn't too painful, was it? Theology simply (and sometimes not so simply) states facts about God, but we too often let the difficult passages overwhelm us, which makes us shy away from all theological study. Actually, every Sunday School lesson or sermon must contain theology if it's worthwhile. And if neither contains any theology, it's watered-down teaching and worthless.

So, let’s get back to practical application Theology applies to life – our lives. We say we trust God, but do we? We say we love Jesus, but do we? If we love Jesus, since He is God, we must obey Him, but do we? We say we trust God, but do we? The test to both loving Jesus and trusting God comes back to obedience. Do we obey? It's easy to say we love God and Jesus, and we demonstrate our love and trust in many ways. We read our Bibles. We pray. We try to treat others with love and kindness. We attend church. We trust God and Jesus when we are sick or going through a rough time. But how well do we apply our trust and love when things look hopeless? How well do we respond with steadfast faithfulness? When life feels like we're hanging from a lone branch on the side of a cliff, how well does our theology hold up then? When the rubber meets the road in life's most difficult trials, how are you doing? 

Most all of us know Jesus’ words of faithfully following Him.

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. - Luke 9:23 (NIV) 

Until recently, I understood that passage as in following Jesus faithfully and without shame. Do what Jesus did. That seems pretty simple. BUT – it goes deeper than that and takes on a meaning that we do not like – even worse than we ever dreamed.

Taking on the cross of Jesus means going through things we don't like and don't understand. It's trusting Jesus when life does not make sense. It's those terrible life problems we mentioned earlier: a loved one passes, a serious illness grips us, job loss, retirement funds are not enough, unexpected single parenting, a lost love, the stress of life, unexpected debt, and a long list of other complications.  

In those situations, we want answers. We desperately want God to tell us what He’s doing. We demand that God tell us why we are going through such hard times. Sadly, in our view, God doesn't work that way, and this is where we must grasp a theological understanding of God. God rarely lets us in on the why – at least while we're in the middle of the storm. Instead, taking up one's cross often means accepting life's challenges even when they don't make sense. It's trusting God when you're in the worst storm of your life. 

In the coming sermons, I will attempt to teach the aspect of theology that clobbers every one of us: God is God, and He doesn't need to explain what He is doing. For example, Jesus questioned God while He hung on the cross, yet He obediently obeyed His Father in heaven. Can you do that? Can you obey God when in the most painful parts of life? Moses did. But can you obey without questioning God as Moses questioned and even argued with Him? The prophet Jeremiah did, but will you obey without giving excuses that you're not the right person for the job? Do we buck God and tell Him that He can do better in choosing someone else? How about Job? He was a righteous man, yet God permitted him to go through more pain and suffering, both mentally and physically, than any of us will ever go through.  

Admittedly, I’ll be in over my head, but I beg of you to join me and learn along with me. Please believe me that when you're hanging by your hands on that lone branch on the side of the cliff, if you understand this aspect of God's sovereignty and His call for us to trust Him without question, life in Jesus is much much easier. It won’t be without pain and suffering, but when we let go, and let God run our lives, life is better.

Love you!!!

Kenny