Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Our second daughter was born at home, quite unexpectedly, so my wife and I had to manage on our own without medical training or assistance. Mercifully it all went well, and we soon held a healthy baby girl in our arms. A couple of weeks later, I relayed our dramatic story to Chris at church one Sunday, and expected a big Dr. Brooks handshake, a slap on the back and a lively “well done young fella!” I got none of that. “Ah, well, it’s easy, isn’t it?” he replied “Chloe delivered dozens of babies in Malawi. There’s nothing to it. You just stand at the other end and shout, “push!””
What apparently came easy to Chris does not come so easily to many of us. Clever, intrepid, sociable, energetic – Chris was a capable man. We can’t bear witness to his life and not be impressed, if not a little intimated. Studying at Cambridge, sailing the world, pioneering significant humanitarian work in Malawi. It makes you wonder if anything truly daunted him.
There’s a lot to admire in Chris. But as we’ve already heard, especially later in life, Chris made it a point to emphasize not his own impressive example or wise understanding, but his Lord’s. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, became his life’s refrain. Lean not on your own understanding. Submit not to your own will, but to the Lord’s, and he will direct your paths. Capable through Chris was, only a person who has met their limitations, become intimately acquainted with personal failure even, embraces such a mantra of humility.
Here at the church, we asked Chris on a few occasions to read a passage of Scripture so that we could record it for various purposes. It was always a treat to hear Chris read the Bible. Maybe it was his upbringing, his education, his accent. I have another theory. I think Chris read Scripture well because he had allowed it to first read him. It was his belief in the living word, sharp and transformative, which, when we heard it, came alive to our own hearts also. As one old Scottish minister once put it, “It is the word of God, that does the work of God, by the Spirit of God, in the people of God.”
Chris would be the first to admit he was no saint, just a sinner like the rest of us, lost like the rest of us, but for Jesus and his cross. So, when we hear that his favourite verse was “Trust in the Lord with all your heart”, and look back over his life, I am struck with the thought that he might really have meant it! As impressive as Chris was, the most impressive thing about him was that he shied away from trusting in himself, from leaning on his own unreliable understanding. He put his life in the hands of another.
There are some who relate to faith as they might a membership to a golf club. God is a hobby, sometimes a commitment, and on occasion a brief dependence. God sits on the periphery, acknowledged, but mostly called on when convenient. I admit for much of my life I have resided in this category. I would much rather direct my own paths, thank you very much. I don’t much like the idea of submitting my ways, let alone my heart, to anyone but myself.
There are others amongst us, however, who live differently. They are what I like to call the true believers. And these folks worry us. They actually believe what God has said and then live accordingly. Not only hearers of the word, but doers of the word. They make strange choices, they grow up into odd kinds of people, they are themselves transformed and usher in transformation for others. And in the wake of their lives churns a wash of goodness. I am sure I have met some of these true believers and am fairly certain that Chris was one of them.
Chris not only read the words of God, he trusted and lived the words. He gave as much of his heart as he could, submitting his understanding and will to his Lord Jesus. Because of this, and on the wind of the Spirit, his life took a curious tack toward a horizon of holiness.
We might marvel at Chris’ life, but he would be the first to tell us to stop being so silly. He would tell us not to look at his ways, his understanding of things, submit to his wonderful example – but to entrust our hearts, the navigation of our lives, to the Lord Jesus. For great is his faithfulness.
Pardon for sin and peace that endureth,
his own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine and ten thousand beside.
Luke Knight 