psalm 11:

‘In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain.”‘ [vs.1]

i love it. i have spoken on this very topic on many occasions. i call it – “Trust God, but have a backup plan.”

and it is how i see so many christians living their lives… say you are trusting God but just in case God doesn’t come through, make sure you have a backup plan ready just in case… so Peter, you and the disciples go and feed this crowd of people, but i am sending a runner to the local supermarket, just on the off chance that you get it wrong…

one place where i think differently from the majority of people it seems is in the area of insurance and medical plans and things like that which i personally have always viewed as ‘trust God, but have a backup plan’ mentality, but i do realise that because so many people think differently that it is worth not assuming that i am right and everyone else is wrong on the matter and so it is something i return to think about more often. the simple way community we live in has links with a thing called ‘Relational Tithe’ which works on the idea of a bunch of people pooling money together and then using it to meet the needs of the group and i definitely like the idea of that more because it adds community into the mix. but just wary, for the most part, on things i see as potentially ‘storing up treasures in heaven.’

and again like with Peter stepping out of the boat on to the water when Jesus called him, that was a risk but completely a valid one to take BECAUSE JESUS HAD CALLED HIM TO. for any of us to try and walk on water is stupid because we have not been given the go ahead to. but taking time to listen to the impossible things God calls us to [one such example being uThando leNkosi house of safety for kids which is a miracle born out of a number of different very risky steps of obedient faith] and then responding in obedience WITHOUT HAVING A BACKUP PLAN [because if God calls you to do something, you won’t need one] is an incredible way to live.

one of the hardest things to stomach during this process is that often the loudest voices trying to get you to quit or make backup plans are christian people, it’s not the atheists or agnostics – it is your church or your family or friends and probably out of good motivation of not wanting you to be hurt or embarrassed but misguided understanding of how trustworthy this God really is or that He has told you to do that particular thing. making sure it was God’s voice telling you rather than just a great crazy stupid idea you had by your own self is also key.

so if i am taking refuge in God, then i don’t need to be fleeing like a bird to the mountain.

or to put it another way, having a backup plan very likely means that i am not trusting God in the first place at all.