God's goal for all Christians is spiritual maturity. By following Jesus' example, we can learn to lead.

Part 4: Proverbs: 3:1-6

Trust during the in-between times

The writer of Proverbs begins this passage with these words:

My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you (Proverbs 3:1-2).

These are the words of a parent encouraging a child to remember the teachings that have provided his or her life lessons. These life lessons are both practical and spiritual. They center on love and faithfulness.

In the verses that follow the children are encouraged to bind these teachings around their necks and write them on their hearts, "so you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and of people" (3:3-4).

The parent encourages the child to "trust in the Lord." The word trust in the Hebrew means to be confident or sure.

Trust begins with learning to value what God desires for us. This message has serious implications for Christian leaders—especially during the Christmas season, when our consumerist society accentuates the marketplace more than the Christ child.

Spiritual leaders should live lives that are characterized by the qualities of God, who sent the Son into the world to redeem those trapped in despair. Our life lessons in faith remind us that God values peace over power; sacrifice over security; spirituality over legality; and prophesying over profiteering.

Our power comes from God. Therefore, the church and the lives of all of its members belong to God.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge [God], and [God] will make straight your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The message could not be clearer. We are the subjects and God is the authority.

Too often we forget the steadfastness of the Creator in our zeal to fix the problems that affect our lives and the lives of other people. We are so concerned with satisfying our own egos that we have forgotten that we live to feed God's ego. Instead we need to be willing to acknowledge the power offered by the Almighty to transform our lives.

In my congregation's ministry and evangelism among the poor in Memphis, Tenn., we often are amazed by God's power. We encounter persons with life scars beyond any human ability to repair. We have learned that when we ask the question "How are you doing?" we must be prepared to tarry and hear the litany of problems.

However, we also have been humbled and overwhelmed by testimonies to the awesome power of God. We have heard over and over again how God has sustained and carried people through traumatic circumstances.

Spiritual leaders can easily forget that we serve a God of the "in-between times." God is with us when we're dealing with the unexpected, or when circumstances appear to be unresolved and without a meaningful solution. Proverbs 3:1-6 speaks to us in those long committee meetings that open and close with prayer, but are not prayerful in between.

The Advent season, while tinsel is hanging from the tree, may be another one of those in-between times. It may be a time of continuing sorrow over remembrances of a loved one no longer with us physically to celebrate the birth of the Christ child.

May such occasions remind us to trust in the Lord. When we depend on God we are offered the sustaining grace to press on through the tears and fears of life's in-between times.

We are not in control. God is! This is the message of Advent. We must check our egos at the door, remembering the love that came to us in a manger and that still transforms lives.