Commend it to God

I received the following in an email from my dad this morning. As myself and my family have been dealing with life without my beloved sister Rachel, who moved to Heaven on April 18, 2009, we have needed to remind ourselves that we only need to cast our cares on Him. The message in Dad’s email was encouraging to Dad and me; I hope it encourages you, too.

Luke paints some very moving scenes for us in his record of the early church. Not least is that emotion-charged farewell to the Ephesian elders on the docks at the port town of Miletus. Paul was on a tight travel schedule, and time would not permit a visit to his beloved Ephesus. So he sent for the elders of the church to come and see him off. They came. Misty-eyed, and with a dull ache in his heart, the superlative missionary urged parting counsels upon these men whom he had come to treasure—men whom he had prayed, preached, and wept into the body of Christ.

And then he uttered the well known words, "And now, brethren, I commend you to God." That word "commend," I discovered, means literally "to set down beside or in front of someone," and so can be very beautifully expressed,

I lay you down beside God.

In the hot summers of yesteryear we would drive to the beaches of New Jersey to enjoy the sun, sand, and surf. It was always a problem what to do with your wallet, car keys or other valuables while splashing in the Atlantic, for the beaches were crowded, and little was safe. It was no problem when Mother was with us, for we simply entrusted our valuables to her care, dismissed our concerns, and enjoyed the water.

That's what Paul was saying. His paternal instincts to the contrary, he knew that he could not cling possessively to his converts forever. There comes a time when the fledgling must leave the nest, when the parental hand must be withdrawn. Life flows on, and the work we have begun we must soon lay down and trust to the continuing care of the Great Shepherd. There comes a time in the ministry of the missionary and the mission, when in a decisive way we must say to a particular soul, or to a particular church, or of a particular work, I lay you down beside God.

This calls for grown-up faith, when God must be trusted only and utterly to do what is beyond our power to do. And is not this what our Father calls us to do not only with persons we treasure, but with all the cares of life? With the problem that has exhausted our wisdom and patience? Lay it down beside God- With the future and its uncertainties? Lay them down beside God. - With the fear that besets us? Lay it down beside God.

And what shall we say of life itself, and of the substance of time and things placed in our trust? Lay them down beside God, where neither moth nor rust can corrupt and where thieves cannot break through and steal. Paul understood that attitude. He learned out of his own experience of surrender to say,

I am convinced that he is able to guard what
I have entrusted to him for that day. 
                                   - 2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV)

Jesus I will trust Thee
Trust Thee with my soul
Guilty, lost and helpless,
Thou canst make me whole;
There is none in heaven
Or on earth like Thee
Thou hast died for sinners,
Therefore, Lord for me. 
                           - Mary J. Walker

Credit: Conley, Joseph F. 2009. Lay It Down! Reflections: Musings of an Old Missionary. Nashville: Xulon Press, 31-32.

About the Author: Joe Conley was the man who delivered the chapel message at Fort Wayne Bible College that God used to tell my dad that he and my mom were to be assigned to West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Further, he headed Regions Beyond Missionary Union with whom my dad served in Indonesia.