Some family members were discussing the inundation of email “chain letters” Two in our family are famous for such.
So, what is the “scoop” on chain letters or emails?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes”
(Proverbs 3:5).
It sounds so obvious but not a simple thing, however, to trust in the Lord with all your heart. We don’t always realize how often we trust others instead. For example, take the case of chain letters or emails in these last days.
What do you do when you are sent a chain email-often from friends or family ? Send off 10 or 20 to folks on your contacts? Usually there is a warning of some kind if you break the chain or a blessing inferred if you do not. A brother in Christ received one recently about trusting in God. “Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord God you have an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:4). Here is his response: “The irony is clear—the message contains a direct contradiction. Nobody can offer us better advice than to trust in the Lord with all our mind heart and soul. However, the text of the chain is a direct denial of that sterling Scriptural advice. If the Lord is my Guide and Helper, Him in whom I place my trust, and if He is trustworthier than my parents, spouse or siblings or my parishioners, what need do I have to fulfill the dictates of the email sent to me explaining trust? The letter sent to me either anonymously or even by somebody I know and consider a friend obligates me to abide by its dictates; but then I no longer have complete trust in the Lord. If I’m too frightened or too cowardly to disobey such silliness, it proves that I don’t have confidence in Christ Jesus and His heavenly Father. I do not live in hopes that good luck will follow me; I trust in the Lord. When misfortune plagues me, I thank the Lord for the opportunity to test my faith, love and trust in God’s plan for me. It often includes frustration, closed doors, little or large amounts of suffering, but like St. Paul I say [or try to] that they do not crush me to the ground. Or even if they do, I won’t stay there.”
The Scripture is replete with warnings against superstition. How disappointing it was for the Hebrews to watch their first king, Saul, abandon his trust in God and seek out a fortune teller to explain the future. (I Samuel 28:7)
True Christians are free beings. They realize that they have the gift of freedom, and they offer this gift to God. You cannot give the Lord a gift of yourself if you are somehow compelled by something outside yourself. Actually, the same theme comes from the Garden of Eden. Many and most subtle are the ways of the evil one- a little extra along with the truth.