Malachi 3:1
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

Matthew 11:10
This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

Obviously when I sent out Malachi 3 in an earlier post there was no message from me. I was looking for a word that might help explain my issues about trust. When I discovered Malachi 3 in my search I knew that His message was much more important than my issues. That is why I did not add any content in that post. I wanted God’s message to take first place.

Now let us look at God’s message. It should be obvious that Jesus is referring back to Malachi 3:1 when He states His case in Matthew 11:10. While the words are not the same, the context is perfect.

The Lord of hosts sent the message in Malachi. The message in Matthew 11:10 differs only in the timing. “I will send” becomes he is here and you can see his face. His time has come. The one is future tense and the other present tense, same context.

The one who sent the message to Malachi is the same messenger speaking in Matthew. That is not a matter of assumption on my part but rather decades of personal relationship with God, studying His Word and being shown understanding by the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to take my word for it, you can listen to God yourselves.

I would rather that everyone would seek God for understanding. Even if I have earned your trust, please seek understanding from God and don’t just take my word for it.

Doing a study on all the names that Jesus is identified with is not the issue today.

This is about God’s perfect timing in sending out messages to His children. Sure He talked to Malachi somewhere around 460 B.C. but I read it this week and it spoke to me.

Was my posting His Word from Malachi God’s perfect timing? I don’t know. That is for each person to answer for themselves.

John 5:47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

John 12:48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

That is not me talking.

Malachi 3:6 a “For I the Lord do not change;”

I have PTSD and thankfully I had a great therapist. Trauma is responsible for my trust issues.

Then in church one Sunday God answered my first prayer and introduced Himself as the sovereign God that does effect change. I became His child and He has loved me ever since in ways no human is capable of doing. However, He did not remove my trust issues.

What led me to trust God is the consistent behavior towards me that never waivered. Nothing builds trust in a relationship like consistency. Consistency was on His part, not mine. He knew that and treated me like a loving father should. Chastening without violence. He knows my heart and knows how to get to me to effect change.

Then I wondered how God could be there for me at exactly the right moment with the right treatment. How could God the Father be so consistent? My discovery of that answer will make some people uncomfortable and for that I am sorry. My hope is to  bring comfort, not trauma.

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

God does not change what He has already accomplished. The eternal God who lives outside time has already done every right thing. God does not make mistakes, He is Holy, perfect in will and performance, and I trust Him and Him alone because of it.

Now I understand why God did not cure my trust issues. I live in the world of men.

That is not to say I cannot find trust with people. My wife has my trust, she has earned it. I trust my accountability partner, he has earned it. They both have been consistent, unwavering. Sure they are human and capable of mistakes and have human problems just like everyone else. How they treat me, love me, has been consistent, even if not perfect. Grace is extended to them because they are consistent.

Do the people I meet know this about me? No, of course not. They don’t need to know that. What they need to know about me will show up in how I treat them with consistency. My witness of this life with Jesus comes first and my interaction with strangers is based on my relationship with God, not man.

As my relationship with God improves, my interaction with mankind improves.

But I am human.