Tulsa Pastor Shares Guide for Faithful Living

September 28, 2000

Dr. Thomas David Willets, pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Tulsa, gave Oklahoma Baptist University students four biblical principles to aid in living a faithful Christian life during his Sept. 27 chapel address.

Willets conducted a silent survey asking the students if they faced any important decisions, complicated circumstances, or intense problems.

Willet explained that facing doubt, uncertainty and trials is a part of the Christian experience, but by accepting four basic biblical principles, students can learn to live "with the tension between what you know now and what you don't know yet."

Faith, as described in 2 Corinthians 5:7, is the very nature of being a child of God, Willets said. To understand faith, Willets turns to the word of God because he explains that it is the only thing that never failed him.

"The first principle is God knows everything," Willets said, based on Psalm 139. "He already knows our past, present and future."

Christians can take comfort in knowing that God knows every detail of what is happening in their lives, he said.

Second, we, as humans, do not know everything. Willets explained that it is tempting for us to believe that we know best for our own lives, but our understanding and knowledge is limited.

The third principle is that "God is always at work for our best interest," Willets explained. Based on Romans 8:28, the third principle emphasizes again that God knows our individual problems and work for our best interest.

The fourth principle, the Christian's choice whether or not to trust God when facing uncertainty, gives the Christian the chance to act upon the first three principles.

"There are times when we are facing a difficult situation and we take matters into our

own hands," Willets said. "Proverbs 3:5-6 promises that there is a terrible price to pay that ends in destruction."

Willets shared his own struggle with his mother's prolonged battle with cancer. It was after her death that Willets learned to live "between the 'now' of the present life and the 'then,' when I will see her again."

"I choose to trust God, not my own devices," Willets said. "Always trust God."

Willets and his wife Leesa have two children, Landon and Lauryn.