Three Benefits of Trusting in the Lord

Opening

always an honor to speak

special honor to be asked to speak here by a pastor who I highly respect

and speak to a people that I love to fellowship with

I am old enough not to take these opportunities for granted

recognize WMBC, my wife

and I want to recognize one person not here for the first time . . . Bro. Westbrook, who passed away this year . . . a faithful member . . . one who Pastor Brewer always took time to thank for the impact he made on his life . . . and I appreciate you, Pastor Brewer giving him his flowers while he was living.

prayer of thanksgiving

Attention Grabber

When I ask someone, “How can I pray for you?”, one of the most common prayer requests is, “I’m seeking direction . . . I need wisdom on which way to go . . . . I want clarity on what my next move should be . . . I am looking for my purpose” . . .

and I believe we all can identify with those type of requests, that’s a good request

but Wouldn’t it be nice if life just took you where you were supposed to go? . . .

There is such a plan . . . and I found it in a familiar scripture to many

Proverbs 3:5–6

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.

Three Benefits of Trusting in the Lord

We will focus on “And he shall direct thy paths”, but in order to get there we must have a good understanding of the first part that says, “Trust in the Lord with . . . .

Understanding of 1st part of verse

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart means that we must trust God for real, for real . . . have full confidence in God, that sincere faith, earnest faith

not just say it, or sing it, not just preach it, but live it

live a life where you trust in his word - you KNOW his words are true

you live a life where you trust in his wisdom - you know his decisions are best

you trust in his power - you know that he is able to keep his promises

you trust in his love for you - you know he cares for you

you trust in his faithfulness - you know you can count on him

we are talking about a real trust, bet your life on it trust

and lean not into thine own understanding means that your trust God so much so that you obey him, even when conditions suggests that you should not obey him

you follow him, even when it seems that following him is not the best option

you serve him, even when serving him feels like it is a waste of time

you trust the Lord more than you even trust yourself

In all thy ways acknowledge him means that you apply your trust in God to EVERY area of your life, you don’t leave God out of anything, you invite him into everything

Where God is not just for Sundays, Holidays, and special occasions, but every day of the year

and all of that leads us to . . . He shall direct thy paths

This verse is not suggesting that you won’t ever be shaken, or that there will never be doubts, or there will never be slip ups

but if you are determined to trust in the Lord, no matter what

if your mindset is to Trust in God with everything that you’ve got, I’ve have some good news for you . . . and that good news is that “He shall direct thy paths”

and He shall

we see that a guarantee is presented

your faith and trust in the Lord will not be in vain

when you trust in God, you can count on a “and He shall”

that means that the Lord IS going to do something for you

that means that the Lord IS going to move on your behalf

that means that the Lord DOES have your back

we have a promise that if we “Trust in the Lord . . . . . “ The Lord God Almighty will direct our paths

direct thy paths

what does direct thy paths mean?

in the original Hebrew: direct thy paths means that he will make your paths . . .

straight, right

we’re talking about life paths: the course of your life, your life’s road, your life’s journey . . . he will direct those paths

Therefore, when you totally trust the Lord, the Lord will make the course of your life straight

when you sell out for the Lord, the Lord will make sure that you are on the right road

when you look to God in every area of your life, the Lord will take it upon himself to make sure your path is taking you in the right direction

Does that mean life with no problems? no, far from it

just a quick reading of the bible, will let you know that’s not the case

but it does mean that when you Trust in the Lord, The Lord will make sure that life takes you where you are supposed to go

let me phrase it this way: When you trust in the Lord, the Lord will cause life, to work for you.

instead of life working you OVER, life will be working FOR you (Sounds like Romans 8:28)

The scripture is saying that when you follow God’s directions, God promises to give your path directions

The Lord will tell your path . . .“take them where they need to go”

“put them where they need to be”

With this is mind, let me share three benefits of Trusting in the Lord

#1 When you trust in the Lord, you don’t have to worry about your past sins and bonehead decisions

Many of us have taken time to think about , “If I could do it over again” . . . “If I could go back to my teens/twenties/thirties . . .” because we’ve sinned and made some bonehead decisions

we knew it was wrong and we did it anyway

or we thought we were so right, but we were so wrong

we thought we were so smart, but we were actually foolish

But when you trust in the Lord, God will direct your path to make up for all of that!

that’s a good benefit!

Remember, the apostle Paul?

When we first hear of him, he is a Pharisee, who sets himself against the church

He was a Pharisee who was an accessory to the murder of one of the first deacons of the church, Stephen

Paul then started arresting and persecuting Christians . . . talking about someone who wish they could go back and do things differently

But speaking of paths, Jesus himself, met Paul on a path . . . the path to Damascus, and made his path straight (even had to go to straight street)

and despite all he had done wrong, despite his previous bad understanding . . . God made sure that his path ended up taking him where he was supposed to go,

in fact, Paul’s mistake filled past gave power to his ministry because his transformation was an amazing testimony to many

His past training as a Pharisee, made him an expert on the Old Testament, and he would show many how all the Old Testament scriptures pointed to Jesus Christ

His past background as a super pro Jew type of person, made his voice meaningful when taught that the Jewish Christians needed accept the Gentile Christians

And with God directing his path, all of those past mistakes and faults could not hinder Paul

he became a great apostle . . . wrote most of the books in the NT

and when you trust in the Lord with all of your heart, YOU don’t have to worry about your past either, and you can say like Paul . . .,

“forgetting those things that are behind, and reaching for those things that are before, I press towards the mark for the prize for the high calling of God in CHrist Jeus

in other words, my past was jacked up, BUT YET God has me headed in the right direction

if God can make the path of a Christian killer straight . . . what about you?

don’t worry about your past bonehead decisions

don’t worry about your past sins

just Trust in the Lord, and he shall direct your paths, and those things won’t be a problem

that’s a good benefit

#2 If you trust the Lord, then you never had to worry about timing

we are always worried about timing: Are we too soon, or too late . . . are we being premature or have we missed our window of opportunity

is life moving too slow or too fast

we waiver between not feeling ready or wondering if time has passed us by . . .

but when you trust in the Lord, that real trust . . . KNOW that God “directing your life’s path” includes the proper timing

so if things seem to be moving too fast, you feel unprepared, and not ready, then remember young david before he became king

David was just a boy minding his business, watching sheep on hill

prophet shows up out of nowhere, anoints him, and says you are to be king

next thing you know, you’re on a field facing a giant warrior named Goliath

next thing you know, you’re drafted in to the army

next thing you know you are a fugitive from the law. running for your life

things were moving fast and in a hurry, and david did not ask for any of that, but God was directing his path . . .

then sometimes you feel you’re ready, prepared, but things start to move so slow . . . . in those times still KNOW that when the scripture says “and he shall direct thy paths” that includes the proper timing

once David became a fugitive, everything slowed down

year after year, just running for his life, scholars estimate 13 years

13 years of feeling like life was going nowhere

David began to wonder if he would even live, let alone become King

but sure enough, at the right time, David became king and reigned for 40 years!

So be comforted that if you are trusting in the Lord, and life seems to be moving too fast . . . that the timing is right . . .

be comforted that if you are trusting in the Lord, and life seems to be moving too slow . . . the timing is right

because GOD is directing your paths!

and then some of us are certain that opportunity has passed us by completely . . . we are not thinking fast or slow, we are thinking “too late”

but consider Moses

he was just watching sheep too, but he was 80 years old, past retirement age

He tried to fight the power in his younger years, but failed miserably

but it was when it seemed it was too late, God put a plant on his path, a plant that was on fire that would not burn out

and though it seemed it was too late for Moses, and Moses’ time had run out, it turned out he had plenty of time

time to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, time to destroy Pharoah in the Red Sea

time to write the first 5 books of the Bible

time to lead his people for 40 years

time to prepare Joshua to take them into the promised land

and maybe your schedule has fallen apart, maybe you think your time is past, but if you are trusting in the Lord, The Lord is able to call you even at a late hour, for God is able

God can turn “out of time” into, “I got more time than I thought”

God can turn “past my time”, into “I’m in my prime”

God can turn “I’m done”, into “I’m just getting started, and you ain’t seen nothing yet

We can even look right here in modern day Fort Worth, Texas.

we celebrate Mrs. Opal Lee, at age 95 caused a national holiday to be created, and at age 96 almost won the Nobel Peace Prize, and is still yet advocating

When Trust in the Lord, he shall direct your path . . . even the timing

that’s a good benfit!

#3 If you trust in the Lord, then you never have to worry about where you are

some of us are not in a good place: financially, relationship, health . . you name it

but if you trust the Lord, then the Lord has directed your path . . . and when the Lord directs your path . . . then you are exactly where you are need to be

Many of us are despairing because of where we are . . . . we did not expect to be in this place, in this situation

but when you trust the Lord, you can take comfort in the fact that you are exactly where you need to be

notice I didn’t say where you want to be, where you thought you would be, where it would be fair for you to be, but where you need to be

Don’t your remember Joseph? Joseph trusted God but he ended up in some strange places

first, he was put in a pit

that doesn’t sound too good, but it turns out being in the pit was the right place for him, because that led him to being a slave in Potiphar’s house

that doesn’t sound too good either, but when you trust in the Lord, you don’t have to worry about where you are

turns out being in Potiphar’s house was the right place for him, because that led to him being in prison

that doesn’t sound too good, but it turns out being in prison was the right place for him, because that led to him ending up in the Palace

without the pit there is no Potiphar’s house

without Potiphar’s house there is no prison

without the prison there is no palace

turns out that God was directing his path

all those seemingly wrong places, let to the right place, and lead to Joseph being 2nd in command of all Egypt

and allowed him to save his entire family, and an entire nation, and it all started in the pit

that’s why when you trust the Lord, you never have to worry about where you are

some of you are in a pit . . .maybe somebody put you there: an enemy, a so called friend, society, or circumstances out of your control

but be encouraged, if you trust in the Lord, then you don’t have to worry about where you are, God is directing your path

God will make it so that you are exactly where you need to be

what the devil meant for evil will work out for your good

what your enemies meant for evil

what society meant for evil . . . will work out for your good

because God is directing your path

don’t worry about where you are, God knows where you are going!

that’s a good benefit!

“Lord, show me which way to go is a good prayer” but another good prayer is, “Lord, direct my path”

control my path, let the path take me

order my steps, dear Lord

guide me o though great Jehovah, to pilgrim through this barren land

When you trust in the Lord, you can take comfort that you don’t have to worry about the mistakes of your past

you don’t have to worry about the timing

you don’t have to worry about where you are

cause God’s got you, he shall direct your paths

Jesus

and this benefit of trusting God even extends beyond the grave

people have talked about dying and being drawn to a light, angels escorting you

I don’t know how it will work, but I do know that the Lord WILL put me on a path to see him face to face

How do I know he will do that for me? because I trust in him, with all my heart

I trust that he sent his son, Jesus to shed his blood and die for my sins

I trust that Jesus rose on the 3rd day with all power

so I made Jesus both Lord and Savior

and though I often feel unworthy, I trust his word that says whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved

and the Lord will direct my path not only now in this life . . . but also on the other side, he will direct my path all the way into glory to see him face to face!

that’s a good benefit!

if you are trusting in the Lord, be encouraged

If you are not trusting in the Lord, start! . . . you are missing out on some good benefits!