Entirely Trust God

A few months ago, I went rock climbing for the very first time. Yes, I have done the lifetime fitness rock climbing wall or the little tiny playground climbing walls before…. But this was the first time that I have ever like LEGIT rock climbing. It was at a place called Vertical Endeavors in Bloomington.

One of my mentors is huge into it and was begging me to go with him for months but I also shied away from it because in full transparency, I am absolutely terrified of heights! I’m so terrified of heights that even ladders freak me out. I’ll get up on them but my hands start sweating, I death grip the rungs and just DO NOT look down. I walked into this climbing place and literally felt sick to my stomach. I got the low down on the technique, strapped the harness on, put my climbing shoes on and walked to the bottom of the near 100ft wall that I was about to climb.

I looked up at the wall, looked at John, who was belaying me and was like bro…. I don’t think I can do this! He laughed and just said “trust your strength and trust that I have you anchored down here. If you fall, I will catch you!” He kept saying over and over that I have to trust my equipment. I started climbing and one thing I didn't realize is how hard it is to find different holds and positions to put my hands and feet. I literally felt blind. I would get to a spot where I felt stuck to the point where I just wanted to give up and go back to the top. Then John started guiding me. “Right foot up” “left hand a foot over” and so on… As soon as I realized I was anchored in and had a person guiding my moves and my steps, I felt confident! Then the confidence got to me as I neared the top, I made a move I thought I could do, my foot slipped, and boom I’m falling… FAST. Then IMMEDIATELY stopped. John caught me. He did his job. He was watching my every step and caught me when I fell. The second I thought I could complete the climb on my own and not listen to the guiding voice of the guy on the ground, I fell. But, I was able to keep going because he caught me before I fully hit the ground. A minor setback caused me to continue climbing until I reached the top.

(SUBJECT/NEED) I tell you this story because the title of tonight's message is “Entirely Trust God”. We are in week 2 of our New Life Series where we are learning how to walk the steps toward healing. Last week, Danny talked about our brokenness. Recognizing that we are broken people and that we need help. This week, I am talking about how when we recognize that brokenness we must also recognize our need to entirely trust that God will heal us.

(BIG IDEA) The main thing that I want all of you to know is this. By entirely trusting God, we are believing that a powerful and loving God exists and we turn our lives completely over to Him.

I say this but what does it look like? It looks like being open. Open to the truth that Jesus can heal you and be open to who Jesus was and who Jesu is! It looks like being yourself. Case as you are! What is hidden will not be fixed. And finally, it looks like being faithful. Be faithful to God and he is faithful to you. Be faithful in the times where it feels physically impossible to continue going.

To start, we are going to look at what Jesus has to say about this in the Gospel of John chapter 12. This takes place the week before the death of Jesus and is what many theologians say was Jesus’ final summary of his ministry or his final “plea”, if you will for people to follow Him.

John 12:44–46“Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.”