Trust in the Lord - Proverbs 3:5-7

Trust in the Lord - Proverbs 3:5-7 (ESV)

*END OF YEAR PARTY MESSAGE

INTRO:

Good evening, I hope you guys are doing well. It is always so good to see you and I am extermely thankful that you guys are here.

I truly do care for all of you and love you all very much - my hope is that this youth group is a place where you experience and see the Love of Christ… and where you get to know you Lord and Savior on a deeper level…

Would you guys please pray with me…

PRAYER:

Father, I want to thank you for each student that is here tonight… God you love us so much… you see us… you care for and about us… so much so that you sent your Son Jesus to die on a cross for our sins… Lord thank you for all that you have done for us…

I am reminded of Psalm 130:3-4

Psalm 130:3–4 (ESV)

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

In other words Lord… you are saying… everyone is guilty of committing sin… there is not a single person who is without guilt or shame… but you are a God who offers forgiveness…even though all have rebelled against you…

Father… you are a God who forgives… who is compassionate… loving… full of grace and mercy… and a God who truly cares about us…

I pray Lord that we would be able to understand more about you through studying your Word… fill us with your spirit… guide our every step… because what you have in plan… what you have in store for our lives is so much better than anything would could imagine… Thank you Lord… in your Son Jesus name we pray… AMEN!

PHYSICAL COPY OF BIBLE:

I hope you brought a physical copy of God’s Word with you tonight… because we use them here…

Each and every week we will dive into God’s Word and my hope is that over time you will begin to cherish and value the voice of God…

We live in a world that competes for our attention… multiple voices that are screaming for us to listen to them… from social media, friends, and music that all try to draw our attention away from the voice of God and his Word…

One thing I love about reading God’s Word is that after I am done reading it… there is a peace, calmness, and rest that I experience… God’s Word allows me to slow down from the business of life and it gives me an opportunity to connect with the Lord and slow down…

All the other voices that compete for my attention leave me startled, worried, anxious, stressed, or feeling like I have to so many things… but when I read God’s Word and listen to his voice… things slow down… I feel a rest, peace, comfort, and connection with the Lord…

This is why I make such a big deal out of reading your Bible… because I do not want you to take my Word for it… I want you to know it and experience it for yourself…

PASSAGE:

The main passage we will be looking at tonight is found in Proverbs 3:5-7… please follow along with me for it says,

Proverbs 3:5–7 (ESV)

Trust in the Lord with all your HEART,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

Be not wise in your own eyes;

fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

HEART = One’s inner self, character, nature, mentality, determination, will, intention, and reason…

In other words, the Lord is saying… trust in me with all that you have to offer… with everything… Not just a feeling… not just a thought… not just an action… He is saying trust in me with the way you think and act… trust me with your character, your nature, and your mentality on how you view yourself and this world…

He is saying view your life through the license of my Word… and trust me…

I don’t know about you… but trusting someone else is not always something that I want to do… Why?

Because TRUST requires you to DEPEND on someone else to pull through for you…

In other words… if you do not depend on it… you do not trust it…

Some of us in this room would say, yes… I fully trust in God… absolutely… no problem…

But our lives do not look like we depend upon him…

TRUST shows who think will take care of us, be there for us, and accomplish something that we could not do on our own…

SISTER - DATING WALTON STORY - REQUIRED ME TO TRUST HIM

For example…

I have a sister… she just graduated college a couple of months ago…

She is absolutely wonderful… and beautiful…

She truly is extremely kind, grateful, and humble…

In fact, when she went off to college, Brooke and I bought her a Keurig - something that makes coffee… and she cried because she was so grateful for the gift…

She is just a genuine individual… not trying to be something she isn't, not worried about impressing other people… she is truly wonderful - and she loves the Lord…

My sister did not date anyone all throughout HS and College… she took dating seriously and only wanted to date someone who she thought she would marry…

And I was cool with that bc I never had to worry about some boy being a boy and hurting her…

But when she graduated college I actually set her up with a guy I had coached, gotten lunch with, and poured into for several years… and they went on a date and have now been dating for 4 months and she is ecstatic, happy, and glowing…

I share this story with you because I want you to see that I had to TRUST this boy with my sister… and if I did not actually TRUST him then I would have never of set them up…

If I did not think that he was going to take care of her, treat her with respect, protect her, provide for her, love her, and be there for her when she was at her lowest, and celebrate with the when life was the fullest, then I would have never have set them up…

I have to DEPEND upon him to take care of her in a way that I never can or could… that is truly TRUSTING someone

Friends… God is calling us to be fully dependent on him with our hearts… to trust that he will care for, guide, protect, lead, and love us…

The question is… if you say you truly TRUST God… does your life reflect a life of DEPENDENCY upon God…

TRANSITION

Some of us do not trust or depend upon God because we do not know him well enough… or we have not experienced him for ourselves…

And you guys are about to break for the summer where you will have an opportunity to get to know this God who says he is worthy of your trust and dependency…

So my encouragement and challenge to you this summer is to read the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - on your own to get to know this God by examining the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ…

You can not trust or depend on someone you do not know…

John 14:7 (ESV)

If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”