When we Struggle to Understand God's Will
Understanding the Will of God • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning to you my friends.
I hope and trust you have had a good week, it seems with each passing day we encounter or hear of something new, something that excites us or makes us scratch our heads, saying “what in the world is going on?”
A lot has happened this week, we have started another month, people are shopping and getting school supplies ready and in just a few days we will see buses returning kids to school.
This week I have been thinking a lot about the “why’s” of life.
The “why’s” of life are something we all wonder or ponder about in the course of these days.
Hopefully you understand what I am referring too???? We wonder about life, death, sickness and disease. We wonder about why we are here and what God desires to do with our lives.
We wonder why the world is in such chaos, Why the world has faced such fights over the centuries.
We wonder why people fall away, why they embrace life and suddenly they choose a different path....
We wonder why some people are always healthy or why some overcome trials, sicknesses and the like and why others struggles with health and life
We know God is in control - but yet we still wonder…And please understand it is not a lack of faith or belief in God. No we just wonder why it all has happened or continues to happen … and honestly we do not have a great deal of answers in this life
And honestly, we struggle to know and understand the will of God in our lives and in the lives of others.
And so this morning I want us to go to the book of Psalms and look at a passage there that might give us light, hope and peace for the days ahead....
So take your Bibles and lets go to , verses 18-22
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
is a Psalm of praise that is given to God for his work, his creative nature and the blessing given to those who fear the Lord, follow and wait on Him.
We know God has a plan for all of creation, He has a plan for us. But sometimes we struggle to understand the will of God, especially in the midst of all we see and experience around us.
We do not understand the things we witness happening in this world.
So what can we do?
We can trust in Him and hold on to Him each day. He is our strength and our shield.
So lets begin with this thought today. when we do not understand God’s will and why this or that is happening in our lives,
1. God’s Is Aware of Our Lives
1. God’s Is Aware of Our Lives
Have you thought about this truth, are you aware of what this really means?
God knows you, He, the almighty is keenly aware of your life, your good days and bad, your successes and struggles… He knows and watches over our life.
Look back at the text with me.... verses 18-19
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
Listen to this… the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, who have their hope in his love.
Now that is a condensed version of this verse, but the meaning is clear.
He watches over His children.
Now consider your parents, you didn’t like it growing up, but they are always up in our business… they wanted to know what we were doing, where we were doing and how long we were going to be gone.
It wasn’t that they were just nosy.... noooo.
They were interested in us, they wanted to try to make sure we were safe, secure and doing well.
The phrase “eye of the Lord” reminds us that he is aware of every step of our lives… We are never our of his sight.
Man I remember when our kids were little, we would go into a store and at times they would wander away, maybe behind or even under and in a rack of clothes, we couldn’t see them and we would start looking and calling their name. And we were at peace when we found them again. we might have been upset becasue they walked away from us, but we were at rest, peace because we have seen them.
We are never away from the eye, from the sight of the Lord.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
;12
His gaze, his watchfulness is on His people..
And listen not only does he watch over us… he does so that he might help, deliver and keep us from harm … go back and look at verse 19
that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
There is a great example of this in the New Testament. Look at Acts chapter 12.
James, one of the apostles, this is James the brother of John… He was put to death by the sword., and Herod, well when we saw this pleased the Jews and won their favor, He arrested Peter and was going to put him to death, but it was the time of the passover, so He choose to wait.
Now remember what happened, the Lord sent his angel to him to set Him free, to deliver Him from death.
When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
God was watching and saved him from despair, from death. Peter, the other disciples didn’t always understand the things that were happening around then.
But they could be certain God was watching over them as His dear children
The same is truth for us...
We are safe even when we are not sure about the future, because we remain under His watchful care....
And please know, there is a reason, the end of verse 19 says to “...deliver them from death. and keep them alive in famine.”
We have life and a abundance of good things as we walk in step with the Lord, He will make sure we are satisfied in His presence.
Thank the Lord for his caring hands and watchful eyes....
Thank the Lord for his caring hands and watchful eyes....
Now lets move to our second thought today.
When we struggle to understand and know the will of God in our lives, please know we are to wait on Him
Understand we may not understan the wil of God, but he is working in us still
3. Wait on Him in these Difficult Times....
3. Wait on Him in these Difficult Times....
I want to share a thought with you my friends, something we need to be reminded of in difficult times.
We must learn to wait on the Lord.
Waiting is not a favorite term for us… we live in a instant world for the most part today, fast food at McDonald's. Our phones give us instant contact and instant information. And here is what we have learned because of this… waiting is difficult, not knowing and not understanding becomes so difficult.
But faith, our walk with the Lord requires us at times to trust Him even WE dont have understanding or knowledge, but God is all knowing… faith says He trust Him.
Look at verse 20
Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
The word “wait” is key here my friends. The Psalmist says they are “waiting” for or upon the Lord. for He alone is our strength, help and shield.
The prophet Isaiah says in
I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.
Listen my friends, waiting implies “faith”. we trust in him to do when we don’t understand what he is doing. The Psalmist tells us to wait, to wait on the Lord
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
Psalm 2
God will do what He has said, what he has promised to those who love Him, we are eager to know, we are eager to understand but at times we must exhibit faith and wait on Him.
says that none who wait on the Lord will be put to shame.
At times we say to ourselves, I do not know, I do not understand why God has not led, answered or delivered us at this or that particular time. It causes us to struggle, to doubt… But friends I want to encourage you to wait.
At times we say to ourselves, I do not know, I do not understand why God has not led, answered or delivered us at this or that particular time. It causes us to struggle, to doubt… But friends I want to encourage you to wait.
I believe with all my heart that at times God has been silent in my life, He has hidden his plans that I might grow in my faith, in my trust, that I might learn to depend on Him and not myself or others.
Wait on the Lord.....
Can you remember a time when God made you wait, directed you to wait and led you even when you did not understand his will and purposes.
I can....
At times we need to walk in
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
We need to wait......
Let me ask you today, are you waiting to hear from God today? Are you waiting to better understand his plan for you, your family ....
Now just one last thought..
When those times come to pass or even if we are still waiting or longing for answers, we can rejoice in Him.
3. We Rejoice in the Lord....
3. We Rejoice in the Lord....
Let me ask you a question, How often do you stop in the course of the day, and just praise the Lord. I don’t mean just because you got good news, or because something good happened. I mean you just stop and say thank you Lord....
You rejoice merely in who he is… His great Name and presence in our lives...
And yet, part of the joy of walking with the Lord is knowing we can rejoice no matter the situation around us.
Lets look at our last text...
For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Beautiful .. it tells us that the one who has promised to take care of us, Does indeed do that very thing
We are happy, glad in Him… the word “heart” speaks to the center, the locus, the will of man or the person. All that we are indeed is blessed because we trust in HIm
The word “Trust” refers to what we place upon Him. Our faith, our hope.
Listen to
that I may recount all your praises,
that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may rejoice in your salvation.
My friends, we should be rejoicing because our trust and hope is on the Lord and nothing else.
As we extend love and devotion, praise and rejoicing to the Lord
Even when we don’t understand what God is doing, when we struggle to know His will, wait on Him, rejoice in Him because we trust in Him knowing that His love, His desire is extended to us.
God loves you.. rejoice
He has a plan for you, rejoice
He never leaves you or forsakes you, rejoice
Rejoice that your name is written in the lambs book of life… rejoice my friends, rejoice.