Trusting God is Healthy.

Introduction:

Introduction:

When you think of the word trust, what crosses your mind? Have you ever noticed that trust is quite a funny thing? It is built upon rules that we set up in our minds and everyone seems to have their own set of rules or conditions for what determines someone or something as trustworthy. This is often determined by life experiences, through teaching from parents or teachers or pastors, as well as self study in books or even conditioned through TV programming or movies.

For instance, you maybe trust green paint over red or vice versa because your parents convinced you that one was better than the other. Maybe they pointed to the neighbour who was broken down and say “See!” or maybe one breed of dog is smarter than another because you have always had one breed and had good success. But then to more serious issues is the kind of person we may want to marry. Maybe it is that you don’t marry people from that kind of family because they are not trustworthy. Or you don’t marry at all because you can’t trust anyone. These kind of rules are often not based upon any particular truth, but through experience we may pass this on to our children.

Some people say trust your gut, your heart, those you can look in the eye. I think it would be safe to say that as I mentioned some of these things, you have been thinking about your own rules that you have set up to trust.

Wisdom of God which is built upon true knowledge begins with fearing the LORD. Anyone remember what it means? Love, trust and fear combination. The Bereans heard the Apostle Paul talk with authority about wonderful things, so they tested what he said by pouring over the Scriptures to see if what he said was true. They were not quick to judge man, but trusted the LORD’s word for they knew it was trustworthy.

This is what I would like to speak to you about today. Trusting God is healthy for us in all areas of life.

Point #1 - Trust begins with knowing God.

If I could have Myles come up here. When you sat on this chair, did you think for a moment that it would hold you up? Why not? Because you knew it would, you had complete confidence in it. This is the meaning of trust. You can fully depend upon or commit to someone or something.

So to trust in the LORD is to completely depend upon God with all our heart. Fully believing in our Creator. Resting in full confidence that the LORD will carry you through life. Now Aron would you mind coming up? Sit in my chair. Why not? You don’t seem too confident. This would be to lean on your own understanding.

So to trust in the LORD is to completely depend upon God with all our heart. Fully believing in our Creator. Resting in full confidence that the LORD will carry you through life. Now Aron would you mind coming up? Sit in my chair. Why not? You don’t seem too confident. This would be to lean on your own understanding.

Verse (5) sums up the gospel doesn’t it? We are to entrust our life fully to Jesus as our Saviour with all our heart, soul and mind. Trusting in his finished work on the cross for our salvation. But to trust in ourselves and our good works is to lean on our own understanding. In the Lord, we can be wise in and have confidence in, the other is foolish to think we can save ourselves from God’s righteous judgement.

How did Myles have this great confidence? Because he probably sat in it before, or maybe seen me sit in it, or possibly he assumed it would hold up. He gained his confidence through experience, which is knowledge. This knowledge comes through time and faith in the chair to hold him up. In like fashion, the way to trust in the LORD comes through time in knowing God. (6) says that in all your ways “acknowledge” him who is the LORD. This word is to mean that you know personally, in an intimate relationship.

Martin, would you ever leave one of your children with a stranger off the street? How about with me? What is the different? You know nothing of the stranger but you know me, you have tested me and have confidence in me. To be able to trust in the LORD is to know him. This comes through time spent in prayer, reading his bible to understand his character, his goodness and covenantal love. It comes through spending time with believers who teach knowledge from Scripture. The more you know God, the more you trust.

On the negative side, the less you know, the more he seems like a stranger to you. The less you know, the less you will trust. Make sense?

In (7), we see another connection to trust and that is we are to “fear the LORD.” This is the beginning of knowledge. This is intimate talk of relationship that is built upon love for God in a reverential way. It is trusting that the LORD is always good and is perfectly wise and cares deeply for his children. It is a holy fear of expecting discipline from the Father for disobedience to his commandments.

We can only fear the LORD when we grasp our great need for salvation and we see that God is the only one who can save us. In mercy he lifts us out of our wretchedness and washes us clean from the mire and filth to wrap us in his loving arms and call us sons and daughters. Then we long to know all we can about our Saviour so as to live a life pleasing to him for his glory.

So trust in the LORD begins with knowing and fearing him. This leads to confidence just like the chair that Myles committed to. Since we are limited in our understanding of spiritual matters, we should trust in ourselves as much as the chair I built.

Is this any difference in a marriage? In your courtship, are you not using this time to get to know the other to test them? To see how they handle hard situations? Do they love the LORD or is it just talk? If they love the LORD, they will love me in Christian love. What about in the workplace? Job interviews, trial basis of 6 months to see whether their resume is just head knowledge or practical. In friendships, do you trust immediately? Not likely, you see some common goals or hobbies, then over time you start to share deeper things because you get to know them and through time you begin to trust.

This leads to confidence just like the chair that Myles committed to. Since we are limited in our understanding of spiritual matters, we should trust in ourselves as much as the chair I built.

Point #2 - Trust requires obeying God.

Let me ask you a question. If you say you trust someone yet don’t follow their lead, do you really trust them? If you go your own way, are you not saying by your actions that you don’t trust? If a father takes you hiking and says “son, stay close to the hillside, and watch out for loose stones that can cause you to stumble and fall.” Is he just being domineering or is he giving you commands to keep you safe?

God does the same with his commands. They are not meant as limitations to your freedom but serve as guard rails that keep you safe from going over the edge of a cliff. Commands of God are given to protect you, and obedience to them means you trust God to protect you.

Do we think God gives commands just to rule harshly, or do you think his commands are for your own good?

(7) Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. Just because we are to trust in the LORD does not mean that we turn our brains off. It is not that we cast common sense to the ditch and just float around daydreaming. There is human responsibility that we have.

This verse tells us to not be prideful and arrogant, thinking that we know enough about God and his expectations for us. This is to lean on our own understanding. Rather we are to have the fear of the LORD and gain knowledge so that we can be wise and see evil where it is and turn from it to what God loves which is good and true.

If you do this in all areas of your life, (6) tells us that he will make your paths straight. Meaning that if you trusting in the LORD and obeying God he empowers you to make straight what Satan wants crooked.

By the perfect life of Christ in his obedience to God and by his death on the cross to conquer sin’s power, Jesus has bound the strong man which is the devil. The Holy Spirit lives in the Christian to now desire obedience and thus make straight your life no matter whether it is at school, work or at home.

Satan will tempt and try to persuade you that your own heart is truth, to lean on your own understanding and God is just holding you back. Just like in the garden where he drew the eyes of Adam and Eve away from all the fruit that they could have to look at one that God had forbidden. Satan wants you off the straight path of righteousness where he can trip you up in the bush so that he can devour you. Then he uses that falling to accuse you for thinking you are a Christian.

By obeying God’s word in all your life, He will make your paths straight by awaking your conscience to see trouble. He gives you spiritual strength to turn from evil to what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord. To protect you from falling into Satan’s traps. Our obedience to God’s commands means that we trust God for our good.

(Put this at the end?) Parents, teach clearly to your children what is good and right. Instruct them in love what your expectations are for them. Both mom and dad need to be on the same page and be consistent with what these expectations are. This includes how you discipline. If one lets the kids off easier, how long does it take the children to figure this out?

This proverb then turns to a promise for trusting in the LORD.

Trust is a two way street because it is a relationship. With God, he will always love you because he is always faithful. Your part of the covenant is not you as a Christian. It is in Christ the Son by whom you trusted in. Jesus’ perfect obedience is yours, but as a result of being in Christ you have a new heart, you are born again with new desire to obey even though you will fail daily.

Children, the Lord promises that he will bless your life when you obey your parents. You have a responsibility to learn from them, to be teachable so that life will go better for you. Learning to obey now will have a huge impact on your life in the future when you learn to submit your will to those in authority like teachers, police and church leaders.

Without clarity and consistency, how can one know how they are live so as to have healthy relationships? Confusion will begin and before long there is little to no trust. When the rules are continually changing, how can one know what is right and what is wrong? So let us be careful to build solid relationships based upon the conditions that are given just like how God lays this out.

Point #3 - Trust brings benefits from God.

Choices in life are battles of the mind that weigh out potential results of what our decision will benefit us. For example when we are told not to cheat on our exam we weigh out obedience to disobedience. “If I don’t cheat this means harder work but favour with my teacher. If I do cheat, it means lighter work so I can have more free time, but then if I get caught it will require punishment.”

Throughout our Christian lives, this is the battle between our new nature in Christ and the sinful nature that used to control us. To disobey may give temporary rewards of money, toys or sexual pleasure. But guilt moves in and causes us heartache, depression and fatigue from trying to lie to cover up our sin like David with Bathsheba. David falls into temptation and sleeps with Bathsheba. As a result, she gets pregnant. In order to cover up his sin, David calls home her husband Uriah who was on the battlefield. When he refused to spend time with his wife because his fellow soldiers were still at war, David had him killed on the battlefield by putting him on the front line.

Momentary pleasure in disobedience to God’s commands resulted in a downward spiral and cost him the life of his son. Disobedience always has a cost, but Satan hides this until after where he accuses you for your lack of trust in God. Double whamo.

In a positive sense, obedience to turn away from sexual temptation brings blessings from the LORD. He loves to pour out his gifts onto those who fear him and obey out of love for God because of what mercy was extended on the cross.

On the other hand, obedience brings temporary restraint and sacrifice, but results in joy, peace and love because we want to live in a way that pleases our Saviour. Through time we see that obedience to God’s commands is for our good and we love the LORD all the more.

Obedience is like Noah building a boat on the land so large all the animals could fit in it. No matter the ridicule he would have faced, or possibly his own family thinking he was nuts, Noah obeyed in the face of what seemed foolishness. His obedience to God’s command brought salvation to his whole family while the rest of the world that hated God perished.

The obedience to the command to trust in the Lord (5) is met with a promise in (8). If you obey the conditions of the trusting relationship with God, “It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”

Let me ask you a question. Have you been tempted to steal or lie or be greedy and turned from it? Did you feel terrible after or did you feel a sense of peace? I think we would all say that as Christians we feel much better. We are grateful to God for strengthening us to do what is right for we know how awful we feel when we disobey.

When we trust and obey the LORD, we find a new strength and vigour. We find hope instead of terror, we find love instead of hate, we find sunlight instead of darkness. Under the shadow of our Father’s grace we find our well being and joy and we thank God for how well he treats us as his dear children.

Think of the stress you have when you disobey. Trying to hide it from a spouse, friend, parents or bosses. Many people find themselves drained of energy, depressed and then wonder why they don’t feel good.

Is this any difference in a marriage? In your courtship, are you not using this time to get to know the other to test them? To see how they handle hard situations? Do they love the LORD or is it just talk? If they love the LORD, they will love me in Christian love. What about in the workplace? Job interviews, trial basis of 6 months to see whether their resume is just head knowledge or practical. In friendships, do you trust immediately? Not likely, you see some common goals or hobbies, then over time you start to share deeper things because you get to know them and through time you begin to trust.

(Put this at the end?) Parents, teach clearly to your children what is good and right. Instruct them in love what your expectations are for them. Both mom and dad need to be on the same page and be consistent with what these expectations are. This includes how you discipline. If one lets the kids off easier, how long does it take the children to figure this out?

Children, the Lord promises that he will bless your life when you obey your parents. You have a responsibility to learn from them, to be teachable so that life will go better for you. Learning to obey now will have a huge impact on your life in the future when you learn to submit your will to those in authority like teachers, police and church leaders.

Now, what I want you to keep in mind is that we can often find ourselves trusting in ourselves over the Lord. I have seen over the course of mu new life in Jesus that I struggle with unbelief. But God is faithful even when we are faithless. Let us not be discouraged but rather let us come to the throne of grace and ask God to help us in strengthening our faith. Let us learn more about God and his commands so we can obey truth and be wise in turning from evil. The psalmist encourages us in this 23rd Psalm we have been learning about with the children. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all of my days. His steadfast love towards us his children endures forever.

Without clarity and consistency, how can one know how they are live so as to have healthy relationships? Confusion will begin and before long there is little to no trust. When the rules are continually changing, how can one know what is right and what is wrong? So let us be careful to build solid relationships based upon the conditions that are given just like how God lays this out.

Conclusion:

Trust in the LORD in all areas of your life. Rest in him like the chair Myles sat in. Know about him intimately through prayer and studying about he holy attributes. Learn all you can about what pleases him. Don’t trust your own heart for it can be deceived, as this is like the chair I built and cannot be trusted. If you grow in your relationship with the LORD by obeying his commands, your life will be healthy by having peace of mind that you are living for the Saviour who brought you from death to life. Amen.

B

(Be trustworthy in your relationships so that you can be trusted. Don’t just say it, live it)