Trust

Good morning everyone…I hope you are all having a great start to the week. Right now we want to welcome our kids to go and meet with your teacher so that you are able to learn and connect with Scripture on a level that makes sense to you. Thank you to those teachers that are a part of our kids church time. I want to let you know that you are making such a HUGE impact on the lives of these amazing children.

Also, I want to take a moment to welcome those of you that are joining us online. I love that we have people that are joining us from all over. We have people that are traveling and people that live in other states as well. I want to give a special welcome to those that live in Ogle County. If you are in Ogle county and you are looking for a spiritual family, then I want to encourage you to stop by any Sunday morning. We have amazing coffee, comfortable chairs, and the friendliest people in all of Ogle county.

Listen, I know how difficult it can be to take that step to try something new, especially if you don’t know anyone there…So, if you are looking for a church home, then I want to buy you a cup of coffee and allow you the opportunity to get to know me a bit without the pressure of everyone around. Sometimes we just have to take that step and trust that it will work out, you know.

Actually, now is a great time to talk about trust and what it means to trust. WE are starting a brand new series called trust where we will be looking at trusting the Lord with everything. So, what does it mean to trust the Lord with everything…I mean, can we actually trust the Lord with everything, or are there some things that we need to hold back on our own. You know, just in case God messes up....You chuckle, but that is the reality, isn’t it? I mean, and we all do this…We say we are going to trust God, but then we hold on a little longer just to make sure everything works out. Listen, Im not going to lie and tell you that trusting is easy…not by a long shot, but it gets easier the more you trust. That means the more you trust, and the more you see His promises come true, the easier it is too trust for the next thing, right?

So, Im going to tell you a story, and maybe Ive shared this before. You see, when I did drivers ed back in the 90’s…I know, that dates me a little, some of you are thinking wow you’re old while others are thinking that you have socks older than me. :) Anyway, when I went through drivers ed back in the 90’s the instructor got in the passenger side of the car and he informed us that while we had full control of the car, he did in fact have an extra set of brakes on his side. Now, this was done becuase while the instructor trusted us to do well based on what he had taught us, he also wanted to maintain some level of control…Now, in my case, that was a good thing becuase early on I would have had us in a ditch on the side of the road had he not maintained that level of control. I will also tell you that I have many times used this image as an example of my life with Christ. You see, early on when I first gave my life to Christ, I trusted God…but in a much more real sense…I didn’t. You see, I can look back at my earlier days of following Jesus as a person that allowed Jesus into the drivers seat, but also maintained a set of brakes on my side. Now, eventually the drivers ed teacher trusted me enough to pass me and allow me to get my drivers license. However, it took him watching me and allowing his trust in my ability to not end up in a ditch to grow.

So the question is…what does it take for us to trust God. I mean really trust God. Trust God with our church, home, family, finances, really trust God with every aspect of our lives. Well, that is what i would like to talk about this morning. Actually, this morning we are going to get started and over the coarse of the next 3 weeks we will hopefully answer this question for ourselves…or at least be honest with our level of trust in the Lord.

Over the coarse of the next few weeks we are going to be in Proverbs 3. This morning I want us to look at just the first 4 verses that we see chapter 3. Let’s read those together Prov. 3:1-4

Proverbs 3:1–4 ESV

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

Now, there is something that I want you to notice as we go through this section over the next few weeks. You see, all of the odd numbered verses give us a command, and the even numbered verses give us a promise based on that command. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at what is being said here…What is being promised here…what are the...

Promises of God:

A full and peaceful life

Influence of others

Ok, so these promises may seem a bit shallow so lets dig into those for a moment, becuase I want to understand what is being promised so that my trust can grow…You see, ultimately I would like for us to see that we can in fact trust God with every aspect of our lives. I believe this passage shows us that and I would like to simply understand it a bit. So, let’s take a brief look at this first promise that we see here.

A full and peaceful life:

What does it mean to have a full and peaceful life? I mean, what kind of promise is that really? What does it mean to have a full life? Well, the literal interpretation of this passage is that God this promise is to have a length of days and years of life. Now, this phrase, length of days, is an idiom meaning to have a prolonged life. Then, and more impactful, I believe is the phrase years of life. You see, that phrase indicates to have a life worth living. This term life refers to the earthly, physical life that is combined with a spiritual blessedness. You see, however, that is simply the first stage of this promise though. From my perspective the second part of this promise is more impactful. You see, the second part of this promise is that these long years of spiritual blessing will provide true peace…or shalom. Here in this passage we are able to see that a part of this promise is that we will have a true peace, or a life of wholeness that only God can bring. Now, I want to be clear for a moment. You see this word can be translated as to be financially prosperous. However, a more full understanding of this phrase would be have peace and health physically, fiscally, and relationally. In other words…when we keep God’s commandment that we will look at in a moment. We will experience God’s peace that shows us physical, financial, and relationship health. You see…let me be very clear…This does not say that we will have man’s peace that shows us physical, financial, and relational health…In other words, there are times when according to our standards I am poor, but by God’s standards I am rich…The opposite is also true, I can be rich by man’s standard and poor according to God’s standards. You see, when we realize that God’s and man’s standards are not the same we can begin to understand passages like where Jesus teaches that it is practically impossible for the rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. God’s peace…God’s shalom are far greater than man’s peace. This is the promise that we have been given. The other promise is the

Influence of others:

Ok, so what does it mean to influence others? I mean, that is something that we would all love I am sure. If we can influence others then we can show them Christ easier, we can get ahead in our chosen field, or many other things. So, what does that mean? Well, a more literal translation would be to find favor and understanding with God and others, and that is a pretty simple understanding. Basically other people will be able to recognize the competence and intelligence of this individual. Why is that though? I mean, why would others be able to recognize the intelligence of this individual? They would recognize this becuase they have the shalom of God…You see…this person is humble and relies on the Lord for their life. Therefore, the shalom of God, meaning the richness and health of relationships is present allowing others to begin to see God though you.

So these are the promises, and these are some promises I can really get behind if I am honest. I mean, if I can experience these things, then my life will be so much more peaceful. Remember what we said earlier…God is trustworthy, which means that these promises are absolutely available to you and I. There are just a couple of things that we will need to do in order to experience them. We must keep the...

Commandments from God:

Do not forget

Hold to love and faithfulness

We have seen the promises and these are attractive to me for sure. So, how do I get here. First of all it might be worth noting here that the author of Proverbs is Solomon. You know, the guy that is credited for being the wisest king to have every ruled. Yeah, that is the guy that wrote this book. So, the wise king is giving us his words about how to trust the Lord…how to learn to rely on the Lord. Remember I told you that over time I have grown in my trust in the Lord. I mean, early on I always would say that I hope I would have enough faith to endure certain things…Today, I know that I do.

As a matter of fact, I was asked earlier this week if I would deny Christ in order to save either Collin or Isabel. My answer was I cannot do that. Why? Well, becuase I have seen time and time again that God is faithful. I can trust the lives of both Collin and Isabel to God and therefore I have to rely on God, I don’t have another option. Now, that does not mean it wouldn’t be difficult and I might be tempted to deny…But I know in my mind and in my heart that God is 100% trustworthy. How do I know that…He has proved it time and time again. These promises that we have seen this morning and these commandments that we are looking at now are an exercise in trusting God. When we do these things and we see God fulfill his promises, then our faith continues to build. Now let me be clear in case there is a misunderstanding…God does not have to prove himself to anyone. However, we are sinful and one of the ways that God loves and provides for us is by allowing us to see his promises so that we can grow in our own faith.

So...do not forget

…literally keep the teaching of the Lord in your mind and heart. Something we see here is that devotion to God and devotion to wisdom are inseparable. The person that seeks to gain knowledge without first submitting to the Lord searches for that knowledge in vain. Sure, this person my gain knowledge of facts, but it will be a distorted knowledge apart from the Lord. A perfect example of this is the study of the creation of the World. You see science is actually our friend, however, we must start with the correct presuppositions such as God created the Earth and everything in it. If we start with a presupposition that there is no God, then we are constantly searching for what cannot be found…such as how all of this around us exist in such a perfect little bubble of space and time. You see…we cannot forget the basic truths of Scripture.

The second command that we are looking at this morning is to hold to truth and mercy. Look this concept that we have seen in verse 3 actually shows how far removed Proverbs is from the idea of simple external obedience resulting in reward. You do well at work, you receive recognition in the form of a paycheck. There is obedience and reward. Then we see we should...

Hold to love and faithfulness

However, we see something different here. This command to maintain love and faithfulness shows us that God is not interested in the external obedience, but instead the internal attitude of the heart. You see, love and faithfulness, these are things people cannot see…these are not simple actions…they are heart attitudes. This command from God has in view the inner integrity that manifests itself in all interactions with both God and others.

You see, these are the things that we are to do, and when we do these things…when we begin to trust God in these ways, then we will begin to experience God’s peace and God’s influence…others will be able to begin to see God in your life. In other words…“The more you trust God…the more others see God in you”

This morning, are you willing to trust God with everything you have? I am talking about your finances by being sacrificially generous as God has commanded. I am talking about your relationships by allowing others to see God in you, by allowing others to know you are a Christian and what you believe. I am talking about your life by allowing God to use you in powerful ways, at this church, in your home, and everywhere else that you go…Are you willing to trust God in everything, or....are you holding onto the brakes this morning?

Listen, this morning I have talked alot of trusting God and what that looks like. If you are here or if you are joining us online, and you have never taken the opportunity to put your trust in the Lord, then let me encourage you to reach out to myself or any of the church elders…You can find all of our contact information online or come reach out right here in person. Allow us to pray with you and help you understand what it means to put your faith in the Lord…completely.

Lets pray