Only Trust Him, Only Trust Him

A man falling off a cliff one day grabbed a branch and was hanging on for dear life 200 feet above the ground! Frantic and filled with fear, the branch starts coming loose. Looking up to Heaven, he begs, "Is there anyone up there who can help me?" Suddenly, a deep booming voice answers, "Yes, just let go and trust me."

The man looks down, then up again and says, "Is there anyone else who can help me?"

Too often we’re like that man aren’t we? We find ourselves in a perilous situation that fills us with fear – and we cry out to God for help – but we have a hard time just letting go and trusting Him!

We’re in the midst of our sermon series Overcoming the Giant of Fear – we’ve dealt with worry…dealt with how Jesus can calm all the storms of our lives…and dealt with how God cares for us greatly. Today I want us to deal with our trust and faith in the Lord. There are 2 passages specifically I want us to look at…Isaiah 41:10 and Proverbs 3:5-6 …read

Isaiah 41:10 NASB95

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Proverbs 3:5–6 NASB95

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 your paths straight.

Here we learn 2 critically important things…1st of all…

1. There is no place for fear in your life. (Isaiah 41:10)

- The Amplified Bible really captures it well: Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.

- There’s no place for fear in your life!

- Why? Because of 2 reasons. One because of…

1) God’s presence “for I am with you and for I am your God.”

- Here God emphasizes His personal commitment and presence with His children!

- What an antidote to fear! To know that you are in the Hand of Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe – and He is with you – never leaves or forsakes you!

- In Eph. 1:13-14 tells us when you become a Christian – place your faith and trust in Jesus, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit…Ephesians 1:13-14: 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13–14 NASB95

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

TS – 2nd…

2) God’s help “I will strengthen you…I will help you… I will uphold you.”

- all 3 statements express God’s mounting tide of assistance- help - ‘Yes, I will strengthen you; Oh indeed, I will help you; Why, I will uphold you …!’

- It’s based on His powerful and victorious right hand

- Is there power in the Mighty Hand of the Lord?

- hand = is the organ of personal action; lit the ‘right hand of my righteousness’ is the Lord’s personal action implementing his righteous promises and purposes.

TS – 2nd of all…

2. You can trust the Lord completely. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

- Here King Solomon says to do 3 things: 1st…

1) Trust the Lord

2) Lean on the Lord’s understanding

3) Acknowledge Lord

- The word used here for trust carries the force of relying on someone for security – it means to be completely dependent upon someone and to have utter confidence in that someone – this is what it means to trust! Who is the One you are to trust in? The Lord (Yahweh, Jehovah) - the covenant-keeping God, the God who cannot lie - is trustworthy because of who He is!

- And he says you are to trust Him with all your heart – heart here means your emotions, intellect and will.

- And it is to be total trust = not partial - either God is trustworthy, or He is not. If He cannot be trusted with all, He cannot be trusted at all.

- To lean on the Lord’s understanding is far greater than your understanding! How often has your understanding taken you down the wrong road – led you to wrong conclusions? The problem is our understanding is darkened by our sin nature, spiritual blindness and hard hearts – God is the One who will help you sort things out – help you to better understand things.

- And acknowledge Him in all your ways! The Hebrew word used here quite simply means know which contains the idea of acknowledging but the much richer content of being aware of, having fellowship with – to know intimately and personally. It describes experiential knowledge.

Conclusion

In June of 1859, Charles Blondin, an acrobat & tightrope walker, claimed he could walk from one side of Niagara Falls to the other on a rope. Some people thought it was impossible. Without a net, the crossing would be treacherous at best. But crowds came and paid to watch him make the attempt on June 30th. But before crossing he asked the crowd “Do you believe I can walk across to the other side” the crowd yelled “we believe!” He said, “Do you believe I can cross with a man on my back?” The crowd yelled “we believe!”

“So,” Blondin said, “Who will volunteer to take the trip on my back?” There was total silence in the crowd. Finally, one man raised his hand and said “I Believe!” and climbed on Blondin’s back & the two crossed Niagara together. The man was Harry Colcord, Blondin’s manager. You see, he trusted Blondin’s strength and ability with all his heart.

I ask you this morning: do you trust God’s strength and ability to get you across your Niagara’s with all your heart?

There is a difference between believing in God and trusting God with all your heart.