02 - Let God (Your Provider)

Let God

02 - Your Provider

Church in the City | Mother’s Day, 8 May 2022 | Glen Gerhauser

Text: “Let go and know that I am God––I will be exalted in the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Yahweh of the heavenly armies is with us––our high place of refuge is Jacob’s God. Selah.” (Psa. 46:10-11, IT).

Theme: God is exalted when you let go and let God.

Intro: Today’s message is inspired by one of our mothers, Diane Heng. A few years ago she reflected on the word ‘let’ in Scripture. It’s a small word but packed with meaning. It begins our main text this morning: ‘Let go and know that I am God.’ You’ve probably heard it as ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ That’s a good translation. But I like to say, ‘Let go’ because that gives a clearer picture of the Hebrew word harpu, which means ‘grow slack, release or let go.’ ‘Let’ is a word of permission associated with grace and faith. ‘Let’ allows God to be our Father. Letting God lets him be leader and Lord of us, the nations and the whole earth.

Today is Mother’s Day and we are blessed with wonderful mothers in our congregation. Our mothers are unique because they are mothering with Jesus––they are raising their children to be disciples of Jesus. We’re blessed to be raising both younger and older children in this environment because we have encouraging examples of spiritual mothers all around us. They are not just any kind of mother, but mothers that love Jesus. These kinds of mothers are rare and they are worth making the effort to be around, especially if you're a young mother.

I will share three points that spell ‘LET’ in this short devotion.

1) L - Let Go (Ps. 46:10-11).

הַרְפּ֣וּ וּ֭דְעוּ כִּי־אָנֹכִ֣י אֱלֹהִ֑ים אָר֥וּם בַּ֝גּוֹיִ֗ם אָר֥וּם בָּאָֽרֶץ׃

The Lexham Hebrew Bible (Ps 46:11H)

Psalm 46:10–11 NASB95

“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

The first step in letting God be God is letting go.

Letting go is also the first step in letting God provide for you.

Sabbath rest––true and deep rest––starts with letting go.

Mothers know that often children fight against their care.

They may fight against being clothed or resist their teeth being brushed.

They may oppose what you’re feeding them or reject the medicine you’re giving them.

And as you know, this makes it difficult to care for your children––especially if they’re fighting against going to sleep.

If only they would relax and let you care for them.

Yet, this is something we do with our heavenly Father.

He wants to care for us, but we don’t let him. We kick, scream and fight––we want to do it ourselves.

Letting go of your will and work ushers in God’s provision, his care.

Sabbath means ‘cease, stop or rest.’

We enter into God’s sabbath rest when we cease striving against God.

Ceasing, letting go, and relaxing in the Father’s arms is what you do when you seek first the Kingdom.

Hear what Jesus says, “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Mt 6:31–34, NASB).

Let go of the debt people owe you. I’m not talking just about money but emotional and expectational debt. Let go of the pain they’ve caused. Let go of the attacks.

And if you’re struggling with letting go, let God help you let go.

2) E - Embrace God’s work, way and will (Ps. 46:10-11).

‘Let’ – it’s a small word in English, and often it's smaller in Hebrew.

It’s usually just one letter––י yod––yod added in front of a word.

Yod י is the smallest and humblest letter in the Hebrew alphabet.

You’ll find it early in Scripture, Genesis 1:3. Yehi ‘or – “Let there be light.”

Hear the ‘yeh’ sound in ‘Yehi.’

It takes humility to let God––to embrace his work, way and will.

It takes humility to let him do the work rather than do it in your pride.

Our Father wants to bring light into every area of our lives and thoughts.

Will you let him? Will we let him?

This word came to me when I was struggling with my own thoughts. They were getting dark and off-course.

Then God spoke to me, “Will you let me? Let me bless you. Let me strengthen you. Let me heal you. Let me deliver you. Let me help you…”

The Father said many ‘let’ statements to me.

Have you heard the joke about Moshe and the flood?

You probably have heard it in some form. It’s a good example of embracing God’s work rather than fighting against it.

3) T - Trust that God will do it (Ps. 46:10-11).

Basically, the Father said, “Stop trying to do it yourself and surrender.”

Listen to what God says to the Psalmist after saying, “Let go and know that I am God.”

“Let go and know that I am God––I will be exalted in the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Yahweh of the heavenly armies is with us––our high place of refuge is Jacob’s God. Selah.” (Psa. 46:10-11, IT).

We need to trust that God will do it.

Lastly, I’d like us to end by listening to a PJ Morton song, “Let Go and Let God.”

https://youtu.be/xGWu8OYzjjY

Conclusion: Let’s sum up: 1) L - Let go, 2) E - Embrace God, and 3) T - Trust he will do it.