Not Sinners Than Who?
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Knowing God and Knowing You
Knowing God and Knowing You
This morning I want to talk to you about trust. Because you cannot go on a Journey with God if you cannot trust God. And I will tell you that I feel a little hypocritical preaching a sermon about trust because with everything going on in my life at this moment I am having a difficult time trusting God. However, Many of you may be in the same river as I am.
I was listening to the radio the other day, a Christian station, and they had one of the worship artists on to talk about their new Release and how one of his songs came out of the pain of a recent divorce as his wife had left him and that several of the songs on his new album came from the pain and the questions that he had now that he as divorced. Now I don’t know the entire situation and honestly I know nothing about this man who was speaking, but the first question I asked was God why?
Here’s the issue: The bible talks about two roads; one leading to Heaven and one Leading to hell. One the road leading to heaven the only thing we know about it is this:
That it’s narrow, and that it’s gate is small.
I have walked this road for almost 20 years now. On this road I have struggled more than I have succeeded. I have tripped and fell more than the times that I was walking confidently and strong. Looking around currently and looking back the one thing I realize is that if my future is anything like my past I don’t hold hope for a life of ease. I’ve lost everything more than once. I had to fight for every inch. The only thing I haven’t lost in the last 20 years was my faith.
Fast forward 20 years I’m still struggling, but I still have my faith. You think after 20 years it gets easier, but it doesn’t. As I was wondering where to go from the three characteristics of in the back of my head I kept hearing trust and obey. Both of which I struggle with. In a field of sheep I am a ram. I am stubborn and hard headed. Some of that stubbornness has helped me make arrive this morning alive. But I want to open with this verse:
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
You see here is the issue Satan doesn’t follow the rules. You see I used to think the closer I got to God the less Satan could touch me. The less I would hear his voice. And the less I would struggle. But I find it to be on the contrary. When I was in the world, Satan left me alone, but now that I am on the narrow Path Satan comes with his loudness and difficulties.
I think the biggest lie we are told when it comes to our Christianity and what causes most people to stumble and leave the faith is that we are taught or we have come to believe that a Christian life should be easy. That if we are following God and obeying his commands that we are some how further from the problems that plague the world.
So In trusting God the first things we have to do is understand
Problems Will Come
7 He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
Notice first that author of this verse knows that bad news happens, but here is the truth:
Bad News is not the end for those who trust in God. Satan will attempt to deter you or make you give up on God and your walk. I have watched in this church as many good Christians walk off a battlefield because they allowed Satan to wear them out.
25 He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
Daniel was giving a vision of the beast concerning the end times and when talking about the evil that is to come. And out of the Beast will be 10 horns and those horns represent kings or rulers and those rulers will then attempt to wear out the saints.
Satan knows he cannot destroy a healthy saint. He knows that greater is He who is in me than He who is in the world. He understands his place so his attempt is to wear out those who believe in God in an attempt to get them to either be silenced or to defect entirely from the faith.
Also notice the time, times, and half a time. We aren’t under one big attack. I can handle one giant attack because I know if I can press through the other side it’s over. Satan is wearing you out with one attack. It’s a constant battering of small precise attacks.
How many of you have heard of death by 1000 cuts. See it isn’t one cut that kills you. It’s the accumulaiton of all the cuts.
So we need to understand that difficult times will come.
2. The Promise
7 He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
I have to admit, trusting in God is hard. Not because God isn’t trust worthy or because he may fail us, but because we never see the big picture. Have you ever played a video game so many times you have the count of how many steps before traps. You know what’s coming before it comes, your prepare and you move on. We don’t have that luxury as Christians Mainly, I believe, because it elevates the need for trust. If I knew what was coming when, how long it would last, and what I needed to do to get over it I could successfully beat life. I wouldn’t need God.
It’s hard to trust God because we don’t see the big picture. We see the Next step with the understanding that, despite what’s going on now good is promised. We don’t know what that good looks like. We don’t know what we have to do to get to the good, but we know good is promised. The end of V8 tells us that he looks in triumph over his enemy’s. We are guaranteed the victory.
The issue is how: How in this middle of the mess do we maintain our trust.
Push through the fear
Fear is an illusion made up in our minds. One of my biggest fears is failure. If I analyze my fear of failure the biggest lie I believe is that failure makes me less than and I cannot recover from failure. Instead of using my failure as a stepping stone, if I am not careful failure begins to be how I define myself.
Fear in your life shows a point where you simply do not trust God. Fear and trust cannot cohabitate. Now it’s important to understand that in the bible there are two types of Fear.
Fear of Lord- which when boiled down comes more out of love and respect than fear,
Being afraid.
In this scenario I am talking about being afraid. Fear of The Lord is a good thing. But fear in any other sense is bad.
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Notice in this verse that strong and courageous are linked to the presence of God. The biggest combatant to fear is being in God’s presence. To overcome fear you must press into God and press into God’s word.
To push through fear you must push into God.
2. Cling to God
10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Notice all those I’s it’s not talking about you, but rather those I’s reference God. God will strengthen you, God will Help you. God will uphold you.
When a storm is coming and a tornado is on the loose the biggest recomendation is to go to the basement of the house. Why? Because the foundation of the house is it’s strongest point. It is rare that a foundation of a house get torn apart in a storm. And the same is true in our lives.
If our foundation is God and we cling to that foundation what can a storm do to us? The walls may fall. The windows may blow out, but we don’t hold onto those things. We are tied to the foundation. We are secure and anchored in Christ.
16 therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’