What Are You Trusting God For?

What Are You Trusting God For?

For much of my life I had difficulty truly trusting God. I was pretty sure I would go to heaven when I died, but much beyond that things began to get murky. When I was going through difficult times my version of trusting Him was to pray really hard that He would get me out of them. When that failed to happen, I figured it was because I hadn’t prayed correctly, or there was sin in my life hindering my prayers.

One thing I could never do was to sincerely ask God for His will to be done. I only wanted Father’s will if it was the same as my own. I was nothing like Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.

Luke 22:41-42 (NASB)

41  And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,

42  saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."

Praying this prayer wasn’t easy for Jesus, by the way.

Luke 22:44 (NASB)

44  And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.

Don’t listen to your flesh and feel badly if you struggle with this type of prayer.

Last week Pastor Stewart talked about II Kings 5. You might remember from this passage that Nahaman wanted to be healed of leprosy. He wanted healing on his terms, but he needed to receive it on God’s terms. There is an important reason for this. Faith is primary. God wants us to walk by faith and not by sight.

Proverbs 3:5-8 (NASB)

5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.

6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

7  Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

8  It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.

Another important reason for trusting Father completely is that God is BIG! He is omnipotent, almighty; has power, strength, and might without limit. He spoke, and the universe came into being. He spoke into existence all that is—both what is seen and what is unseen—except for mankind. Mankind He fashioned, and He fashioned mankind in His image. In addition to being omnipotent, He is omniscient; He knows everything, including our thoughts, the number of hairs on our heads and when a sparrow falls to the ground.

In addition to all of this, He is immutable—that is; He never changes. That means that He is fully trustworthy and faithful. He keeps His promises--2 Corinthians 1:20 (NASB) 20  For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes;--He is love, and He cannot lie.

God is infinite, perfect, holy, and righteous in all His ways. Given all these amazing attributes and traits, it’s abundantly clear that His thoughts and His ways are much higher than our own.

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NASB)

8  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.

9  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

One way of getting some perspective on this is to think of the relationship we have with dogs. Our dogs know something of us, important things to be sure, but not much compared to what we know. They may know when they are pleasing us or displeasing us. They love us and know that we love them. Even so, our dogs have no understanding of marriage or any of our interpersonal relationships, what it means to pay bills, what reading is or why it might be valuable, what we do at work, or how we drive a car. Their understanding is very limited when compared to ours. God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours in a similar fashion—though in even greater measure.

Father knows the end. He has known the end since the beginning. He sees every possible contingency and knows how His perfect and loving plan will be accomplished in every possible case.

Psalm 37:4-5 (NASB)

4  Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

5  Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

Father is for us and not against us. He is all about relationships. He wants us to know Him intimately and He knows that, just as the wages of sin is death, so the wages of trusting Him is life. Trusting Him fully brings peace.

Isaiah 26:3-4 (NASB)

3  "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.

4  "Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.

I remember this in King James; “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee…” I’ve always liked that way of rendering this. Having one’s mind steadfastly stayed on Father is an example of true trust in Him.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NASB)

6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This peace is what we really need when we face difficulties. It allows us to keep our head. It allows us to act wisely and from the heart rather than reacting out of emotion and from the flesh. It allows us to remain joyful. Peace—resting in Him—guards our hearts and minds.

Here’s an example from the life of the Apostle Paul.

2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (NASB)

8  For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;

Notice here please that he says they were burdened beyond their strength. It’s popular these days to say “God won’t give me more than I can handle.”, but that isn’t what Scripture tells us. In fact, life is all about trusting Father in the midst of things we can’t handle. It’s all about faith, not sight. Paul goes on…

9  indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

10  who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,

Father raises the dead. That is another way of saying there is nothing impossible for Him.

He is for us and He loves us. He is working for good.

Romans 8:28 (NASB)

28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Sometimes our idea of good is not big enough. We tend to think about our present discomfort or imagine things that might happen. Father thinks about everyone involved and effected and His thoughts are about the best.

2 Timothy 1:12 (NASB)

12  For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

Daniel W. Whittle 1840-1901 and James McGranahan 1840-1907 elaborated on this phrase in a hymn entitled I Know Whom I Have Believed. In this hymn the authors list the many things they don’t know. “I know not why God’s wondrous grace, to me He has made known; nor why, unworthy, Christ in love redeemed me for His own. I know not how this saving faith to me He did impart; nor how believing in His word wrought peace within my heart. I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin, revealing Jesus through the word, creating faith in Him.” The list of unknowns continues for two more verses, but each is ended in the refrain, “But I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.”

Paul faced personal difficulties and did something we can all identify with. God gave him an interesting response.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NASB)

8  Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.

9  And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

10  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

When things are beyond our abilities and we feel weak and helpless, His great power is displayed most clearly. In weeks past we’ve talked about the value of ebenezers—or markers—that remind us of things Father has done for us in the past. When He causes good to come out of situations that seem like they could not be worse, our faith grows immensely.

Psalm 125:1-2 (NASB)

1 Those who trust in the LORD Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.

2  As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.

Jesus had this to say about Father’s heart with regard to worry and trust.

Matthew 6:25-34 (NASB)

25  "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

26  "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

27  "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

28  "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,

29  yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.

30  "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

31  "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'

32  "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33  "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34  "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

In 1903 Cleland B. McAfee 1866-1944 wrote a hymn entitled “Near to the Heart of God”. “There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God. A place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God. There is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God. A place where we our Savior meet, near to the heart of God. There is a place of full release, near to the heart of God. A place where all is joy and peace, near to the heart of God.” Between these verses rings the refrain, “Oh Jesus, blest redeemer, sent from the heart of God; hold us who wait before thee, near to the heart of God.”

Father is altogether trustworthy. You can count on Him. Don’t trust that Father will do what you want or what you think is best. Trust Him to know what is best and to work good and accomplish His perfect plan for you.

Trust His character.

Trust His heart.