I Know Whom I Have Beleived

April 13, 2008

Morning Worship

Text: Proverbs 3:5-10

Subject: Trusting God

Title: I Know Whom I Have Believed

Author Tim Hansel tells this story in his book, Holy Sweat.

One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, "Hey Dad! Catch me!" I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and them yelled "Hey Dad!" I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.

When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???"

He responded with remarkable calmness: "Sure...because you’re my Dad." His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted. Isn’t this even more true for a Christian?

Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987, Word Books Publisher, pp. 46-47.

Isn’t that an incredible story of trust in a father? Do you know the benefits of trusting God that way? I want to show you today what the scriptures say about trusting God in all things. For some of us that is a hard thing to do! But I want you to see the benefits that are gained when you trust God for everything and not just some things.

Would you open your hearts to God’s word today and let the scriptures speak to you? Would you open your spiritual ears today to hear what the Lord is saying? Would you open your spiritual eyes today to see the kind of life God is calling you to today?

I just want you to know today that you can trust the Lord for all things.

I. RELIANCE ON GOD’S WISDOM. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding… I suppose that the hardest thing for a Christian to do is to trust God even when what is going on around you doesn’t make sense. On Wednesday night we just finished a short study on the names of God. One of the things we learned is that in the OT, when you see the word LORD spelled out with all capital letters like in verse 5, that word (LORD) is always the Hebrew word for God, Yahweh (Jehovah). It is the word that God told Moses to tell Israel when they would ask, “Who sent you”? God told him to say, “I AM” sent me. “IAM WHO I AM” or “I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE”. The message is that God will be for you whatever you need Him to be when you need Him to be. How can we know that for sure? Because God is not only “I AM” but is the one who causes everything else to be. Now in various other places in the Bible we see that God wants us to know Him by various other names that are joined with “I AM”. He is Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides or “I AM” provision; He is Jehovah-Rophe” – “I AM” healing or the God who heals. He is “Jehovah-Shalom” – “I AM” peace. And so on… So as we come to the understanding of how God desires to be known among us we begin to see what it is that He desires for our lives. You see when we get to know Him that way we can begin to trust Him with all our heart – even when what is going on I n our lives doesn’t make sense. In 2 Kings chapter 5 there is the story of Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army. He was stricken with leprosy. You know the story. He was sent to the prophet Elisha and Elisha sent him down to dip seven times in the Jordan River. It didn’t make any sense that he should go down to the muddy Jordan River when there were clear streams in his own country. But when he was persuaded to do as the prophet said he was healed of his disease – even though it didn’t make sense. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding… Trust is the opposite of doubt. Doubt is based on your circumstances. James says that the man who doubts shouldn’t think that He will receive anything from the Lord. Trust or faith is based on God’s promise. Do you know God that way? He wants you to. Matthew 10:28-31, 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. That is why I preach about believing God’s word so much. Because His word reveals His love for us by declaring that He is “I AM”. So when your body says “I’m Sick!” but God’s word says, “By His stripes we are healed!” which are we supposed to believe? Matthew 18:1-3, 1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. That is where God wants you to be – where you can just trust Him and not rely on yourself.