A Different Kind of Declaration
Jeremiah declared in Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters...”
Today is a special day for our nation. Exactly 234 years ago, today, the Continental Congress met in the city of Philadelphia and adopted the Declaration of Independence. When those quill pens scratched across that eloquently written document, it was, undoubtedly, one of the defining moments in the history of the world. With a few bold strokes, those 56 brave men cast off the chains of tyranny and made the bold proclamation that a fledgling young nation was ready and able to stand under its own power and authority. They declared, to all that would listen, that they represented a free and independent people.
That day marked the culmination of years of conflict and frustration. The decision to declare independence did not come easy, nor was it hasty. John Adams would later say that the real revolution took place in the hearts and minds of the people of America in the 15 years PRIOR to the first drops of patriotic blood being spilled at Lexington and Concord. The signing of the declaration itself didn’t come to pass until 442 days AFTER the first volleys of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord. When those brave men signed that powerful declaration, they did so with a conviction that was born through years of conflict.
Time and experience are relentless teachers and the preceding years had provided ample evidence that the only way that they would ever achieve the liberty and freedom that they longed for was to toss off the controlling hand of the throne of England. They learned the hard way that self-sufficiency and self-reliance was the only way to preserve the great dream that they had began to call America. So they took that final difficult and costly step and declared to the whole world that they were dependant on no foreign power. They took their future in their own hands and declared that they stood alone, independent of any one else. It was a Declaration of Independence. It was born of necessity. Independence was the only plausible course.
However, even as they declared their independence, our founding fathers acknowledged, on that momentous occasion, their utter dependence on God. That revolutionary document may have been a Declaration of Independence but it also declared, in its own words, “a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.” Today our nation will celebrate a declaration of Independence, but I want to talk to you for just a few moments about a different kind of declaration. Just as surely as time and circumstances had taught the founding fathers of this nation that the only feasible course of action that could preserve their hopes and dreams was to put forth a declaration of independence, experience had also taught them that their only hope of any degree of success lay in their reliance on God. To a large degree the document that they signed was as much a Declaration of Dependence as it was a Declaration of Independence.
The wisest man that ever lived penned the words of Proverbs 3:5 admonishing us to “Trust in the LORD with all [our] heart; and [to] lean not [to our] own understanding.” But, in all of our ways to acknowledge God and he will make our paths straight. I come to this pulpit this morning with a simple purpose. I’m here to encourage each and every one of you to make a declaration of dependence. I want to encourage each of you to put your full trust in the Lord. It seems so easy, sometimes, to trust in what we know, what we can see and what we can understand. But the problem is that our understanding is never enough.
For all of our knowledge and all of our understanding, we can’t see things from heaven’s perspective. God’s ways, the prophet Isaiah reminds us, are far above our ways and His thoughts are so far beyond our thoughts that they are like the heavens that tower above the earth. God’s aspirations for our lives are beyond our comprehension. We can’t even begin to grasp the great plan that God is unfolding in us and through us. We aren’t capable of seeing the end from the beginning and knowing where this thing is headed. Instead we are charged simply to trust God. Instead we are reminded to place our dependence upon God.
David said, in his own poetic prose (Psalm 37:23), that the “steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” There is a wonderful sense of security in that truth. If I will trust Him, if I will depend upon Him, if I will let Him -- He will direct my paths and He order my steps! The Psalmist celebrates this truth by saying of the man that allows God to order his steps, “though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his own hand.” He provides further evidence of the security of depending on God when he says, in the next verse: “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
There is a wonderful simplicity in depending upon God! When you put your full faith and your full trust in him, you don’t have to worry about tomorrow. You don’t have to worry about what the future is going to bring. Because, while the future is uncertain, the one that holds your future never changes and He’s trustworthy! The prophet said, in Jeremiah 10:23, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” I’m not even capable of directing my own paths. But if I put my trust in God, if I will declare my dependence on Him, He will direct my paths and He will establish my going out and my coming in. He will watch over me, direct me, and bring me to the place that He desires of my life. All I have to do is trust Him, and follow Him wherever He leads me. Because He leads me to still waters and green pastures. And when He leads me thought eh valley of the shadow of death, his rod and his staff are there to protect me. And when he leads me to the place where my enemies encompass me, he prepares a table for me in the midst of my foes. He anoints my head with oil, my heart with gladness, and causes my cup to run over.
I’ve learned a few things in the course of my own short life and one thing I know is that, if will put my trust in Him, He will never lead me wrong. He will never leave me nor forsake me. He will never bring me to a valley that he can’t take me through, he will never place me in a storm that He doesn’t command, and He will never leave me to face my trials on my own. He is my strength, He is my shield, He is my fortress, my Rock, and my deliverer! He is the Lord of my life and today I want to make a declaration that I’m depending on Him!
Jesus said, in Luke 12:22, “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.” He also said to consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin yet; Solomon in all of his glory was never arrayed in as much beauty and splendor as them. If God clothes the grass, if he provides for the raven, how much more will he take care of us if we place our trust in Him?
I want to encourage someone this morning to heed the words of Solomon. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Somebody needs to turn some things over to Him. Somebody needs to make a declaration of dependence in this house this morning. Somebody needs to step up on this Independence Day and tell God, I’m depending on you! I need you in my life. I need your direction. I need your guidance. I need your hand to lead me, and your spirit to guide me. I need the strength that only comes from you. I need the blessing that comes from your presence. I need You, God!
Talking about trusting in the Lord with all of your heart, Solomon said in a later verse (28:26), that “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” The unfortunate truth this morning is that you are either going to trust in God or you are going to trust in yourself. The first, according to Solomon is a wise course of action. The second, however, is the choice of fools. It takes a fool to elevate their way over God’s way. It takes a fool to elevate their understanding over God’s understanding. And that foolishness always ends in disaster.
I was recently made aware of an article entitled “178 Seconds To Live.” In it the author told of a study that was conducted involving 20 non-commercial pilots who had excellent flight records for daytime flights but who had never had instrument training of any kind. These kind of pilots fly private aircraft and do quite well as long as they are able to avoid flying at night or flying through thick storm clouds. As a matter of fact they will carefully plot and plan their course in order to avoid the possibility of flying into low to no vision situations. Because flying by sight is completely different that flying by instruments.
However, for the purpose of the study, each of these 20 pilots was placed in a flight simulator and instructed to keep their aircraft under control as they flew into thick, dark clouds and stormy weather. The study concluded that, on average, it took them 178 seconds to crash their planes, killing themselves and whatever crew or passengers they might have had on board. It took these seasoned pilots with years of experience less than three minutes to destroy themselves once they had lost their visibility and were forced to rely on their instruments. When faced with the choice of trusting their own instincts or trusting their instruments, human nature kicked in and they placed their trust in their instincts. Without exception, they crashed.
I want you to know, this morning, that you can’t afford to rely on yourself to work things out. You can’t afford to lean upon your own understanding. Perhaps it will work for a while, and perhaps you will do OK as long as you can see clearly what lies ahead of you. However, the time is going to come, sooner or later, where the storms of this life obscure your vision and it will becomes impossible for you to see clearly where the next step should be. In those times it is absolutely essential that you have learned how to place your trust in God. If you hope to survive those times in your life you simply must learn what it means to lean not to your own understanding.
Your understanding simply isn’t good enough. Your reasoning and your knowledge won’t keep you safe. You need God. You need His anointing and His direction in your life. You need Him to order your steps and direct your paths. Today, I want to encourage you to make a declaration of dependence. Today I want to challenge you to place your trust in God. It’s the only way that your faith will survive the storms and the valleys that are an unavoidable part of life on this side of glory.
Jeremiah declared in Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters...” The tree planted by the waters grows and flourishes in the good times and the bad. It does well in the rainy season, when everything else is doing well. But it also does well in the dry season when everything else is dying around it, because its roots run into a never-ending river of refreshment. This is what you become when you place your trust in God. When you declare your dependence on Him, you sink your roots into the unending treasure of His faithful provision!
This is what God wants to do in your life this morning. He wants to release the flow of His blessing and His provision into your dry and barren times. He wants to loose the assurance of his direction and His guidance into your dark storms and lonely valleys. If you will put your faith in him and turn your hope towards heaven, He longs to be your provider and your way-maker! He’s only waiting for you to make your declaration of dependence on Him!
Close
The story has been preserved, in the History of our nation, how that during the first Constitutional Convention, when the delegates were frustrated due to the burdens of the hour and overwhelmed by tremendous crisis, they became so fragmented that they were ready to just throw out the whole concept of a constitution completely. They were at the end of their ropes and they were ready to admit defeat and simply give up and walk away.
But an old white-haired man by the name of Benjamin Franklin rose to his feet and looked upon the various delegates. As he began to speak, his words carried the authority of a man who had much invested in what was transpiring before him. In the face of crisis and the immanent collapse of the convention, he said: “Gentlemen, if it is true that not one single petal from any flower falls to the ground without escaping God’s attention, will the distress of this nation go unheeded? Let us therefore determine to seek His face…”
What followed was an impromptu prayer meeting ad the many delegates got down on their knees and began to declare, anew, their dependence on God. When they arose from that prayer the convention was saved and a fresh direction was established.
If God cares enough about the affairs of governments and nations to respond to a simple declaration of dependence on the part of politicians and statesmen, how much more will he hear you and answer your cry if you will but place your trust in Him this morning. Somebody, in this house this morning, needs to place your trust in God. Somebody needs to make a declaration of dependence!
