INTRO.- Trust is not easy to do in this world. The reason is because so many people betray our trust in them.
ILL.- Someone once said, “Never trust anyone who says trust me!” Or perhaps more like, “Never trust a politician who says trust me!”
Never trust a restaurant that advertises, “Mother’s good home cooking!” (but you never see many cars at that restaurant)
“Never trust someone who says, ‘I will never tell anyone else.’”
Never trust a used car salesman who says, “This is car is in good running condition.”
Never trust a preacher who says, “This sermon is not long!”
Never trust a clerk who says, “That lottery ticket is a sure winner.”
Never trust a company that writes, “The check is in the mail.”
Never trust someone who says, “I never inhaled.”
Never trust a dog owner who says, “Don’t worry. He’s never bitten anyone.”
Never trust someone who says, “Don’t call me, I’ll call you.”
Never trust someone who says, “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
Never trust someone who says, “Don’t worry. We’ll never get caught.”
Never trust someone who says, “Then turn left. You can’t miss it.”
Never trust someone who says, “I’ll take care of everything.”
Never trust a mechanic who says, “I’ll repair it and make it as good as brand new.”
Never trust a dentist who says, “This will only hurt a little.”
Never trust someone who says, “If you get this tab I’ll pay the next time.”
Never trust a drunk who says, “I only had two little drinks.”
Never trust someone who says, “I can stop any time I want.”
Never trust someone who says, “You can eat pizza for breakfast, Oreos for lunch and Chinese food for dinner and maintain your girlish figure.”
Never trust someone who says, “You will not certainly die. For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Never trust someone who says, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.”
And the list goes on and on and on. In a world of distrust, who can we trust? Solomon tells us about the one person we can always trust.
PROP.- And what is this trust that Solomon is talking about?
1- Put your trust in the right person
2- Allow trust to bless your life
3- Show evidence of your trust
I. PUT YOUR TRUST IN THE RIGHT PERSON
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not 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 shun evil.
ILL.- Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel on March 17, 1969, after serving as Minister of Labor and Foreign Minister. Israel's first and the world's third woman to hold such an office, she was described as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics years before the epithet became associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion used to call Meir "the best man in the government"; she was often portrayed as the "strong-willed, straight-talking, grey-bunned grandmother of the Jewish people.”
Golda Meir was quite a leader, but she was also something else. She said, “Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement."
TRUST YOURSELF?! Really? I do believe that we all need a certain amount of self-confidence in life, but there is also a limit to how much we can trust ourselves. The reason I say this is because of what God says in His word.
Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.”
Isaiah 55:7-9 “Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
It doesn’t sound like we humans can be trusted. Our human hearts are deceitful, we say one thing and do another, our worship is not sincere, we do not think or do like the God who created us. Consequently, we shouldn’t put too much confidence or trust in ourselves! When we do, we are headed for trouble.
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Remember what happened to the overly confident Muhammad Ali? He is now 71 years old and a broken man physically. Where is his Kingship now? He was one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time (or in his time) but his pride has brought him down.
He was raised as a Christian but left Christianity to follow Islam (or the Muslim religion) in his adult years. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome in 1984, a disease that is common to head trauma from activities such as boxing. He is something of a broken man who needs to look up to one who created Him and bow before Him. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
I realize that his boxing may have contributed greatly to his physical downfall but so did his self-confidence and pride. Rather trusting ourselves too much, we need to put our trust in one who is greater, higher and holier!
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not 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 shun evil.
We are weak but He is strong. We are ignorant in many ways, but He is all-wise and all-knowing. We often think wrong and do wrong, but He is holy and always does the right and loving thing. We need to put our trust in Him!
ILL.- A man said: 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." Likewise, we have a heavenly Father whom we can trust completely and should!
ILL.- D. L. Moody said, "Trust in yourself, and you are doomed to disappointment; trust in your friends, and they will die and leave you; trust in reputation, and some slanderous tongue may blast it; but trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity."
Isaiah 26:3-4 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.”
II. ALLOW TRUST TO BLESS YOUR LIFE
8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Wow! Doesn’t this sound good?
I’ve heard a number of people say, “Aging isn’t for sissies!” Isn’t this the truth? We used to think that aging meant “the golden years,” but once we get there we are not so sure about this part of life as being “golden.” Age and disease seem to go together, as does a lack of energy.
When I was in my late 40‘s and running marathons and running six days a week, I thought nothing could slow me down. I was full of energy. A doctor who examined me one time, said, “you are the healthiest person I know.” A few years later when I discovered that my hip cartilage was almost gone and I had to give up my running, that same doctor said, “It’s amazing what disease can do to a person.” Meaning osteoarthritis in my case.
Does this verse promise good health to those who put their trust in the Lord? Not totally, but in some ways, yes! Any time we put our trust in the Lord, do right, live right, and try to live a healthy lifestyle, we will be blessed with better health. Maybe not perfect health but decent heath. And decent health or good health is a blessing from God!
I’ve had a number of senior citizens who are older than I am, say, “I don’t have any pain at all!” If that’s you, then praise the Lord. It’s not me, but I still praise the Lord. Even though I have constant lower back pain from degenerated or herniated disks, I am still praising the Lord for the decent health I have. I can still drive and function in almost every way. No matter what, we praise the Lord and continue to put our trust in Him.
We know that this life is not all there is to life. A better life is coming. And a better body is coming to all who in Christ!
Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
No matter how good your health is, you will be even better in heaven! You’ll get a heavenly body that will never wear out nor will you ever be tired. Does this sound wonderful?! Who, in their mind, wouldn’t what this?
8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
Putting our trust in the Lord is the best way to live. Putting our trust in Him may well bless us with better health. Generally, Christian people are conscientious when it comes to doing things that contribute to better health. In this way, putting our trust in the Lord does bring health to our bodies.
But always remember this:
I Timothy 4:8 “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
Living a godly life by trusting the Lord will benefit us spiritually more than anything else. This physical life is coming to an end and we look forward to a better life, an eternal life because we have put our trust in the Lord and not in ourselves.
III. SHOW EVIDENCE OF YOUR TRUST
9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. 11 My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.
Honor the Lord with your wealth. That means, “Give back a portion of your blessings to God.” And do despise the Lord if He disciplines you for your good.
Both of these thoughts tell me that we must show evidence in this life that we do trust the Lord. The proof of the pudding (how good the pudding is) is in the eating! The proof of our faith is what? The proof is our faith or our trust in the Lord should be seen in our deeds, how we live, how we take hardship in life, etc.
ILL.- A preacher announced from the pulpit," I have good news and bad news. The good news is we have enough money to retire the mortgage on the church." A sigh of relief went through the congregation. The preacher continued: "the bad news is: the money is still in your pocket."
Our giving shows how much we trust the Lord. Do we trust Him to provide for us with 90 percent of our earnings after giving 10 percent? Or do we only trust Him to provide for us when we give nothing?
When people don’t give back to God what does this say about their faith? It may well say that they don’t trust God like they should.
II Corinthians 9:6-10 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”
Did you notice the result of our giving? He will give back to you. He will supply and increase your store of seed (or money). Giving back to God is evidence that we trust Him to provide for us. The evidence of our faith and trust is also we take difficulties and hardships in life regardless of why they come or how they come to us.
ILL.- I have been so impressed with the Christian lady, Joni Eareckson. I read her daily devotions and often share them online with other people. She is so very faithful, committed to the Lord, and devout and yet, she is a quadriplegic. You may well remember her story.
Joni was born in 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland, the youngest of four daughters. As a teenager, she enjoyed riding horses, hiking, tennis, and swimming. On July 30, 1967, she dove into Chesapeake Bay after misjudging the shallowness of the water. She suffered a fracture between the fourth and fifth cervical levels and became a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down.
Joni founded Joni and Friends (JAF) in 1979, an organization for Christian ministry in the disabled community throughout the world. In 2006 the Joni and Friends International Disability Centre in Agoura California was established.[citation needed]
Led by Joni and Doug Mazza, the Joni and Friends International Disability Center has four programs. Joni and Friends, a daily five minute radio program, heard in over 1,000 broadcast outlets. In 2002 it received the “Radio Program of the Year” award from National Religious Broadcasters.
Joni Eareckson’s life is evidence of her trust in the Lord in spite of her great physical hardship. What about you? What about your life? What does your life say when you go through hard times or perhaps when the Lord disciplines you?
CONCLUSION------------------
Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch, Christian, Holocaust survivor who helped many Jews escape the Nazis during World War II. She said it well: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not 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 shun evil.
Steve Shepherd, Cape Girardeau, MO
573-979-0702
