|
|
 |
 |
 |
Trust God Always
From Experiencing God
by Henry T. Blackaby and Claude V. King
(compiled here by Mark D. Brumels)
Introduction:
Do you trust God?
Do you trust Him all the time?
Do you trust Him with your money, your marriage, your time?
Do you trust Him when the world falls apart around you?
Do you trust Him when everyone seems to be against you?
Do you trust Him when you lose the ones you love the very most?
I tell you can trust God - no matter what. In fact not trusting God with everything will result in less than the ultimate best for you.
"God created you for a love relationship with Himself. He yearns for you to love Him. The call to relationship is also a call to be on a mission with Him. If you want to know God's will, you must respond to His invitation to love Him wholeheartedly. God works through those He loves to carry out His kingdom purposes in the world. As you begin to think about knowing and doing God's will, you need to know who God is."
I would like to share with you three aspects of God's nature. Each of the characteristics of God has special implications for trusting Him and why you should do His will.
1 John 4:16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
God's very nature is love. "God can never function contrary to His own nature. Never in you life will God ever express His will toward you except that it is an expression of perfect love. He can't! God's kind of love always seeks the very best for a person. Therefore, He can never give you second best. His nature will not let Him."
Other verses:
Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
1 Chron. 16:34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 25:10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
Psalm 31:21 Praise be to the Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.
Psalm 33:18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
Psalm 36:7 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Psalm 63:3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
Psalm 66:20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!
Isaiah 43:4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.
Lament. 3:22 Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
Lament. 3:32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.
1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
The cross is where God demonstrated once and for all time His deep love for us. No matter what the circumstances are, His love for us never changes.
Your trust in the love nature of God is crucial. Your love relationship with God determines everything you do.
"Have you ever heard someone say something like this: 'I'm afraid to surrender totally to the Lord, because He might send me to Africa as a missionary'? Such a statement indicates a lack of trust and understanding of the love of God. He would not call you to Africa unless He knew that such a call would be best for you. Many missionaries in Africa would not want to be anywhere else in the world. They love Africa and they know God gave them His very best when He called them there."
"Never allow your heart to question the love of God. Settle it on the front end of your desiring to know Him and experience Him, that He loves you. He created you for that love relationship. He has been pursuing you in that love relationship. Every dealing he has with you is an expression of His love for you. God would cease to be God if He expressed Himself in any way other than perfect love! your relationship with God right now reveals what you believe about Him. It is spiritually impossible for you to believe one way and practice another. If you really believe that God is love, you will also accept the fact that His will is always best."
What do you think of when you hear words like commands, judgments, statutes, or laws?
Do you think of love? God's commands are expressions of His nature of love. Let's look at some passages where God tells us that His commands are for our good.
Deut. 10:12-13 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, [13] and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
Deut. 32:46-47 he said to them, "Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. [47] They are not just idle words for you--they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
The foundation of these passages is God's love relationship with you. When you come to know God by experience, you will be convinced of His love. when you are convinced of His love, you can believe Him and trust Him. When you trust Him, you can obey Him. When you love Him, you have no problem obeying Him.
1 John 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
"God loves you deeply and profoundly. Because He loves you, He has given you guidelines for living lest you miss the full dimensions of the love relationship. Life also has some 'land mines' that can destroy you or wreck your life. God does not want to see you miss out on His best, and he does not want to see your life wrecked."
Example of mine field - person who knows where every mine was buried.
B. The Purpose of God's Commands
"God wants you to have life and have it abundantly. When God gives you a command, He is trying to protect and preserve the best He has for you. He does not want you to lose it. When God gives a command, He is not restricting you. He is freeing you. god's purpose is that you might prosper and live."
Deut. 6:20-21, 24-25 In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?" 21tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ...The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."
Example: "Suppose the Lord says, 'I have a gift for you - a beautiful, wonderful expression of what love is. I will provide you with a spouse - a husband or a wife. Your relationship with this person will bring out the very best in you. It will give you an opportunity to experience some of the deepest and most meaningful expressions of human love. that individual will release in you some wonderful things, affirm some things in you, and be there to strengthen you when you lose heart. Within that relationship, your mate will love you, believe in you, and trust you. Out of that relationship I will bless the two of you with children, and those children will sit on your knee and say, 'I Love you.' ' "
"But then He says, 'You shall not commit adultery' (Matt. 5:27). Is that command to limit or restrict you? No! It is to protect and free you to experience love at its human best. What happens if you break the command and commit adultery? The love relationship is ruptured between husband and wife. Trust is gone, Hurt sets in. Guilt and bitterness creep in. Even the children begin to respond differently. Scars may severely limit the future dimensions of love you could have experienced together.
I believe that God calls sin those things that will harm us. He didn't just arbitrarily say "This will be sin, but that is OK." He is the one who designed us and knows how we operate best. Out of his love He gives us His commands to keep us from getting hurt. Is the designer of a car trying to limit you when he says not to put water in your gas tank?
Because I know that God loves me I can trust Him and obey him.
So always remember - God is love: His will is always best.
"By nature God is omniscient - that is, He is all-knowing. he possesses all knowledge – past, present, and future. Nothing is outside the knowledge of God. Whenever God express Himself to you, therefore, His directions are always right. When God gives you a directive, you can count on the fact that God has already considered every factor that must be considered." He knows all that will happen in your situation. He knows how it will all turn out. "You will never follow a directive that God has given and find out later that God must have been mistaken. His directions are always right."
"As you seek to know and do God's will, you will want to wait before Him until you clearly know His will and His directions for carrying it out. Human wisdom and knowledge will not be adequate, but God's wisdom and knowledge are always adequate. You will not have to argue with god about whether His will is the right course of action. Even when His will doesn't make sense from your human perspective, your obedience will reveal that His will was right."
One day the Lord told Philip " "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (Acts 8:26)
Did this make sense? No! Why go out into the middle of the desert? But the Lord knew everything. He knew that the Ethiopian eunuch would be going down that very road. He had been working on the eunuch's heart, preparing him. Philip obeyed what seemed to be a stupid command.
Story from book - page 15
"Whenever God gives you a directive, it is always right. God's will is always best. You never have to questions whether His will is best or right. It always is best and right. This is true because He loves you and knows all. Because He loves you perfectly, you can trust Him and obey Him completely."
Point 1 - God is love: His will is always best.
Point 2 - God is all-knowing: His directions are always right.
Not only is God loving and all-knowing, He also is all-powerful. No matter how big the assignment He gives you. He is able to accomplish His purposes through you.
God is omnipotent – that is, He is all-powerful.
God demonstrated His power through Jesus:
God can accomplish anything He purposes to do. In fact He says that He will:
Isaiah 46:10-11
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.
11From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.
He is all-powerful. If He ever asks you to do something. He Himself will provide all that you need to do it. He Himself will enable you to do all that He asks of you. For instance:
"When you life is in the middle of God's activity, He will start rearranging a lot of your thinking. God's ways and thoughts are so different from yours and mine they will often sound wrong, crazy, or impossible. Often, you will realize that the task is far beyond your power or resources to accomplish."
Think of Noah - It had never rained - God asks him to build a boat far from water - In the desert. And not just a row boat – a gigantic boat - big enough to hold all kinds of animals. Oh yeah, and by the way Lord, How do I gather all these animals, some of them are dangerous! You want me to live with them during a storm on a pitching boat. But Noah obeyed, and God provided.
"When you recognize that the task is humanly impossible, you need to be ready to believe God and trust Him completely. You need to believe that He will enable and equip you to do everything He asks of you. Don't second guess Him. Just let Him be God." He knows what you need and since He is all-powerful, He can provide all that you need. "Turn to Him for the needed power, insight, skill, and resources." He will provide you exactly what you need when you need it.
"God will begin to make Himself know to you very simply, as He would to a child. As you respond to Him in a simple childlike trust, you will find a whole new way of looking at life begin to unfold for you. Your life will be fulfilling. You will never have to sense an emptiness or lack of purpose. He always fills your life with Himself. When you have Him, you have everything there is. Like He was to Moses, He will be to you, the 'I Am that I Am.' "
Wrap Up
"These three characteristics of God's nature have a significant influence on your trusting God and knowing and doing His will. Because God is love, His will is always best. As you follow and obey Him, he will always direct you in ways tat are best for you and for the world into which He calls you. Because God is all-knowing, you will never have to question the rightness of His directions – even when they don't make sense. His directions are always right. Because God is all-powerful, you do not have to doubt your ability, strength, or resources to complete His assignments to you. He will enable you to accomplish all that He calls you to do."
Questions
Do you have any questions?
I have some questions for you to see if you were listening:
Challenge
As you go through this week, starting tonight, ask God to show you His love for you and to reveal Himself to you in these ways.
God is love. His will is always best.
God is all-knowing. His directions are always right.
God is all-powerful. He can enable you to accomplish His will.
Ask Him to develop in you a confidence to trust Him in any and all things.
 Go back to the Brumels Home Page |
Visit the Brumels' Other Home Pages  MDB2 Sarah's Stuff |
  |
Last Updated: 02/26/01 07:15 PM About this page contact: Mark Brumels |