“The
Challenge of Trust” By Brother Kenneth Ray March 13th,
2011 Challenge—calling into question, demanding of proof or explanation. Speaking about trust is easy; listing the things or acts that you consider to be trustworthy is easy. A question was asked in Wednesday Night Bible Study; it was a good question, along the lines of, “Who do you trust more, yourself or God?” Some people answered one way, some people answered another. There was no right or wrong answer. Some answered that they trusted themselves more, because they knew themselves, and they knew their own limits, but that they didn’t always know what God was going to do. Others answered that they trusted God more, because He could go beyond their limits, and that He would never fail. The challenge is not trusting. No, the challenge that we as God’s people, or any other people face, is to live out trust. The challenge is to live a life of trusting. You know, when Apostle Paul was preaching, there had to have been people there that knew of him as Saul; some of them had family members that had been killed by Saul. That can’t have been easy for them to trust, and to believe that God had moved in Saul’s life. In order for you to understand trust, let me tell you some things that trust is not. Trust is not perfection. Many people have let down and been let down. Sometimes we forget, get sidetracked, or maybe just have a bad day. Sometimes life happens. We’re not going to get it right every time. The quarterback isn’t always going to throw a perfect pass, and the receiver isn’t going to catch every pass. So why does the quarterback throw to that receiver again? Trust. Trust is not exactness and precision. Michael Jordan didn’t always make those last-minute buzzer-beater game-winning shots, but he was always the guy that they got the ball to when they were down and the clock was running out. We all make mistakes, and sometimes, we don’t work all that well together. On board ship, there are different voltages available for various things. Generally, you have 400 VAC and 110 VAC available. If I tell you that there is a circuit that needs work, and the power is off to that circuit, what are you going to do? Check it. Just to be safe. We, as Americans, don’t like doing research. We would rather just ask somebody. That way, if we don’t like the answer we get, we can dispute it as just being that person’s opinion. We trust religion, we trust theology, but we don’t trust Jesus. King David said, “O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.” The men of old knew who to trust, even though they never saw Him directly. Oh, they saw indications, between the cherubims, the burning bush, the Holy of Holies, Melchizedek, and the pillar of fire, but He is an invisible God. We need to commit our way unto the Lord. Christine Schultz is committed unto the way of the Lord; this is her first time back in service since her surgery three months ago. You don’t have to be afraid when you trust in God. When you live out your trust that’s when, “the rubber meets the road.” There was an artist who gave a concert out in California, and he said that, during the 3 hours or so of that concert, he felt that God was trusting him with all of those souls that were in attendance, and that it was an awesome responsibility., We have a tendency to trust who we know, and not trust who we don’t know, but the Bible says that it is to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It also says that it is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. We serve a God who is not only alive, but alive and well. There are two things that we will do as Christians: 1) labor, and 2) suffer reproach. Sometimes that’s to knock down our pride, and sometimes that’s to make it easier to relate to others. We were allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. The men and women that we read about in God’s Word accepted the challenge; they lived out lives of trusting, those that put their trust in God. The Apostles told the Pharisees, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego told the king, “We are not careful to answer thee…” Stands were made, God was honored, and God’s name was glorified. King Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.” They set the foundation which is still stood on today. It is never too late to replace trust, to bring it back into your life. We can put our trust in God; He has proven Himself to be trustworthy. Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd |
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