Pastor Lisle Drury from Sojourn J-Town preached from Proverbs 3:5-6. We learned that life with God is a life of growing trust.” Lector: Kristen McGee
Pastor Lisle Drury from Sojourn J-Town preached from Proverbs 3:5-6. We learned that life with God is a life of growing trust.”
Lector: Kristen McGee
“The ONE that changed me” – that is a lot of pressure ☺. The ONE passage that
changed me?
-For me and probably for all of us, it’s the MANY that has changed me.
-God saved me when I was 7 yrs. old and now I am 52. So I have been doing “life with God” or this journey of the Christian life for about 44 years. So to think of just “one,” felt almost impossible.
-However, when Jonah asked and then shared what series theme was – this was the first passage that came to mind.
-Ok, I’ll do this one, thinking I know preached this before . . . well, I did but it was almost 20yrs. ago . . . a little hard to read that message now.
-This passage has been an anchor for life with God. Normally don’t do titles, but this one I do – [slide]
Life with God (explain) is a life of growing (or deepening) trust in God. [Here is what I want to do this morning – 3 movements]
(1) Unpack passage
(2) Share why this passage so personal to me – or why it is the “one.” (3) Land the plane with some invitations for us.
[Movement 1 – Unpack text]
Prov. 3:5-6 [slide]
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
-“Trust” here is not the idea of “believe” or “faith; it’s the word that is used for “hope,” “confidence,” “security.” In fact its further defined in the second half of the verse. He is using “rely” on another translation, “lean” to better define what he means by trust. – Do you see that?
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5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and do not rely on your own understanding;
-What does it mean to “trust in the Lord with all your heart?” The use of parallelism where the next line explains what this means – “Do not lean , do not rely on your own understanding.”
-Trust and lean both suggest the physical experience of supporting yourself on something or someone in total and helpless reliance and commitment.
(New Bible Comm)
i.e. – example of leaning on something and it collapsed.
-Look, we need to acknowledge that this doesn’t come natural for us. This is a command, which reveals something about us. (Meaning, I don’t have to be commanded to lie. – so that tells me something about what come natural to me.)
-Part of what you see in the book of Proverbs and in the story of the Bible is to wean us from trusting in ourselves. Putting all our weight in our understanding.
-Please hear me, the author is not against growth and gaining understanding and knowledge – there is place for us all to life-long learners. But what he is warning us against is elevating our wisdom/knowledge above God’s. To trust, put confidence in our wisdom, our understanding.
Prov 28:26 [slide]
Prov. 3:7-8 [slide]
Listen to how one commentator puts this,
[slide]
be safe.
26 The one who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will
7 Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 This will be healing for your body, and strengthening for your bones.
“Just consider those things upon which we ‘lean’ in order to help us make good
decision in our pathways: our reason, our education, our intellectual capacity, (our
experiences). A proper response to the Lord, according to verse 5, requires a
redirection of that trust to God. This certainly does not eliminate our logic, schooling,
intellect, and (experiences) as helps in our journey, but they do not guide us; they
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serve as more of a walking stick that we use to help us walk while fending off potential
pitfalls on the way of wisdom. We are guided by the Lord, and we trust in the Lord’s
guidance.”
-So what the writer of Proverbs is saying; the wisest thing you could rationally do is to obey what is said here and that is, to TRUST the Lord with all your heart, trust God entirely.
He continues, v. 6
[slide]
6 in all your ways (in every area of your life) know him (acknowledge Him, you are aware of, having “fellowship with”),
-Meaning, we are to bring God’s truth to bear on every aspect, every area of our lives. We trust Him in how we (fill in blank) ___________.
-The Words of God can guide you in all your ways, even if there is not a specific verse for every life situation.
[slide]
(T. Keller)
and he will make your paths straight.
-The “promise,” is that God will make you paths straight.
-It means more than guidance here; it means God removes the obstacles, making a smooth path or way of life or perhaps better – bringing one to the appointed goal.
-So does this mean a stress free, suffering free life? -Does this mean everything is easier and less difficult? -The Christian life is the easier life?
“As we immerse ourselves in the Bible’s story of a personal God who made us
and saved us from a relationship with Him, it makes every part of life – how you spend
your money, relate to people, use your time, and see yourself – look different than if
you didn’t believe the story. Then wisdom grows as you live daily life shaped by the
biblical narrative and divine realities.”
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-The clear answer to this is, “no.” Means,
(1) God will see to it that nothing will hinder you to reach His desired end for you.
-Paul says it like this, Phil 1:6 [slide]
(2) Life with God, works.
[slide]
G.K. Chesterton,
-Christianity works. I say, and I’m sure Jonah has said something similar, Life
with God is the good life, not the easy life – but it is the good life!
6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to
completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
“The problem with Christianity is not that it has been tried and found
wanting, but that it has been found difficult and left untried.”
-Not the reason why you are a Christian . . . but it does work – in the sense that it can save me from much damage, hurt, pain and wounds that I can self-inflict – as well as to others. As I reflect on my some 40+ years of walking with God – the places where there is regret, guilt, shame, hurt, pain – is when I chose NOT to trust God.
[slide]
[Movement 2 – Why is this the “one?”]
[story of not getting teaching certification]
-Graduated college, Social Studies Major in order to teach high school and coach basketball. And at the time, I think its still the case, you take two
St. Ignatius of Loyola says,
that sin is the unwillingness to trust that what God
wants is our deepest happiness. Until I am absolutely convinced of this I will do
everything I can to keep my hands on the controls of my life, because I think I know
better than God what I need for my fulfillment.
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comprehensive tests in order to get certified to teach. Test 1 – is the big one. I passed. Test 2 – In your major, this will be easy, failed it 3x. The last time I was serving as a part-time youth ministry at a small Baptist church in Ohio. And after I got the results, some youth from my church asked me to go play basketball. Got to the gym; really down, confused, angry, felt stupid (shame), and on the wall – remember this like it was yesterday – was this passage.
-Now some 30 years later and reflecting back on this moment; it has shown me something about the nature of this journey, of Life with God.
-Nature of this journey – it will be marked by seasons of confusion and situations that are unexpected . . . and maybe the repeated refrain that you may say, – “If I were God, I don’t know if I would do it like this. Or “If I were God, I think I would do this, instead.”
-Why this simple verse here can be so helpful, implies and informs a truth about life with God that often we forget or ignore.
-Throughout the NT the emphasis on the Christian life is not necessarily on the beginning but on the end. The need to endure to the end. And one of keys to enduring is trust.
-Maybe this is me and my conclusions that you may not think – but it seems to me in my own journey the most difficult thing that keeps me from enduring, is the lack of closure to some stories in my own life.
-Explain what I mean by lack of closure.
-I know the right words. I know the theological truths, that brings some “closure” to some of these stories; which then creates difficulty to trust.
Some scenarios –
#1 – Unanswered Prayers
-There have been some prayers Kathy and I have been praying for a while and nothing. In fact, sometimes it seems God is doing the very opposite of what we are asking – which at times can be really discouraging and un motivating.
-These seems to be a good desire and request . . . but nothing.
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#2 – My mom suffering with Parkinson’s
-Many times when I leave visiting her, angry. . . angry with God. What are you doing? Why? This is what makes sense to me, I just don’t get it.
#3 – Kaye, our daughter’s death @ 5 months.
-all happened in 2004, but this year would have been a milestone for her and Kathy and I – graduation, entering into college. So on my mind a little more this year.
-We have seen how God has used this in our lives. Yes God has been kind to show, to give us a glimpse of what He has done in us and in Kathy and I’s relationship.
-And at the same time, there is not closure. Still aspects here that bring confusion . . .
-All of us have similar situations to these, everyone of us can articulate where confusion, frustration, this doesn’t make sense, if I were God, I would . . . situations in our lives. And at the end of the day – and this is not some trite, trivial way of dealing with these confusions . . . at the end of the day what we have left is, TRUST.
-Who am I going to entrust myself to? Will I trust the one who has proven Himself faithful . . . the one who gave His life for me?
-Will I trust God?
-And this trust is not blind trust, no I can see how God has been faithful in my story and ultimately in the Story of God in the Bible. It how over and over He has proved Himself trustworthy; ultimately seen in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Which then the Spirit of God use in my life to empower to trust. NOT easy, but it is the lifelong journey. That is why I said, “Life with God is a life of growing trust in God.”
[slide]
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“Trust is the classical Christian tradition calls detachment. It is neither a passive
resignation nor a fatalistic acquiescence to whatever comes. It is, rather, a consistent
posture of actively turning our whole being to God so that God’s presence, purpose
and power can be released through our lives into all situations.”
So look, here is my simple invitation this morning, Will you Trust God?
Or maybe more specific:
● How is God inviting you to trust Him?
● Where is God inviting you to trust Him?
-relationship -school
-job
-career -marriage -kids
You are going to entrust yourself to someone/something.
o Why not entrust yourself to the One who gave Himself for you?
CONCLUSION
[slide]
(M. Robert Mulholland)
'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take him at his word;
just to rest upon his promise,
and to know, "Thus saith the Lord."
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Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I've proved him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!
COMMUNION