In God We Trust
(James 3)
I.INTRODUCTION:
A.Illustration
DESPAIR
During the Thirty Years’ War in the 17th century, German pastor Paul Gerhardt and his family were forced to flee from their home. One night as they stayed in a small village inn, homeless and afraid, his wife broke down and cried openly in despair. To comfort her, Gerhardt reminded her of Scripture promises about God’s provision and keeping. Then, going out to the garden to be alone, he too broke down and wept. He felt he had come to his darkest hour. Soon afterward, Gerhardt felt the burden lifted and sensed anew the Lord’s presence. Taking his pen, he wrote a hymn that has brought comfort to many. "Give to the winds thy fears; hope, and be undismayed; God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears; God shall lift up thy head. Through waves and clouds and storms He gently clears the way. Wait thou His time, so shall the night soon end in joyous day."
It is often in our darkest times that God makes His presence known most clearly. He uses our sufferings and troubles to show us that He is our only source of strength. And when we see this truth, like Paster Gerhardt, we receive new hope. Are you facing a great trial? Take heart. Put yourself in God’s hands. Wait for His timing. He will give you a "song in the night."
Our Daily Bread, May 7, 1992.
1.In our darkest hour, our deepest need
a)Often in our darkest hour, in our despair we find ourselves wondering where God is? Does He really hear me? Does He really care?
b)How we face these moments tells us a lot about ourselves and what we believe about God. When things are going well we don’t need Him, when things are going badly we blame Him. We don’t give Him credit for the blessings and we don’t seek Him in our hour of darkness.
c)So then, who do we trust or turn to? Without an understanding of who is the owner of everything you could find yourself at a point of despair to where you think there is not way out.
d)I have seen this, I have known people who in there moment of despair gave up because they couldn’t look to an all loving and forgiving God. I have seen it destroy families, business lost, and even suicide because they felt or convinced themselves that there is no God and gave up.
II.BODY
A.God will do His part if we do ours
III. Three crucial areas of God’s part and ours
1.Ownership –
We have to realize who the owner is. The Bible clearly states that God is the sole owner of everything! Psalm 24:1 says
Psalms 24:1 (NIV)
1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
a)The scripture even becomes more specific of the items that belong to God, listen to these ones:
Leviticus 25:23 (NIV)
23 "'The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.
Haggai 2:8 (NIV)
8 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty.
Psalms 50:10-11 (NIV)
10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.
b) God as the creator has never transferred ownership to mankind, it all belongs to Him. It is God that holds all things together even at this very moment.
c)Three steps to being a true follower of Christ:
(1)Give it up - If we are going to be true followers of Christ we must transfer the ownership of our possessions to the Lord
Luke 14:33 (NIV)
33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
(2)Be content with what you have – When we believe that God is the owner of all our possessions then we will learn to be content with what we have. If we believe that even one single possession belongs to us it will be reflected in our heart attitude toward giving to the Lord. That is why this is a spiritual matter.
Philippians 4:11 (NIV)
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
1 Timothy 6:8 (NIV)
8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
(3) Seek godly wisdom – Seeking godly wisdom means seeking God first in all we do. True wisdom comes only from truth, and truth only comes from one source. That is God! in all times, in all situations we are seek things from heaven first, for what comes from heaven is pure; peace, love, considerate, submissiveness, mercy, good fruit, impartiality, and sincerity!
James 3:17-18 (NIV)
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
As one person was learning to give up his possessions to God he had to go through an experience that tested his faith in this area. One day he had bought a brand new car, two days after he had purchased it someone ran into the side of it. He got out looked at the damage and said, “well God I don’t know what you want the big dent in the side of your new car but you sure have a big one.”
One time a person’s house burned to the ground and the person exclaimed “The Lord’s house burned up, one less responsibility for me!”
d)Do you see the heart attitude here? If we approach everything in this way the burden is lifted off of our shoulders and God carries them for you.
2.We have to realize who is in control –
a)God has retained ultimate control of every event and circumstance upon the earth.
b)In an examination of some of God’s names we see that He really is in control and Master of everything, Master, Almighty, Creator, Shepherd, Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
1 Chronicles 29:11-12 (NIV)
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
c)Everything is the Lords and He is sovereign which means that He does what He wills with His possessions. He doesn’t answer to anyone and so he can chose to bless whom He chooses to bless and not bless those whom He chooses not to.
Psalms 135:6-10 (NIV)
6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.
7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, the firstborn of men and animals. 9 He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. 10 He struck down many nations and killed mighty kings—
d)The Lord is in control of all the circumstances but because of the deep hurt, pain, or agony that we experience we don’t think that God is loving because He wouldn’t allow us to experience such traumatic situations.
e)The fact is, is that God allows difficult circumstances for a number of reasons. Three reasons why God allows difficult circumstances is:
(1)To accomplish His intentions – This is illustrated in the life of Joseph that while he was a teenager was sold into slavery by His jealous brothers. Joseph had told of a dream where they would serve him, they got upset and sold him into slavery.
(a)God had a plan but who would have thought that Joseph would have to go through so much to get to where he would be second in command? Yet God used the bothers and the situations to bring about His plan. At the time do you think that Joseph understood? Do you think he might have had doubts?
(2)To develop or character – Our character is often developed by trying and difficult times. We may not see God’s plan in the midst but He is working out His plan in your life and building your character. Paul put it this way:
Romans 5:2-4 (NIV)
2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
(3)To discipline His children – When we are disobedient we can expect God’s discipline in our lives. Unfortunately we don’t see this as discipline and we get mad at God for our own disobedience. Have your children been mad at you for your discipline? Did you do it anyway? Why, to build their character, so that they will be hard workers, polite, loving, caring, all those things. God does the same, yet we reject Him.
Hebrews 12:6 (NIV)
6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
Hebrews 12:10-11 (NIV)
10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
3.We have to understand where our provisions come from – The third element of God’s part is the He provides for us
a)W might work and provide for our families but it is God that gives us the ability to do so in the first place
b)“But seek Ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things will be added [food, clothing, etc…] shall be added unto you (Matt 6:33 KJV).”
c)In Genesis 22:14 God is addressed as Jehovah-Jireh which means that the Lord will provide. He promises to take care of His people.
Genesis 22:14 (NIV)
14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
d)God is both predictable and unpredictable. He is fully predictable that He will provide for our needs, however, we don’t know how He will do it. We may not see I now, but later we will.
e)God’s part in helping us is to get us to a point to where we are content with what we have and then trusting Him for the rest. God is obligated to provide for our needs, however, He has not promised to provide for our wants.
f)He has promised to provide our needs and tells us to be content when out needs are met.