How Can I Trust God?

well we're so glad that you're here today and joining us maybe not in the sanctuary but you are here with us in spirit wherever you are watching from all over the world maybe in your car maybe at home i don't know where you are but we're always so thrilled to have you be a part of the lakewood family and the lakewood services we're going to have a good time tonight studying the word of god and i just want to say to those of you in houston in the houston area that we sure do miss your sweet faces we miss seeing you we miss hugging you and we just send hugs and loves and kisses to all of you you know we'll get back at god's timing at the right time but anyway we do miss you and we're going to get in the word of god but i want to tell you something that the lord just spoke to me so open your spiritual ears right now and and tune in and listen the god spoke to me and said he is releasing joy into your life right now so i just want you to by faith just stand to attention and say lord i receive that joy you know the bible says that jesus was filled with joy by the holy spirit and so right now the holy spirit is releasing the joy of the lord into you into your spirit when those dark places and those depressed places those oppressed places where you've been hurt when you've been where you've been broken hearted god is releasing by his spirit a new joy a great joy a greater joy than you have ever experienced so right now father we just believe what you've spoken to us and i thank you father that you are turning situations around you are turning their sorrow into joy you're turning their mourning into dancing father we thank you that they're going to have a new song on their lips father and i thank you for it even right now even right now father i have faith to believe that right now you are setting people free in the name of jesus i just see i don't i don't know what it is but it's like someone has like a claw on their mind and you just can't think and you just feel tormented in your mind and god is saying right now he's setting you free in jesus name i command that thing to go from you in the name of jesus i thank you father that you're setting them free from suicidal thoughts suicidal tendencies in the name of jesus i thank you lord jesus hallelujah i thank you for bringing a peace and a calm into their life like they've never had before in the mighty name of jesus amen and amen i hope you receive that and give us give us your a a good report back if god touched you and i know he did let us know what happened amen well you can turn in your bibles with me if you'd like to to proverbs three five and six a very familiar text and but it's one it's one powerful scripture actually and we're going to read it in just a moment not just yet but we'll read it in just a moment if you want to get your notebooks out and and uh study just let's let's write down what the points and the things that god speaks to your heart you know i'm i'm really big on being a student of the word i that's why god has put me into the body of christ to be a teacher of the word of god i love the word and i want to uh i i hope that i impart that into your life to become a lover of god's word and a student of god's word and to really receive from it in fact right now i just pray father that you would begin to put in the hearts of your people a deeper and a greater love for your word and that they would not be able to go a day without reading your word and meditating on your word and that you'll begin to give them wisdom and insight into your word and and into your you father their relationship with you in jesus name amen and amen well i want to talk to you tonight about this how can i trust god how do i walk that out on a daily basis i mean what does that actually mean to trust god you know many times we say i'm trusting god but the truth is we're on this emotional roller coaster and we're full of worry we're full of fear we're full of doubt and the reason i can say this because i know i've been there and sometimes i still find myself there but i want to talk to you about how we can get stable and we can know that we can trust god you know several years ago we were facing a difficult situation in our family and one of my children asked me uh mom what are we gonna do and i said to her we're gonna trust god and my daughter looked at me and she said how can you just say that mom how can you know that's gonna work and i said to her because i have walked with god and i've walked with him a long time and i've experienced his faithfulness and i know he will take care of us you see when you have walked with god when you have a personal relationship with him you begin to understand his character and his faithfulness you learn that you can trust his ways even though his ways are not our ways you learn that you can trust his word you can trust his process though it may be a different process than you desire and listen to this you can even trust his mysteries because sometimes we don't understand god we don't understand the ways of god because his ways are higher than our ways deuteronomy 29 29 tells us the secret things belong to the lord our god there are some things that god doesn't reveal to us on purpose see with god we're on a need to know basis he knows what we can handle what we need to know but that scripture dose does go on to say that god will reveal to us the things that we do need to know so god will confide in us when we need to know certain things so when i said to my daughter you know that we're going to trust god i didn't say it in a flippant and nonchalant way that statement came with weight and depth and confidence and knowing god is who he says he is and he will do what he said he will do he is the i am the faithful and true god and today you can know and you can boldly say i will trust god through the trial i'm in right now even when my child has gone astray when i have financial needs when everything seems to be falling apart i can trust god there's a depth to those words that you need to come to understand in your own life you can trust god now i'm a teacher as i said and i'm all about being practical so tonight i want to answer this question how can i trust god and walk this out on a daily basis so that's where our scripture comes in proverbs 3 5 and 6. let's take a look at it the bible says trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him or submit to him and he will make your path straight now notice the word all is used twice trust the lord with all your heart and in all of your ways not just some of your ways but in all of your ways and when you do that god will make your past straight i like what the message translation says it says that god will keep you right on track you know i prayed this scripture over my family often father i thank you that because we trust in you and because we serve you you are making all of our past stray you are directing our steps you are leading us in the right path because that's a promise to god when you trust him i thought about the apostle paul and his companions how they found themselves in a seemingly impossible situation you can find it in second corinthians one and this is what he said he said it was i'm reading out of the message bible he says it was so bad we didn't think we were going to make it we felt like we'd been sent to death row that it was all over for us but as it turned out it was the best thing that could have happened instead of trusting in our own strength our wits to get out of it we were forced to trust god totally not a bad idea since he's the god who raises the dead and he did it he rescued us from certain doom and he'll do it again rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing i just like to do a little dance after that that's awesome god will rescue us as many times as we need to be rescued but see paul the apostle paul this great man of god he was at a dead-end place in his life he even compared his situation to a death sentence that word sentence in the greek is krino k-r-i-n-o and it refers to a jury who has just handed down the final verdict and the sentence see after all the evidences is presented and the judge has examined the facts the verdict is pronounced death sentence your life is over your business is not going to make it your health is failing you see there is so much sometimes there's so much stacked against us and there was so much stacked against the apostle paul that it looked like there was no way for them to escape or survive but listen to what paul said he said this happened so we might not rely on ourselves but on god who can even raise the dead now that can preach right there when things are stacked against us we still have god on our side he is the god of the supernatural of the miraculous and the impossible jesus is the resurrection and the life and even if something is dead in your life jesus can resurrect it and we must be rooted in a deep level of trust in god you know some of you you're being forced right now to totally trust god and it's uncomfortable to you it doesn't feel real good you don't like not knowing and not being in control it totally against goes against your nature but the more you learn to relax and trust god the more comfortable it becomes you begin to settle into it it becomes a way of life for you now let's look at the definition of trust it's this it's the assured reliance on the character ability strength or truth of someone or something one in which confidence is placed so i'm encouraging you what the word of god says to simply trust god in the situation you're in right now trust his character his ability trust that he's in control and that he's got you covered on this i want to give you a picture tonight since i i like to be practical i want to give you a picture of what it means to trust god and i'm going to use the word trust as sort of an acronym to help you remember what i'm what i'm preaching on tonight when i'm teaching and here it is you can see it on the screen t stands for test our rest you uproot s stand and t timing i just want you to maybe write that down and or you know you can download my outline anytime off of liquidchurch.com or lisaosteencomas.com either one but i want you to remember these five words because it will help you remember what it means for you to trust god on a daily basis so let's look at number one number one the first t in the word trust stands for test you know why because whatever you're facing right now is a test of your faith and you must see it for what it really is now let me tell you something god is not testing you the bible says that god doesn't tempt you but more than anything else satan wants to steal your faith and your trust in god he is a thief and he comes immediately to steal the word of god out of your heart and so the question is are you going to pass the test by trusting god are you going to just let go of your faith let go of your trust and allow the enemy to win in your life let me read a passage to you from james 1 uh starting with verse 2 that really talks about this makes it so clear james said consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance let perseverance finish its work so that you may be able to be mature and complete not lacking anything and then verse 12 says blessed is the one who perseveres under trials because having stood the test that person will receive the crown of life that the lord has promised to those who love him the adversity you're in it's not from god but it is a test of your faith and the bible says if you will persevere you will be blessed with god's blessings you will become mature and lack nothing so on this first one i want you to remember when you start getting frustrated when you start asking why and thinking you know why am i having to go through this and and the frustration comes and the stress comes i want you to just stop and i want you to think this is just a test this is a test of my faith and you know what i'm going to pass the test i'm going to trust god and i'm not going to be moved by what i see or what i feel right now i'm not going to let the enemy steal from me because this is a test so what does trust look like it looks like you being faithful to god during this test the second thing i want to bring up to you is that the r in the word trust stands for rest you know when you're walking by faith you have a rest about you you know you may be in a storm but the storm doesn't have to be in you and trust and rest go hand in hand now you may feel fear or stress at times but in your spirit you have a knowing you just have this knowing and a rest that comes and trust in god you know that it's going to be okay you know years ago i told our kids that i wanted to bless them with a little money as a reward for being so supportive and patient with me when i wrote my first book because i they were really good to let me spend the time morning afternoon and night to let me write that book and i so appreciated that and when i told them i wanted to bless them with some money they got so excited and so i told them that the money is in the bank whenever you need it well our son christopher was really small and he asked me several times he said mom where's my money and i told him the same thing over and over it's in the bank it belongs to you whenever you need it just let me know you can trust me and that concept was hard for him to grasp because you know he wanted uh he wanted to see and hold the hard cold cash in his hand you know give me the money give me the money and that's the way we are sometimes we say god can you just give me a sign can you just show me that it's gonna be okay can you show me the money you know we say to him but god says to us hey it's in the bank the answer's on the way rest and knowing that you can trust me psalm 91 verse 1 says he who dwells in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the almighty mighty i will say of the lord he is my refuge and my fortress my god in whom i trust trust and rest go hand in hand i think sometimes we feel the need to help god out i've done this before we think how can i possibly rest when i have so many problems i got to do something to fix this and of course we do all we know to do but there are times comes a time where we've done all that we know to do and so we have to just trust god we have to rest in god's faithfulness and sometimes we think we have to fix the problem but the problem with that is that sometimes we end up making it worse or or we end up being more frustrated or more anxious there's a scripture in psalm 94 13 that says this god will give you the power to keep yourself calm in the days of adversity now can we just stop there a minute there is a reservoir of supernatural peace and calm that you and i can both tap into the holy spirit inside of you gives you the power to remain calm some of you are thinking i can't remain calm but allow the holy spirit to help you tap into that holy spirit help me be calm in the midst of this chaos a few years ago our daughter uh catherine and i were on driving to dallas because she was going to college there and i heard a noise as if a car in front of us had run over something in the road and all of a sudden i saw this piece of plywood the car did run over and it was about four feet by four feet and i'm telling you that plywood was flying in the air like an airplane so fast and it was like headed straight to our windshield and in a split second i thought it's heading through the windshield straight to us but at the last second it hit the hood of the car it angled upward and and it flew right over the top of the car didn't even touch didn't even hurt the car and it was over so quick that i knew that god had literally protected us and caused that plywood to move out of our direction and what's amazing is that i had such a calm in me the whole time my heart never raced i never became fearful it was a supernatural rest and peace that just settled upon me and i kept thanking god over the next few days thank you for moving that plywood out of the way but thank you for giving me calm in the midst of chaos you see only god can do that it's a supernatural peace a supernatural rest trust knows that even in the chaos you can rest in the fact that god is still in control i encourage you to just today let go of frustration let go of the anger over the situation let go of the doubt the fear and the stress of trying to work things out yourself and i encourage you to just pray god i give this situation to you i receive your peace you are giving me the power to stay calm and i will rest in your faithfulness so what does trust look like it's a picture of rest trust and rest go together the third thing i want to mention to you is that you in the word trust stands for uproot you know there are some things that we need to uproot in our lives in order to walk in this rest in this trust and i i think the number one thing is uprooting the lies of satan or any negative thought that we have that doesn't agree with god's word it could be negative words that people have spoken over you maybe a negative label that someone tried to place upon you so we have to be very alert and we have to guard our thoughts and we have to recognize when our thoughts don't agree with god's thoughts you know uproot thoughts like this thoughts that tell you to give up that god is mad at you that god doesn't care about your life that you are a failure that you have ruined your life i mean i could go on and on but we cannot allow those negative thoughts and lies to stick to take root inside of us to take up residence in our minds my best friend deborah george she says this all the time and i love it she says that some thoughts have been living in our minds so long that they they should be paying rent it's time to evict those lies evict those negative thoughts second corinthians 10 5 teaches us how to uproot the lies we're to take those negative thoughts captive just nip them in the bud as they come and make your thoughts obedient to god's word you see in that moment you say that thought is a lie i don't believe it call it out for what it is i believe what god says about me i believe his word i've not ruined my life my past is forgiven and i'm new in christ jesus god has a great plan for my life you see this is how you uproot the lies and you replace it with god's word when you do this you begin to control your thoughts instead of your thoughts controlling you you always combat lies with the truth jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free it will set your mind free it will set you free from bad habits it will set you free in every area of your life some of you have had such a battle in your mind and you don't know why and and you don't understand how to win that battle but i'm telling you right now start uprooting the lies and start replacing it with the word of god be persistent because the more you do this the more natural it becomes to you and you just begin to reject naturally reject delete delete delete all those negative thoughts so what does trust look like it looks like this uprooting the lies and focusing your thoughts on god's thoughts on a daily basis number four the s in the word stand stands for i mean i'm sorry i said they're on the s in the word trust stands for stand the word stand ephesians 6 let me read it to you ephesians 6 13-14 out of the amplified bible it says therefore put on god's complete armor that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day of danger and having done all the crisis demands to stand firmly in your place stand therefore and hold your ground to stand it means to hold your ground hold your ground with satan don't let him steal the promises of god from you hold on to your declaration of faith having all having done all the crisis demands stand firmly in your place you see we stand in faith knowing god is working on our behalf listen even in your greatest disappointments when someone betrays you when someone walks out on you when you lost your job god is still with you and he is working in your life so keep standing in faith when when moses and the israelites were facing the red sea with the egyptians chasing them god said to moses he said don't be afraid he said stand firm hear that stand firm and you will see my deliverance today i will fight for you you need only be still standing is a position of faith and trust you don't sit down in defeat you don't give up on god his word you don't give up on your dreams and your desires you don't look at the red sea and say well that's it we're going back to egypt no no you have a song of praise in your mouth and you know that god will fight for you and he will deliver you just like he did for moses and the israelites you know my brother joel tells the story about a time when he was going on a two-hour hike in the mountains of colorado and the mountain top was high it was about at 12 000 feet altitude altitude and uh you know joel works out all the time he's very strong he's athletic and and still you know the altitude can affect even the fittest of people and so at one point on the hike he thought man i'm i'm having shortness of breath and this is a little hard and i don't know if i'm gonna make it and so all the way up to the top and so he sat down on this big rock just to rest and just as he was contemplating whether or not he should go back down the uh down the mountain or whether he should continue an elderly man came walking by at a fast pace now this man didn't even greet joel all he did was look at him and say you're closer than you think well that recharged joel and he got up and he finished the hike and he found out that he was already so close to the top of the mountain and i love that story because there are times in life that we do get tired and we just want to sit down we feel like we can't make it to the next hour let alone the next day and it seems like we have been waiting for so long but god is saying to us you're closer than you think don't give up before the victory keep standing don't be moved by what you see or or how you feel what does trust look like it's a picture of you standing firm in faith knowing victory is closer than you think i just want you to begin to say that over and over over the next week i'm closer than i think the fifth thing i want to mention to you is that the second t in the word trust stands for timing what do we do when it's not happening on our timetable which is most the time when it seems like god is not working well trust waits on god's timing and you have to realize that you are not hopeless during this time you are not stuck hey you're in transition and sometimes transition takes a minute and we eventually learn that god's timing is the best timing i've seen that in my life over and over i've waited on things i didn't want to wait that long for but i saw that god knew what was best in my life in psalm 13 david was distressed and he said god how long must i struggle with sorrow in my heart how long will the enemy have the upper hand i mean honestly we all feel that way sometimes the struggle is very real and we don't always understand god's timing but one thing that we can learn from david is this we can trust god in our heart and yet be very honest with him about our feelings and our struggles it's okay to say how long it's okay to express our frustration this is where david was but even though david had all these questions in his mind he didn't stop there and he expressed as he expressed his questions to god he then declared but i will trust in your unfailing love i will rejoice because you have rescued me i will sing to the lord because he has been good to me did you notice that david's how long turned into god i trust you i will sing to you because you have been good to me and you have rescued me time after time listen god is the god of how and when it's not our job to figure out how or when it's going to happen and let me tell you something a little secret it's not a matter of if he will deliver you but it's a matter of when he will deliver you god's ways are not our ways and he wants what's best for us even when it's hard even during the trial listen even when things seem chaotic in our lives god is still in control psalm 31 15 one of my favorite scriptures says our times are in god's hands see the timing belongs to god and as much as we'd like to we can't rush god this is where trust comes in this is the thing about not trusting god's timing when we get impatient we end up trying to help god out and we take matters into our own hands have you ever done that i have and that's scary when we do that because we usually end up messing things up or causing delays just ask sarah and abraham sarah got tired of waiting on god to give her a baby her own baby even though god had promised her a son and one day she just got so fed up and she decided to take matters into her own hands and she asked abraham to have a child with her servant hagar now ladies we know where this is headed it's not good what in the world was sarah thinking because as soon as hagar had that baby war broke out sarah did not want her near her husband sarah didn't even want that child near her own son and you know we can laugh about it today and think what was she thinking but i'm sure god gets some laughs out of us sometimes don't you when we try to take matters into our own hands listen when you get tired of waiting think about sarah and the trouble that she caused and just wait on god's timing galatians 6 8 says this that when we sow to the flesh we reap to the flesh but when we sow to the spirit we reap of the spirit now i want to say this when we get in trouble when we do wrong god forgives god turns what what what the enemy meant for evil into good god will turn it around i'm not saying that but it's always best to wait on god's timing because when we wait on god's timing that's when we get the best harvest ever so what does trust look like it looks like you patiently waiting on god's timing even though you get frustrated at times you just relax sit back and say god i know your timing is perfect i don't understand it but i know it's perfect so let's look at this word again because i want it to be imprinted upon your heart and mind here it is trust t-r-u-s-t the trial is a test of your faith so let's pass the test let's rest in god's faithfulness let's uproot the lies and focus on god's word let's stand firm in your faith let nothing move you trust god's timing even when you want it quicker than it's happening trust in the lord with all your heart lean not to your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight don't lean on your own understanding don't lean on your own wisdom god has wisdom for you from above he has ways of moving in your life that you can't even imagine and he'll do exceedingly abundantly above all that you could ask or think amen and amen well i hope that blessed you tonight and as you were there in your homes or wherever you are i just want to give every person an opportunity to have a personal relationship with god today see if you've never asked jesus to come into your life as your lord and savior you can do that today you know maybe you have been religious but you really haven't known god you haven't entered into that personal relationship and i invite you to pray this prayer after me god i admit that i'm a sinner i'm in need of a savior repeat after me i ask you to forgive me of all of my sins jesus i invite you to be my lord and savior you know i want to serve you for the rest of my life amen and amen you know if you prayed that prayer the bible says that you got born again on the inside you are new all all the sins that you've ever committed jesus forgave all your sins he cleansed you and he made you righteous in god's sight you're now a child of god and he is your heavenly father and let me tell you something he will help you navigate your life better than you could ever do on your own god has given you a new start in life a new start with a new heart and so we just congratulate you for making that decision i encourage you to get on lakewood's website and and just begin to look for uh sermons and teachings and articles that will help you grow in the things of god because we we'll be praying for you and we are so glad that you're part of the family of god now let me let me close with this blessing the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace in jesus name amen and amen we love you so much you

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Length: 33min 40sec (2020 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 11 2021