"Trust Through Trouble" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

they want to welcome everybody here to the Granite Bay Church we're so thankful that you're here this morning if you were not here last week today is a continuation of a message we began last week very simple sermon title worrying about stuff part 1 & 2 today is part 2 it's a very common topic in the Bible to address the anxiety and concern that people have Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount got right into it he said in chapter 6 of Matthew therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things he commands us not to worry worry wears away the life forces worried robs us of our joy someone once said worry brings tomorrow's difficulties into today God doesn't give you grace for tomorrow's difficulties he only gives you grace for today were worried does not take the sorrow out of tomorrow it only takes tomorrow saw and brings it today and it then less prepares you to deal with tomorrow sorrow and so it's debilitating you know I was reading in the news not long ago many of us here in Northern California remember last year there was a terrible fire in Oakland and 36 people perished and that fire in the warehouse in Oakland the authorities later determined that it was probably due to what they called an overloaded circuit they had too many things plugged into a breaker that was only designed they handle so many amps and because they did this some wires heated up they shorted out they caught on fire the fire spread there was only one exit downstairs most people were trapped upstairs and died from the smoke inhalation and a lot of death and damage was caused by an over loaded circuit when you spend all your time worrying about things for tomorrow and the week after and the month after that and you just pile one on top of the other you overload your truck you blow out the tires you overload your circuits and it fries and God didn't design us this way that's why Jesus said in his discourse about worry he said sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof now that's kind of the old English way of saying God gives you enough grace to deal with the problems of today there are problems in life the Bible is pretty clear about that God uses troubles to teach us and to test us you can read in the book of Job chapter five verse seven yet man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward we're gonna have problems in life and in acts 14:22 Paul said strengthening the souls of the disciples exhorting them to continue in the faith and he said we must through many tribulations into the kingdom of God tribulations is related to the word trouble it's through trouble we enter the kingdom there's going to be trouble there's going to be problems but God does not want you to worry about these troubles he wants us to learn to trust through the troubles so often in the Bible the children of Israel came to a point where it looked like it was hopeless they'd be at the borders of the Red Sea and have mountains on both sides an ocean in front and an army of angry Egyptians charging down on them they weren't armed and they started to cry out and worry what do we do you know God told them stand still and see the salvation of the Lord God allowed the trouble to go come that they might develop trust you find a similar story in the days of King Jehoshaphat always like saying his name when they're going against three armies three nations came against them and they were greatly outnumbered and then God said to them you'll not need to fight in this battle position yourselves stand still so after you've addressed whatever the needs are in the are they you face you've got to learn to trust God wants you to do what you can do he'll give you grace and wisdom for that day's problems Deuteronomy 33 25 the promises your sandals will be iron that sounds uncomfortable but I'll explain and bronze as your days so shall your strength be meaning that they won't wear out you know for the 40 years they were in the wilderness God said your shoes didn't wear out your clothes didn't wear out he said as your days so shall your strength be God is not gonna give you Herculean strength for today that you really don't need until tomorrow when the challenge comes he gives you the strength people have asked me pastor Doug do you think you've got enough faith he probably wondered this yourself if we get tortured for our faith do you have enough faith where you would not deny Jesus in the face of torture and my answer would be not today I don't but I hope that when that day comes I will and so I'm not gonna worry about that now because as your day so will your strength be your not to say Lord give me this month my monthly bread you say give me this day my daily bread now when God tells you not to worry it doesn't mean that you're not the plan but a lot of things we worry about we don't ever have to deal with somebody did a study about the average person what they worry about they found that 40% of what people worry about never happens reminds me of that lady that was always telling people don't tell me where he doesn't do any good the things that worried about never happened she thought that's cuz she worried about them 40% of what people worry about never happens 30% of what people worry about has already happened and you can't do anything about it have you ever spent time worrying about regrets or you come away from a difficult conversation you keep thinking about what you should have said other than that or you've made bad decisions and you just keep rehashing it and then you know every no what's change it it's in the past but we still worry about things it's too late spend time and regret 12% worry about whether others say about them and you can't really change much about that 10% worry deals with your health and of course worrying about your health can always make your health worse that means that leaves about 8% of things that are worth considerations most of what we worry about is really a big waste of time now when the Bible says do not worry about your life jesus said do not worry about your life that's a command that doesn't mean don't ever think or plan he's not Ella asking us to just kind of go skipping idiotically through life without a cure in the world not worried about anything and and being irresponsible God does want you to think and there are scriptures that talk to us about planning proverbs 21:5 the plans of the diligent lead to plenty but those of everyone who is hasty leads to poverty you should plan proverbs 13 16 every prudent man acts with knowledge proverbs 14 8 the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way to look ahead but folly is deceit proverbs 11:14 where there's no counsel the people fail but in the multitude of counselors there is safety and Jesus said which of you intending to build a tower doesn't sit down first and count the cost there needs to be planning in life God is practical in that way there's a difference between being aware that there's a problem and worrying about the problem stressing and being anxious and fretting and wringing your hands and losing sleep we need to know how to commit our troubles to the Lord heard about a man that came out from this office building in Chicago and a policeman was writing him a ticket for double parking said what in the world possessed you to make you do this the man said well whenever I go to the dentist I always double Park because it gives me something to think about I worry about getting a ticket and I don't think about the drill it's a diversion now you might be wondering pastor Doug are you saying that worrying is a sin well it can be I mean whatever Jesus says thou shalt not worry and you worry you wonder well is it a sin well first of all Romans 14:23 says whatever is not from faith is sin and so if we're spending a lot of time worrying about things it means you don't trust that there's a God who can help you Hebrews 11:6 without faith it's impossible to please him for he that comes to God must believe that he is and he's a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him in one sense when we worry we make ourselves god that's idolatry as though we have power to change our circumstances it's like this man that was walking around New York City clapping his hands over his head and someone finally asked him why did you do that is that it keeps the Lions away it keeps the Lions away there haven't been any mountain lions in New York City for 150 years it's a defective isn't it there's a Jewish proverb that says the only thing that you're really allowed to worry about is to worry that you worry too much but God doesn't want us to worry it it contradicts our faith it contradicts your witness people watch you worry and you say you're a Christian you believe in God but you're always fretting and nervous who wants your religion people already know how to worry they want to see how can you have peace I think I've shared with you in our study last week about one of the things that brought around the conversion of John Wesley he saw these Moravian Baptists that had such peace and a storm they weren't afraid and he knew something was missing and let's face it there's a lot of people that say they're Christians and they don't live like they have faith they live like everything depends on them and nothing depends on God after church one day family invited some visitors home for dinner as they were finally gathered around the lunch table getting ready for the meal the mother of the family asked the daughter five-years-old she'd like to have the prayer well she looked very nervous she hadn't been asked to do that before she said I'm not sure what say and the mother said we'll just pray like mommy prays so she folded her hands and said dear Lord why did I invite all these people over kids listen and they see you worrying and they will reproduce you're worried someone once said a day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work Luke 12 29 do not seek what you shall eat or what you shall drink or have an anxious mind does nothing don't think about it but don't be anxious about it for all these things the nations of the world seek after Jesus is saying you're no different than the unbelievers if you just worry all the time about these things God will take care of you your father knows you need these things but seek first the kingdom of God and these things shall be added I remember talking to a dear friend of mine a builder and he went up to Alaska during a building boom and was doing very well and then the bottom fell out and it hit hard and they were overextended and just almost overnight they had no money and the house payments they had nowhere to go and they started running out of food now I usually don't run out of food overnight I know what this looks like and it starts out you're eating like you know macaroni and cheese you got some butter on it and pretty saw this is just macaroni and then you put just macaroni and butter and there's macaroni and salt and then you're out of macaroni and then you're really out of food and I remember being so short on food one time all we had was rice and it was like rice with the raisins we did have reasons that was breakfast and just cooked rice was dinner and you know lunch might be fried rice I mean it was his rice three times a day and this family was totally out of food but they were Christians had three kids and they said look the Lord knows that we need food he's promised he will not let us go we read it right here in the word that if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your Father in Heaven give to those that asked they said let's ask Jesus so with the three kids they said we need to teach the kids faith we don't know where God's gonna get us a food but they knelt down and they prayed they told me the story they said while they're on their knees praying for food the doorbell rings it was a neighbor who worked for an airline she said because of the weather the flight was cancelled they've got all this food for the flight could you guys use any all these pre-prepared meals they said we ate all this airline food that day for several days they gave them all these trays but what do you think they did for the kids faith whether they saw their parents they were praying for food and the doorbell rings and there's food I've had the Lord do that for me and just miracles so God will provide your basics he sent the Apostles out and he said when you go don't take food don't take a purse don't take your credit card he didn't say that but that was a concept so don't take an extra staff he said you go you trust me whatever house you enter pray the blessing on the house hopefully they'll take care of you and that was you know part of their the hospitality back then so where he contradicts your witness oswald chambers said worry isn't in in an indication that we think God can't look after us good quote from that book testimonies of to the church vol 7 do not worry by looking at appearances and complaining when difficulty and pressure come you reveal a sickly enfeebled faith by your words and your works you show that your faith is let me say that right by your words and your works show that your faith is invincible the Lord is rich in resources he owns the world look to him who has light and power and efficiency he will bless everyone who is seeking to communicate light and love he doesn't want us to worry now some of this is a repeat of what we said last week something I want you to think about now is there are a lot of people who worry about what they don't have but then there are a lot of people that worry about what they you have we know there are people who worry that they don't have enough but you know there's a lot of people out there that worry because they've too much I think it was Ben Franklin that said abundance destroys more people than want so you can worry both ways they've been having this fad called tiny living and have you ever seen some of this and you know they're people are saying you know we need to because in the environment we've produced too much carbon and we need to reduce our carbon footprint so we need to start living smaller part of the reason for that is I don't know if you know the statistics but in the last 45 years from 1973 the average American new home has gone up 1,000 square feet yet during that same 45 years the number of people in the house has gone down from 3.1 people the 2.5 people so we've got fewer people in bigger houses than ever and those houses are full of stuff too isn't that right how many of you drive down the neighborhood and you know your friends have a two-car garage but both cars are parked outside no we got our cars in our garage I'm just saying you know you have you seen that Jesus said a man's life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses I think it's so funny though you watch these people say you know we want to reduce our carbon footprint and we're gonna we're gonna go into a tiny house and so I'll show this program about how they did Belvin design this tiny house and and it does all these they do everything you can to save space and that it can very creative and I sometimes have been next to Karen and it just cracked me up every time because when they first show them their new tiny house and they go in they say boy this is really small that's what you said you wanted and then I say don't they have like travel trailers you can buy that do exactly the same thing they had a report in Forbes did a report on tiny house some people are buying tiny houses and investments they say don't do it it's a bad investment it's a fad they don't make any sense at all and the people who buy them that move in a few years later are selling them sometimes they don't even make it a year because there's a law of life you will fill whatever space you have moving to a bigger house wait a few years watch what happens you will fill whatever space you have and if you live in America you may rent extra space to store your stuff and then you have to worry about your stuff and you can't go on a mission trip because who's gonna take care of your stuff am i right you can become a prisoner to your stuff and you spend your weekends you could be visiting with your neighbors and giving Bible studies oiling and maintaining your stuff and mowing your stuff it got really quiet all of a sudden Luke 8:14 Jesus now said now some of the seed fell among the thorns are those who have when they heard the word of God they go out and they are choked with cares and riches remember we studied what the word worry means it comes from the word worgen it's an ancient word it means to choke to strangle and sometimes the truth is strangled in our lives by worries and concern first Timothy 6 you know this first time ''tis chapter 6 verse 6 now godliness with contentment is a great gain if we can be content and satisfied with a little bit and everything else is A+ for we brought nothing into this world and it's certain we can take nothing out and having food and clothing with these we should be content but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation snare and many foolish and harmful less which drown men in destruction and perdition notice that we're drowned for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil money's not evil but the love of it is for which some have strayed from the faith in greediness and then peer themselves through with many sorrows in spite of all the other problems that can come with that abundance there's many sorrows that pierce them plain old worry my dad had to drink himself to sleep every night here's a wealthy man because he had to worry Solomon said it this way the abundance of the rich man will not permit him to sleep Cleese II asked these 5:12 i remember reading a little while ago there was a it's in the Parade magazine December 31 1995 there were these men two men that were in a fishing boat off of an Coover in very cold water and the boat ran into something and began to take on water and started to sink and what happened is they threw their life raft out into the sea and climbed into the life raft before the boat sank and that's when they noticed there was a strong nylon rope tying the life raft to the boat that was sinking well they scurried around to see if they could find a knife in the raft and there wasn't any and they knew they didn't have long the boat was gonna sank can take the rifle raft down they were gonna die in the cold water they eventually started chewing on the rope now that would make you worry wouldn't it talk about being a little anxious you got to chew through this nylon rope before the boat sinks or it's gonna pull you down and you'll drown and there's some people that have drowned well you wonder how that story ends they took turns and it took him an hour the boat floated longer than they thought but just as they finally chewed through the rope it went beneath the waves they had to take turns because I guess their jaws got sword chewing through a rope like rats because it was going to pull them down and some are being drowned by all that they have so they can't live their life God wants us to have an abundance life you know I hope you'll forgive me for quoting from a secular song but there was an old hippy song Kris Kristofferson wrote called me and Bobby McGee and there's a line in there that says freedom is another word for nothing left to lose and in some ways that's true I remember just picking up my backpack and saying I wonder what state I'll go to today Karen I met a fella when we were scuba diving in Hawaii a couple weeks ago and he said he says when I travel I don't take anything with me the airline's Alert he says I got a little handbag and I just go from country and he said I mean he got a pass you don't think you can do it anymore but he's telling us he got a pass on this airline you can go anywhere in the world the airline flew there was a world pass you had to do it within a year and he'd go from one country night he'd just take his toothbrush and a few things and he'd go wherever he wanted he was a very successful photographer he'd worked there and I just kind of I I envied the the freedom with which he would travel around the world he tells about all these exotic places that he went to and said no I don't take anything with me I think when I get there you can buy food there you can buy clothes there so then I don't have to worry about anything anyway I just I'll try that let me know people think happiness is gonna come from more it's not true more things do not make you more valuable that's one myth another myth is that more things will make you more popular doesn't make people envy you more things will make you more secure more things will bring more contentment usually if you're not content with what you have more will not bring you more contentment because you'll discover there's something you don't have then you'll be discontent or your neighbor will have something you don't have first Timothy six eight having food and clothing with these we shall be content second corinthians 9:8 God is able to make all grace abound towards you that always having all sufficiency in all things you notice how many all's there are you may have an abundance for every good work God is able to give you what you need to do his work God is not going to send you out into the world to do his work and not supply what you need to do work another good quote from the book steps to Christ 1:21 some are always fearing and borrowing trouble every day they are surrounded with the tokens of God's love every day they are enjoying the bounties of his Providence but they overlook these present blessings their minds are continually dwelling upon something disagreeable that they fear may come or some difficulty that may really exist with which those small blinds their eyes to the many things that demand gratitude the devil will inflate your problems make them bigger than reality I threw that in the difficulties they encounter instead of driving them to God are the source their only source of their help separate them from God because they awaken unrest and repining they're overwhelmed with worry don't worry God knows the things that you need now having said all that about not worrying is there a time you should worry yeah everything that God said about the promises and not having to worry he's saying to those who have accepted him if you've not accepted him you should worry you've really got something to worry about Hebrews 10:26 for if we sin willfully after we've received the knowledge of the truth there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful expectation isn't that worry of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries if you're turning your back on God and you're refusing to follow God then I hope you don't have peace why would you want someone to be comfortable on their way to destruction so there is a time to worry the Bible says in Isaiah 48 22 there is no peace to the wicked he says it actually twice in his prophecy revelation 16 11 speaking of the loss they blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores and they did not repent of their deeds they had something to worry about but for believers we live by faith it's a whole different world view Amen so what do you do when a Bible tells a story where Jacob encountered a big problem he can read in Genesis chapter 32 verse 6 Jacobs making his way back into the promised land you know he left empty-handed he had nothing and God's blessed him he's now got two wives and two surrogate wives and eleven kids and and he's coming home and his brother Esau that he remember he sold the birthright from his brother his brother Esau hears that he's coming back maybe Esau is afraid he's coming to claim the inheritance he sold his brother Isaac's getting old and says the messengers come to Jacob and they say we came to your brother Esau he is also coming to meet you with 400 men now that usually means an army and he's got you notice women and kids and flocks and herds he's not prepared to final battle so Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed loose translation he was really worried and you would be I mean don't you worry about your family do you got an army coming to wipe you out so what did he do well first thing he does he says if you've got a problem how do you deal with your problems make a plan God give you a brain use your brain come up with the best you might ask for wisdom if anyone lacks wisdom let him ask of God use the wisdom you've got try to have a plan moving forward and say Lord this is what I've come up with if you've got a better plan show me in the meantime I'm doing this he'll often then show you something different and he divided his family into companies he says well at least some will survive let me split them up and then he prayed and he said if he saw comes to one company and the attacks that the other company will escape he prayed and said O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac Lord God who said to me return to your country he now claims God's promises he said God didn't you promise that you take care of me didn't you tell me that through my descendants the Messiah would come you told me it was time to come back to your land and I'm doing it so he claims the promises of God and then he wrestles with God sometimes you've got a wrestle with God to take care of your anxiety until you can trust him he said to the angel I will not let you go unless you bless me so you may have problems be honest you know say god I'm worried and I don't want to worry you don't want me to worry here's the promises in your word I'm casting my cares upon you now all of you as I'm talking I'm imagining that you have your little particular worries and you're plugging those in to this equation unless there's something here have nothing to worry about did God take care of Jacob by the time Esau got to him his heart had changed and he embraced his brother you don't know how God is gonna take care of your problems I read to you last week the Lord knows a thousand ways to solve your problems you worry about when you can't think of one he's God he can do anything you know the story about Peter walking on the water he's surrounded by a storm and as long as he had his eyes on Jesus he was able to do the impossible you can have peace in the midst of a storm Christ was sleeping in a boat the disciples woke him up afraid he said why are you afraid where is your faith he said you shouldn't even worry about this and now Peter is walking on the water he's looking at Jesus in the storm and then he takes his eyes off Jesus he starts to sing when he stopped looking at Jesus and he started looking at the waves and the wind he started to worry if you look at the problem and you don't look at the Lord you will probably lose faith the reason David was able to kill Goliath as he did not look at how tall Goliath was he looked at how big God was John Wesley was walking one time with a friend who was just fretting and worrying about everything and as they're walking along Wesley looked over into the field next to the road and he saw there was a cow looking over the wall stone wall and he said to his friend do you know why that cows looking over the wall his friends said no and westland said because he can't see through the wall he said you're trying to look through your problems you need to look over your problems someone said you should start every day by opening the window of heaven and say Lord I'm yours today and my problems are your problems because I'm your child will he take care of you so Peter took his eyes off Jesus Jesus said why did you doubt why did you look at the waves and the wind the Bible tells us if we fix our eyes upon Jesus this is hebrews chapter 12 says therefore seen were surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin sometimes we worry about our sins right let us lay aside the weight and the sin that does so easily beset us and let us run that race with endurance looking unto Jesus in the original it says fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith the reason we were is we take our eyes off Jesus and we look at the wind and the waves and we look at the problems again it doesn't mean you're to go through life oblivious that there are issues but make sure that your faith is hanging on Christ so what's the answer for worry Paul and Silas were in prison and even though they had all kinds of reason to worry I mean they're in prison they don't know how long they're in prison they've just been beaten but in the midst of their prison cell they turned to God to claim the promises of God they start to sing have you ever tried to sing a happy song when you're feeling worried either you're gonna get mad at the song or it'll start changing your attitude I remember one time I was all disappointed and fretting about a problem I was traveling with a group overseas and and one member of our group was very optimistic and they said let's sing he's able not now I want to worry as Solomon said you know when some of the things to a sad heart is like vinegar and but you know if you start singing and praising God the slums can actually bring you out of it that's what Paul and Silas did and you know what did their situation change when they started just saying earthquake chains broke doors opened when they started to sing their problem disappeared that quick I mean who would have said God is gonna send an earthquake and solve my problem usually earthquakes cause problems right Josh if that went out into battle they were over over outnumbered I should say by the enemy and you know what he said send the priests out front let's see if they have faith tell him to sing and so he's in the choir out first and when they sing the enemy all turned on each other and wiped each other out so there wasn't a man left who would have predicted that and the way that the walls of Jericho were brought down was through special music they shouted and played the trumpet and so praise God even though you can't see a way out and he loves to then act for you when you step out in faith and you praise him of course the Bible says the answer is seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added to you whether you have too little or too much god will take care of you and your problems if you seek first his kingdom I remember hearing a story actually came from Robert Louis Stevenson he told about these sailors that were on this large ship one dark night in a storm not far from a very dangerous rocky coast and if it wasn't bad enough that they were afraid of dashing on the rocks they were also afraid that the waves were gonna sink the boat and several of the crew were down in the hole trying to sleep in their Hammett so we're slapping back up against the sides of the ship and they were very nervous finally one of them could take it no longer and he staggered and hanging on to the railing up above deck and he went into the pilots house and as he opened the door into the pilots house there he saw the captain his face illuminated by lamp the captain heard the or open here the wind whistling he turned and looked at the sailor captain knew the sailor was scared and so he just gave him a big smile and he turned back and he kept steering the ship sailor didn't say anything he shut the door he went back downstairs he got together with his mates they said what the captain says he didn't say anything but we have nothing to worry about how do you know said he smiled at me said I've seen the captain's face and captain's not worried if we turn our eyes on Jesus he's God worried is he worried about your problems if you're his child and if he's not worried then why are you worried I remember hearing about a businessman got on an airplane one time and and then one of the last they brought on the plane was this young seven or eight year old boy that unfortunately was travelling between two divorced parents first time he had had to do this and the first time he had ever flown and the flight attendant buckled him in next to this businessman and the businessman could tell the young guy was very nervous maybe not just about being alone but even about flying and as the plane was taxiing and their engines began to roar before takeoff he saw the little fellas hands were on the armrest and his knuckles were white and the man looked down at the boy he said this is my favorite part isn't this fun I looked he saw the man smiling and showing so much excitement I thought oh yeah this is fun he relaxed immediately if you're traveling with your Heavenly Father and he's not worried why are you worried he's got control you don't have control so do what you can to be practical and then cast your cares on the Lord because he cares for you hey men you know I thought in closing we could sing that song hopefully it'll cheer you up day by day and why don't we stand together it's 5:30 - in your handbook day by day well stand while saying and then we'll pray together [Music] [Music] well I don't know if you needed this message but I needed this message now I'm not a big worrier but I do worry a little bit and God doesn't want us to stress he wants us to have lives of faith I just suspect I'm not the only one worried about some things that'll never happen worry about things that already happened we're worried about what might happen to our health which makes us less healthy and Jesus said do not worry do you know he says it 12 times do not worry do not worry the Lord wants us to live lives of faith and trusting him if you'd like to say with me today Lord help me to learn to cast my cares on you and to trust you Father in heaven Lord we thank you for the promises in your word help us to remember them and Lord when we are tempted to stress and to fret over things behind our things ahead over having too little or too much I pray that you'll just give us your mind and your peace and your wisdom help us to know that we've seen the captain and he is smiling that we don't need to fear because we are your children and you will take care of us I pray that you'll guide us to your promises in your word and claim them then Lord if if we do have cause to worry because we've not surrendered our lives to you I pray that every person here will make that decision right now to find that peace that passes all understanding because our lives are hidden with God in Christ through faith we thank you we pray that we can practice this in reality through our lives be with us now through this Sabbath day and the week ahead we pray in Jesus name Amen god bless you may be seated

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Length: 42min 8sec (2528 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 29 2017