David declares in the Psalms that word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee
David understood that every now and then there's going gonna come a moment when you
need the word of God in your heart because you may not be able to have a bible in your hand
which is a nice way of saying that there ought to be some scriptures you have embedded in your heart
that you can draw on when you need them in life when you find all hell breaking loose in your life
you got to pull on all things work together for the good of them
that love the Lord when it seems like God is moving just a little bit behind schedule
got to remind yourself they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength
and one of the most powerful scriptures that I want to embed in your heart today and pray that
you will not leave this service another day without reminding yourself of these words is
a powerful passage of scripture that is uttered on the lips of a man named Job I want to show
you a passage of scripture that ought to make you shout Job chapter 13 and verse number 15
there's some powerful preaching right there no matter what version of the bible you have
verse 15 ought to read a little something like this though he slay me yet I will trust him
at some moment God is not going to do what you thought God should do at some moment you're going
to be righteous and still struggle at some moment you're going to endure an experience
that leaves you scratching your head wondering how a God who loves you
would allow you to have you ever been in a Job moment
have you ever been there
when just when you thought it couldn't get worse it sure enough did
you ever had a Job moment when if it wasn't one thing it was something else have you ever had a
Job when what you prayed God wouldn't allow happen was exactly what God brought to your doorstep
can we admit that there have been some moments when giving up on God made sense
there been some moments when you told yourself this faith thing ain't working there's been some
moments when you've told yourself why in the world do I get up every week go to church I gotta park
two blocks away I go through all of that and all hell still breaks loose what's the point
have you ever wanted to break up with God
have you wanted to send God a message and tell them this ain't working out
have you ever looked at what God was doing and tell them listen you need to step your game up
if you've never been there I've been there
this is what you get for being faithful
this is the end result of being righteous I'm done with you
you ever been there
and here's Job losing everything
children dead business gone body sick and yet he has the faith to make this kind of statement
in verse 15 and chapter 13 Job says if God slays me I still trust him
I still believe in him I still have faith in God when the worst happens I still trust God
beloved that's where we got to land in life if we're going to make it
but how do you get there how do you get to that place where you've got that indestructible faith
how do you reach a place where you've got that trust in God that nothing can challenge
and nothing can change how do you reach a place where you say no matter what happens I trust God
listen to what Job says clearly he says if God slays me I'll still trust him no matter what
he does I trust in who he is real faith is not rooted in what you expect God to do
real faith is rooted and you know who God is so that no matter what goes on down here I trust
and believe that he's the same God up there that I know him to be no matter what the diagnosis no
matter what the layoff I trust and believe that no matter what I go through God is still real
many people give up on God because their faith was not in God their faith was in God doing what
you thought god would do in response to what you did um let her pray and you don't answer
and watch how quick she stop praying uh let him come to church every week and still get laid off
and watch how quickly he stay at home uh let him try to do right and wind up sick and watch
how quickly they'll stop doing right because satan's test is whether your faith is in God
or whether your faith is in the outcome of what you think God ought to do and what Job
teaches us is that every now and then I've got to remind myself that my faith is not in the outcome
my faith is in the God that I know that I serve what he does is not limited to a formula
God does what God wants to do and I trust that he's God
every now and then you've got to see what's going on in your life
and make a decision I trust God no matter what is happening no matter how bad
it hurts no matter how long it's been going on I choose
to trust God I choose to come to church I choose to pray in the morning I choose to trust God
but the bible makes it clear that we must trust in the Lord and please understand that trusting
God is not an automatic behavior for Christians so don't be discouraged when you run across a
Christian that struggles in the area of trusting God every day each of us must make a conscious
intentional choice to trust God we have to trust God for around the corner even before
we get to the corner we have to trust God for our daily bread when the bread aisle in the
supermarket is empty problem we have is that God requires that we trust him in challenging times
in trying times as well as in good times we have a tendency to only trust God when he's
responding the way we want him to respond we equate God's favor and God's blessings
with God's yes to our requests we value God's presence when things are going well
but we struggle with God's presence when things are unfolding in an unpleasant way
we have this tendency to only trust God with the things that we like we lose our
trust when we're in circumstances that require God's intervention so we have to trust his
timing we have to trust his choices and we have to trust his ways we have to trust him
when you know it's him and you have to trust him when it seems like it's all a mystery to you
you have to trust God when you don't like the people you around God allows you to be there for
a reason so you got to trust God's reason you got to choose every day and every moment to trust him
completely regardless of how things look or oh my God turn out anybody can trust God when the
sun is shining and when the winds of blessings are blowing but by now we all know that life
just doesn't work that way there are some dark nights and some long days there are some times
when you can't tell east from west there's some days when you don't know if you're gonna make it
until the evening time and yet in those situations he's calling on us to still trust God
you got to trust Jesus when you can't trace him when you have to wonder is he nearby
was he already here is he behind this blessing is he aware of my mess and with
all those questions looming in your mind you still say Lord I trust you
but I do know this as a believer God is there with you walking with you through this
all you have to do is just continue to trust him keep our eyes on him James says listen James
chapter one says that these these testing of our faith they produce endurance and maturity so God
wants you to grow during this fire he wants you to keep your focus on him not the fire so listen
you're having some struggles in your marriage what if you focus on Jesus first not the problems
you got some financial problems you're looking at those bills instead of focus on the bills what if
you focus on Jesus who can provide anything for you and you can become more like him even
through the fire because he is with you do you feel abandoned do you feel overlooked
you feel marginalized you feel undervalued you feel like your spouse and you've grown distant
you feel like you haven't heard from your son who went off to college you're starting to get worried
and you're wondering God are you faithful God are you true God are you there look at this promise
he says I will come to you I am not a negligent father I am not far from you I'm on the inside of
you I will come to you time and time and time and time again I am faithful I am true I do not change
so I'm here to tell somebody who's going through the fight of their life or the storm of a lifetime
and you got questions and you got concerns and you got stressed and you got anxiety and
you got fear and you're going God where are you I want to remind you we have a promise
that he is faithful he is true and he will never leave you nor forsake you