When I look through the scriptures every famine that happened
every economic downturn
Every plague every disease the people of God were sustained
Through every season that the world went through because they put their trust in him
Because when your trust is in the Lord you are
secure
You know it's easy to say that we trust God when everything's good
And everything's happy and all is going according to plan we so yeah
I'm just trusting the Lord and look how good everything is but it's a whole other deal
To trust God when things are not so good
You see to trust God means you have to allow him to do what he wants to do
even if he fails
And you say well he can't fail he's God and that's the point he can't fail
Therefore
We must trust him enough to let him succeed
But to let him succeed on his terms
And in his way and in his time not on my terms or in my way or in my timing
To trust God is to say I'm gonna let God do what he wants to do Lord I'm not gonna argue with you
I'm not gonna fight I'm not going to resist I'm gonna let you do what you know is best
And I am not going to fear the outcome
The Lord
the Lord is my shepherd
and I shall not be in want
in other words
God says I will take care of all your needs if you'll just trust me the Lord is my shepherd
I shall not want and even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil for you are with me
The Bible says it like this in 1st Peter 4 verse 12
Dear friends don't be surprised or shocked when you go through painful trials and fiery tests in life
The Bible says in the world you will have tribulation
Second corinthians chapter 4 verses 17 and 18 says this
For our temporary. Listen, it's not going to last our temporary
and momentary troubles
Will not last
But they are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all
so
We focus not on what is seen
The problems around us but on what is unseen
For what is seen is temporary
It's not going to last but what is unseen is eternal
Sometimes when you're following Jesus, he leads you right into a storm
Remember in the New Testament. There are two times when the disciples found themselves in a storm in a boat
They thought they were going to die both times
But they were in the storm they were in their trouble not because they were doing things wrong
They were in trouble because they were doing things right
They were following Jesus. They were obeying what he told them to do
They were following his directions and his directions led them right into a storm
But if they had not been in those storms
They would never have discovered truths about Jesus. There were things that they saw about him
They had never seen before and they never could have learned them any other way
except by going through the storms that they experienced my
tendency when it comes to storms is I want to go around the storm if I see it coming up on the horizon I want
to find a way around the trouble but sometimes God wants to lead you straight into the middle of it all
Because the Lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm and so you follow him into the middle of it
He says trust me because the Lord has his way in that when you are in the middle of the storm
That's when you look for God
Always look for God in the way things are
Not in the way that you hope they will be
But look for God in the way things are because he is not waiting for you on other side of the trouble
Waiting for you to figure it out and find your way through
He is in the middle of it
Walking with you working his way and his will but you've got to trust him in it
So when God says
Do you trust me? Well, then you have a decision to make
Will you allow him to do what he wants to do
And not fear the outcome
Because to fear the outcome says Lord, I don't really quite trust you
Will you allow him to do what he wants to do and not fear the outcome
Focus on what never changes in the days ahead
That'll give you stability. Don't focus on what's every changing because we don't know where it's all going to end up
He said well, what are the unchangeable truths that
That aren't I should focus on well, God sees everything I'm going through
Focus on that God cares about everything I'm going through that's unchangeable
God sees and he cares God has the power to change what I'm going through
He has the power to answer prayers that's unchangeable
God always acts out of his goodness to me. That's never gonna change no matter what happens
God is always gonna act good to me God's plan is always better than my plan
I may not see it, but it's better because he's a good God. God will never stop loving me
That's never gonna change in your life
These are things you need to focus on the things that never change God's love for me
God's grace for me God's goodness for me
Remember this
Remember that no matter what I go through
God will go through it with me
Every stage
every phase
Every crisis no matter what I go through
God is gonna go through it with me. You will never really ever be alone God
Is with you
He's with you right now God has never been closer to you than he is right now
He'll never be any further away than he is right now
And remember the great promise of Isaiah 43 verse 2
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you
When you pass through the rivers of difficulty
You will not drowned
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned up. It will not consume you
That's what you want to focus on
Maybe a little less
Listening to the internet and a little bit more listening to God that will give you confidence that will give you stability
That will replace your panic with prayer. It will replace your worry with worship
It will replace
Your anxiety with adoration
You have to believe that God knows what is best
That he will not abandon you he will not let go of you that you will not be destroyed by this
trouble you have to take him at his word when he says I will never leave you or abandon you you have to take him
at his word when he says I take all things and work them together for your good
The seed of faith
The seed of faith planted in the soil of adversity
Under the watchful eye of the gardener
will bring forth life and beauty
In its season the Bible says that God makes all things beautiful in their time
The trouble that you are in
Will not last
The trouble will not last it is light and momentary compared to the eternal glory
That awaits you it is all about your perspective how you see the trouble
Is how you will face the trouble if you see it in fear
You'll face it in fear
If you see it in doubt, you'll face it in doubt. If you see it in faith, you will face it
in faith
So don't see it as the end
See it as the beginning
You have to look through eyes of faith through a lens of hope a lens of expectation
Remember
This is not the end of the story
Because we don't know what the future holds but we do know who holds the future
We don't know all its going to go ahead but we're not frightened by it
Because we know the end of the story we've read the last chapter of the book
We know that God is in control. We know that God is not surprised by this
That God is bigger than this and Romans 8:28 is still true all things work together
For the good of those who love God with a called according to his purpose