“Can I Really Trust God?”
Date: 8/10/2011
Speaker: Pastor Johnny Moore
Our lives are filled with broken promises. How many times has someone given you their word, but failed to follow through on it? For most, this is an everyday occurrence. And because of this, people have grown fearful and skeptical about trusting anyone. What is even sadder is that this same mind set is carried over into your relationship with God. For many, their perception of God is not based on a “first hand experience” with Him, but instead, on their experience with others. Because some have proved to be untrustworthy, automatically they think God cannot be trusted.
Some of you reading this today are struggling to trust God because you have been let down by others. Though you may not be voicing this struggle aloud, on the inside of you it is a constant battle. This question, “Can I really trust God?” continues to roll over and over in your mind. How easy it is to trust God when everything is going right, but can I really trust Him when everything begins to fall apart? The answer is yes! God can be trusted! In the good times, He can be trusted! In the midst of your storm, God can be trusted! In the Book of Daniel, we find a beautiful picture of what trusting God is all about. Let’s take a look . . .
Daniel, chapter three begins with King Nebuchadnezzar constructing an “image of Gold,” setting it before the people, and commanding them to fall down before it and worship. Anyone who refused to bow down and worship to this “image” would be thrown into a fiery furnace. But there was only one problem. Word came to the King that (vs. 12), “There were certain Jews . . . Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, . . . Who have not regarded thee: They serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” Needless to say, the King was ticked! He called them in and threatened to throw them into the fiery furnace. What was their response? Did they choose to compromise or did they choose to trust God? Remember: “It’s easy to trust God when everything is fine, but what about when your life is at stake?” Verses 17-18 gives us their response: “If it be so, our God whom we serve (trust, rely on) is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” They chose to trust God!
Trusting God doesn’t always mean that you will not go through the fire. Trusting God means “Whatever comes my way, God is with me and He will see me through!” Verse 28 gives us the reward of trusting God. “Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who hath sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him.”
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