SPEAKER_00: Anyways, um has anybody in here ever done a trust fall before?
SPEAKER_00: By a show of hands.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So a good number of you.
SPEAKER_00: So we all know how it goes.
SPEAKER_00: You cross your arms and you lean back and you hope that the person behind you catches you, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um that's typically how a trust fall goes.
SPEAKER_00: Um and so a couple years ago, I was a camp counselor at a summer camp.
SPEAKER_00: Um and as a counselor, like during the day, we're on a couple different activities.
SPEAKER_00: So like you may be on riflerry, maybe on archery, maybe on like high ropes or low ropes.
SPEAKER_00: And this particular day I was on low ropes, um, and part of our low ropes course is a trust fall.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so you know, sometimes you have like these like eight-year-olds, and you have to hike down into this canyon at like three o'clock in the afternoon, and it's 105 degrees, and they're all dying before they even get there, and then you say, Hey, we're gonna do a trust fall.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so this particular day um we get our group of eight-year-olds down there um and we start sending them off the trust fall one by one.
SPEAKER_00: Um and eventually we get to uh this young boy.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I could tell he was pretty nervous about going off the trust fall.
SPEAKER_00: Um and so we were trying to encourage him, like good counselors, like, hey man, you got this, you know, just go for it.
SPEAKER_00: Like, we're here to catch you, like we're gonna catch you, we're not gonna drop you.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00: And so we eventually convince him uh to go off the trust fall, and he gets towards the top.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we're like, okay, now cross your arms, right?
SPEAKER_00: So we have we would have them cross their arms so that whenever they fall back, they wouldn't, you know, open up their arms like this and hit you in the face.
SPEAKER_00: Um and he seemed pretty timid, but you know, we count him down and he falls back, and the first thing he does is he opens his arms like that and he smacks me, you know, in the lip with his with his hand.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I try to hide the fact that I'm like a little frustrated with him because I'm in front of a bunch of eight-year-olds, right?
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want to look like uh a mean guy.
SPEAKER_00: But but anyways, I don't, you know, tell you that story to uh tell you about the time that I got smacked in the mouth by an eight-year-old.
SPEAKER_00: Um I tell you that because I I feel like you know there's a theme there that kind of correlates with the Christian life.
SPEAKER_00: Um, you see, the young boy's lack of trust in us to catch him, um, and then him trying to do what he could to save himself paints a similar picture as to oftentimes what our relationship with the Lord can look like, right?
SPEAKER_00: You know, God has given us instruction and direction, um, and he's waiting there for us to be obedient to him so that he can follow through with a sovereign plan.
SPEAKER_00: And what do we do?
SPEAKER_00: Um, we do what is wise in our own eyes, and we we give into our flesh and we try to um live our lives our own way, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um and so that kind of leads us into our uh scripture um for today.
SPEAKER_00: So if you have your Bibles, um you can open up to Proverbs chapter three, um, and we'll be in verses five and six.
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, so there it is.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't even ask them to do that, and they did it.
SPEAKER_00: It's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Uh verse five.
SPEAKER_00: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
SPEAKER_00: In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so you know, this verse, face value, seems pretty simple, but it's it's actually pretty packed.
SPEAKER_00: Um, God gives us three commands and one promise in this verse.
SPEAKER_00: And the first command is that we must trust the Lord with all of our heart.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so, biblically speaking, trusting God isn't circumstantial and it isn't partial and it isn't cautious.
SPEAKER_00: It's not, God, I trust you because things have been going good, um, or God, I trust you with this part of my life, but not this part of my life, I'm gonna be in charge of this part of my life.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but instead, it's a devoted, all-encompassing, wholehearted trust that it isn't based on anything other than the perfect sovereignty of God and his deep love for us that was displayed through sending his son Jesus to save us.
SPEAKER_00: Um and because God sacrificed himself for us, we can fully trust him.
SPEAKER_00: And um it's imperative that we trust him if we want to bear fruit and to glorify the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Um and if and if we can't trust the God of the universe, the one who created us and who knows the numbers of hairs on our head, then we probably can't trust anything.
SPEAKER_00: Um if you think about it like this, um imagine uh one of your friends cared for you so deeply that they would willingly take a bullet to save your life, even though you failed a million times to be a good friend to them.
SPEAKER_00: Um their great uh their great act of love would probably compel you um to trust them no matter what.
SPEAKER_00: And if you think about it, the story of Jesus um saving us is is one and the same.
SPEAKER_00: Um even though you have sinned against God a million times, he still extends his love towards you through himself by giving his life to save yours.
SPEAKER_00: And not only does him sacrificing his son for you give you reason to trust him, but Scripture um does as well.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew six, twenty five through thirty says, For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink, nor for your body as to what you will put on.
SPEAKER_00: Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?
SPEAKER_00: Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.
SPEAKER_00: Are you not much more important than they?
SPEAKER_00: And which of you by being worried can add a single hour to your life?
SPEAKER_00: And why are you worried about clothing?
SPEAKER_00: Notice how the lilies of the field grow, they do not labor, nor do they spin.
SPEAKER_00: Um yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all of his glory clothed himself like one of these.
SPEAKER_00: But if God so clothes the grasses of the field which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith?
SPEAKER_00: And so God makes it very clear that he will care for us, and in light of this we need to let go of everything our futures, our fears, our relationships, our identity, our calling, and with childlike faith we must simply trust God at his word.
SPEAKER_00: When we surrender ourselves to God sincerely in our hearts, we give God room to work on our lives.
SPEAKER_00: You see, God cannot use someone who claims to know him yet won't surrender himself to him.
SPEAKER_00: God calls us to exchange our lives for his.
SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite verses, Galatians 2 20, says that I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
SPEAKER_00: And this life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.
SPEAKER_00: And so when we give our lives to Christ, it ceases to be our own, as it says we are crucified with him, which means we died with him, right?
SPEAKER_00: Which means our life is no longer ours to live, and we must come to terms with this and recognize the fact that God isn't calling us to do great things in our own strength for him, but instead he's calling us to do great things through his strength unto him for his glory.
SPEAKER_00: God is glorified through our wholehearted trust.
SPEAKER_00: The second command that we see in this passage of Scripture is do not lean on your on your own understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Romans eleven thirty-four says, For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?
SPEAKER_00: And Proverbs fourteen twelve says there is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.
SPEAKER_00: These verses highlight two crucial truths.
SPEAKER_00: One, God's wisdom is far beyond human comprehension, and we are not in any position to advise him, and we must only trust him.
SPEAKER_00: And two, sincerity and confidence in our way being the right way doesn't necessarily mean that it is the right way.
SPEAKER_00: Something can feel right, and it can make perfect sense, and ultimately seem like the wise thing to do, but unless it is direction given us given to us by God, then it is done in vain.
SPEAKER_00: God's wisdom doesn't only just feel right in the moment, but it leads to life in the end.
SPEAKER_00: And uh trust me when I say this, that the life that the Lord um gives to those who trust in Him doesn't compare to anything that the world can give you.
SPEAKER_00: The the pleasures of the world are fleeting and few, um, but satisfaction in God is eternal, and it gives us true freedom in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: We can only obtain God's wisdom by growing in our relationship with Him, and as our relationship with the Lord grows, it becomes easier and easier to discern the God discern the Lord's voice.
SPEAKER_00: God is always speaking to us, guiding us, correcting us, rebuking us.
SPEAKER_00: Um but we just have to learn what a still quiet voice sounds like in our hearts, and that only comes with time and growing in our relationship with the Lord through prayer and through reading his Lord and through abiding in him.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 8 28 says, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes.
SPEAKER_00: You know, really learning to understand what this verse meant in my life became a turning point in my walk with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You see, God has a purpose in everything, and at the end of every trial in our lives, no matter how hard or pointless it may have seemed, we can remind ourselves of this truth.
SPEAKER_00: It is not up to us to measure God's goodness based on our personal experiences because our experiences are limited and based on perspective, and the reality is our perspective isn't always in the right place.
SPEAKER_00: God is always working behind the scenes.
SPEAKER_00: Um take Joseph, for example.
SPEAKER_00: We were just talking about him um a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_00: Um Joseph was, well, he had a dream and he told his brothers that they were gonna bow down to him, and his brothers got mad at him.
SPEAKER_00: They sold him into slavery.
SPEAKER_00: He ends up um at a high-ranking Egyptian official's house.
SPEAKER_00: His name was Potiphar.
SPEAKER_00: Um he did good there, moved up in the rankings, and then Potiphar's wife tried to sleep with him, and he said no, and and she framed him, and he got thrown into prison, and then eventually he comes across the Pharaoh's path, interprets a dream from him, and becomes the second um highest ranking man in all of Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: Um and and yet through all the trials and the hardships that Joseph endured, endured, he didn't lean on his own understanding or assessment of the situation, and if he had, um, he probably wouldn't have made it to where he was at.
SPEAKER_00: He simply trusted God where he was, and it was because of his faith and obedience that God was able to use him in mighty ways.
SPEAKER_00: The third command God gives us in this passage is to acknowledge him in all of our ways.
SPEAKER_00: Acknowledging God in all our ways goes far beyond going to church every Sunday, attending Bible study, and only praying when you feel stuck in life.
SPEAKER_00: Acknowledging Him in everything means that every aspect of your life can be traced back to God.
SPEAKER_00: The way you treat others, the way you think, the things you desire, the perspective you have on life, and the relationships you maintain.
SPEAKER_00: We have to recognize God as the source of everything in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: God should not be an add-on that you tack onto your life to feel like a good person or a backup plan when things go south.
SPEAKER_00: We must seek Him first in everything and submit our ways to His wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: Um and I think it's interesting the word acknowledge in Hebrew, which is the original language that this portion of the Bible was written in, carries the idea of knowing deeply and relationally.
SPEAKER_00: This kind of acknowledging isn't just a last-minute hailmary prayer to God before you make a decision, but instead it is a life characterized by prayer and seeking his word for guidance, and seeking to grow closer to God and wholeheartedly trust him.
SPEAKER_00: And so finally, we get to the promise in this verse.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord says that if we trust in him with all of our heart, if we not lean on our own understanding, and if we acknowledge him in all of our ways, he says that he will make our path straight.
SPEAKER_00: Um if you're anything like me, uh you probably wish you had the answers to everything that's going on in your life all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Um But fortunately well Yeah, but fortunately, God doesn't give us a roadmap of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but what he does give us is direction and purpose.
SPEAKER_00: The straight path that God calls us to walk isn't an easy path, it isn't a pain-free path, and it certainly isn't a path without delays and detours.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, it's quite often the opposite.
SPEAKER_00: It is when we encounter trials and walk through them by clinging to our faith and trusting in God with our whole with all our heart and soul and strength that our faith is refined.
SPEAKER_00: A life that is led by God isn't always easy, but is purposeful because it is aligned with His will, and His will is perfect and pleasing as it is put in Romans twelve, two.
SPEAKER_00: I promise you guys that even in the hard times, there is ultimate satisfaction and peace and knowing that you are walking in the center of God's will.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to always know where God is leading us, nor should we try to assume either.
SPEAKER_00: We just need to take our life day by day, living by faith for the assurance that God always has our best interest in mind and that He is a perfect Heavenly Father.
SPEAKER_00: And so the question is, what are you guys gonna do with this?
SPEAKER_00: Are you going to surrender your lives to the Lord and are you gonna trust the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Or are you gonna continue to live your life in your own strength, striving, um striving in vanity to please God, or just simply doing your own thing?
SPEAKER_00: Um and I would encourage you as you think about that, that you would think about the grand scheme of eternity, and just consider um the fact that the actions that you make now during your time on earth determine your eternity.
SPEAKER_00: And so just just this short little time frame um determines what the rest of your eternity, quite frankly, is going to look like.
SPEAKER_00: Um and so, you know, the Lord sent his son um to die for you, um, and he took your sins and he bore them on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and three days later, after he died, he rose again to defeat sin and death once and for all, um, so that you may put your faith in him and have eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I promise you that the life that the Lord offers us is far better than anything you can come up with.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I pray that y'all would all come to know him.
SPEAKER_00: And so with that being said, let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, uh, we just thank you for this day, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for your great love, Lord, and your grace.
SPEAKER_00: Um, we thank you that we can trust you no matter what, Lord, and that you always have our best interest in mind, Lord, and that you work all things together for good, Lord, and that you use um even the most trying times in our lives to make us more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We love you and we praise you.
SPEAKER_00: In your name I pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.