Where Is Our Trust

 “Trust in Him at all times, O’ People; Pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us” Psalms 62:8

I want to focus on trust, specifically trusting in God. We are commanded to trust in God. Trust is interwoven in the greatest commandment to Matt. 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” In order to love God in such a way, we must trust him, with our heart, with our soul, and with our mind. What do we mean when we say “trust at all times”?

First, what we do not mean is everything in life will work out the way we think it should. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”  (Isaiah 55:8)

Second, it does mean to trust He is working His will out through our lives for our benefit and, that we are being transformed through this process, and finally He will gain ultimate glory.

Review: God has a Plan and it will work out for our benefit and His glory. God’s plan will most likely look different than our vision of what should happen.

So where do we find ourselves, it is easy to look around at all the bad that is around us? And this is true of everyone, everywhere. Disappointment and tragedy are known to all and does not restrict itself to only one group of people. However, for us as believers, we see the promises of God, we hear of His love, of how He hears us and it brings us comfort and joy…until it doesn’t. What do I mean? I mean we hear and see the promises, and we get excited, and then, something bad happens. Our joy is lost. We cry out, “why God, why did this have to happen?”. Our focus turns to the pain, not understanding that the pain and the struggle are happening for reasons we may never know this side of heaven. But what we can be assured of is that God will gain glory.

We see this in one well know story in the old testament. A story about a man who started out in a basket floating down a river to growing up in Pharaoh’s palace, to living as a sheep herder, then to being called by God to lead His people out of bondage in Egypt. We see this in the story of Moses. To begin, God gave Moses three miracles to show to Pharaoh. His staff turning into a snake, causing his hand to become leprous and then clean again, and finally, when Moses took water from the Nile and poured it on the ground it became blood. Now keep in mind in Exodus 4:21 God warns Moses that “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” Remember Moses knows he should not expect things to go easily. Now Moses and Aaron went and gathered all the elders and Exodus 4:30-31 says, “Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.  And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.”

 

I want you to see the full picture here. God has audibly spoken to Moses, telling him what was about to take place. Moses and Aaron have explained to the people of Israel that God has heard them and told them all that He was about to do. Even the miracles are shown to the people as a sign that God was working. The people believe in and worship God.

 

Now Moses goes to Pharaoh in chapter 5:1,2 of Exodus and what happens? Pharaoh says the people have too much time on their hands so he commands more work for them (Ex. 5:5). That now they must gather their own straw to make bricks. You and I looking at this story might want to say “don’t lose hope, God is working out his plan”. God said He would harden Pharaoh’s heart right. Well, yes, but.  How did the people react to the news of more work? Exodus 5:20 “They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” What just happened? Well, the people are highly upset. They want the Lord to look and judge Moses and Aaron. They thought they were getting set free and now they are more concerned with how they look to Pharaoh than trusting in the promises of God! Look at how this disbelief carries itself over to Moses in verse 22 “why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.” The man who spoke with God at a burning bush is now questioning the timing of God. It even sounds as if Moses is ready to give up. “why did you ever send me?”. Remember what God told Moses, that he would do the miracles and Pharaoh would still say no, but Moses has not even performed the first miracle yet. And yet he is already disappointed.

 

What would our response be? “God, I feel let to talk with my neighbor.” So, you go to your neighbor’s house and get yelled at and the door slammed in your face. “Why God? Why did you send me over there? They did not want to listen!” It is easy for us to look at the story of Moses and want to scream out “HANG IN THERE! God is going to do something so big that it will affect your children’s great-grandchildren.” It’s easy to say because we see the story in its entirety. But in our lives, it is easy to be like the nation of Israel, stuck in bondage, only able to see the pain and tragedy around us. Through our fleshly eyes, we see only what is in front of us just like Moses and the nation of Israel.  And what we see and experience makes yesterdays struggles look good. So good that we would rather live in bondage than to push through, trusting God. So how do we push forward? How do we persevere as the New Testament calls us too? How do we change our focus from what is seen to what is unseen?

Exodus 6:1 But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

 

“Now” now what? Now God has the attention of the people. God in His sovereign knowledge knew what needed to be done to get the attention of His people. This begs the question; does He have your attention? God wanted everyone to watch what He was about to do. we see that in Exodus 6:5-7.

“Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

He is God and is worthy of all glory and honor and praise. And He wanted to grab their attention so He would be glorified and worshiped.

 

I want you to be encouraged. That the struggles of life, at least for the believer, they are temporary. He is grabbing us and building us. Though our struggles he is making himself known. He is getting our attention so we do not look at the hardships and disappointments in front of us and give up but put our hope in Him. He was showing the nation of Israel that not even Pharaoh could stand against his will. He was showing the other nations that a people wholly dependent upon the true God were something to be feared. But also, a nation and people dependent and sold out for God was something to be desired. God was glorified and exalted and God’s people benefited. They were freed from slavery and great-grandchildren were brought up in the promised land.

It is easy to look around us and see all the trouble. It is easy to go out into your day, excited for what God is going to do, and at the first sign of trouble become disappointed and look upon yesterday as the better day. But don’t! God has taken his throne and is king over heaven and earth, your troubles are not out of his sight. I want you to look to him, knowing that he is working out his good will, God tells Jeremiah (29:11) “I know the plans I have for you”. He knows you, he sees you, and He is working out his plan in your life for His glory and your benefit. Have faith, trust in Him to work. Trust Him with all of your heart, all your soul and all your mind. Know what He told Moses, That He is God and by His hand, He is working all things for good. Psalms 62:8 “Trust in Him at all times, O’ People; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us”