Confidence Amidst Concern - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, September 15. Everyday worries have the power to distract believers from God and derail our pursuit of holiness. Learn how to stay on track by applying practical steps to maintaining godly confidence amidst concern. The 138th Psalm deals with the things that concern me. He says, I will praise thee with my whole heart. Before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth. For thou has magnified thy word above all thy name. In the day when I cried, thou answerest me and strengthened me with strength in my soul. Now watch that verse. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth.

Yes, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me, thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever, forsake not the worst of thine own hand. Now verse 8, watch this. He says the Lord will perfect.

He will perfect that which concerneth me. Now all of us have concerns in our life. They may be different, but we're all concerned about something. And when you think about the areas of your life that you're concerned about, you know that if concern continues, it can oftentimes develop into something else. Now concern is an interest in a given area of your life, but it's more than that. It is an interest that gains your attention.

And it is the attention that begins to increase and intensifies. And as it does, your concern, that is your emotional reaction to that thing, begins to rise constantly so that what begins as a minor concern in your life can grow into anxiety, discouragement, and finally despair. So that every believer needs to know how to deal with areas of his life or her life that concern them. Because you see, whatever God allows in our life, he always has a purpose behind it. Sometimes the things that concern us, God allows them in order to strengthen us. And sometimes you're not going to cry out to God to do something. And his answer to ours is not the removal of the hindrance, but strength to face it.

And the reason the psalmist can come to this eighth verse and say, the Lord will perfect that which concerneth me, is because by past experience, God has established his confidence in him through personal experience. He had his eyes open. He was reading God into what was happening in his life. Had his ears open. He was hearing God.

I do not believe a parent can teach their child a greater lesson than this. Son, whatever's happening around you, look for the imprint of God. Whatever is going in your ears, listen for the voice of God, because God is constantly relating himself to us all the time. Now you see, when a believer knows how to face difficulty and circumstance with confidence, he's not going to back off. He's not going to run. He's not going to despair. He's not going to be afraid. He's going to face it boldly, because expressing praise builds confidence. Having been established by past experience, he knows that as God brought him through past circumstances, he will bring him through this one.

This eighth verse to me is absolutely a verse that everybody ought to get in their heart and get really way down inside that you can keep bringing it up. Now notice what he says, and this is the promise. The Lord will perfect. He will perfect that which concerneth me. Now what does he mean by that? All right, let's look at it for a moment. When he says the Lord will perfect a thing, the word perfect means he will bring it to completion.

Now watch this. He may not bring it to completion the way I think it ought to be brought, nor will his completion always be synonymous with what I think complete is. But he says the Lord will bring to completion. He will bring to maturity. He will finish what concerns me. Now God is not in the business of starting anything he doesn't complete.

He's not the kind of fellow who starts something and drops it for something better. Now listen, whatever he has begun in your life, friend, there isn't anything better. Now here's what I want you to see. The Lord will complete whatever he has begun in your life. He will perfect or complete that which concerneth me. Now, there are three things that are essential if God is going to complete that in your life, and these are the three things I want you to get down. Whatever concerns you this morning, it may be a concern for someone else, it may be a major concern that directly relates to you, whatever it may be.

It may be something emotional, it may be an attitude, it may be something material. Because you see, when he says the Lord will perfect, what he really means is the Lord will fulfill his plan. Watch that. The Lord will fulfill his plan in that thing that concerns you. Now, in order for him to do that, three things are essential. Number one, first of all, I must submit to his authority. If God is going to complete what concerns me, number one, I must submit to his authority. Now, he says the Lord will perfect. Now, I have perfect confidence in submitting to his authority because we are submitting to the authority of a sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient God.

That means he has all power to complete it, and he has the wisdom to complete it. First of all, I must submit to his authority. Now, listen, if I am not willing to submit to his authority, what I'm saying is, God, you complete this thing while I hold on and try to work it out to suit me. You see, if I submit to his authority, I am willing for him to take that area of my life and to do with it what he chooses to do. Otherwise, how can I ask God to complete and perfect that which concerns me when I insist on having my own way?

You see, that is disobedience, and disobedience is independence in action, and submission and independence are not consistent, nor are they compatible. Number two, first of all, I must submit myself to his authority. Number two, I must surrender my concern to him. Now, what does it mean to surrender your concern to him? That means you must be willing to lay that thing down before him and tell him, Lord, I don't know what to do with it. I am inadequate in dealing with that.

I'm frustrated about it. I don't even know how to respond to this thing that concerns me. I'm laying it down before you. That is, I am willing to submit it to your will for you to complete it as you will.

Now, watch this. The reason number one is submit to his authority is so that I will keep my hands off what I give him. How many times have you said that, Lord?

I can't handle this. I want you to take care of that. Then when you get up off your knees, you just pick it up and walk right off, because you haven't surrendered it to him.

You've talked to him about it, and you've said, I'm just turning my life over to you. Now, watch this. When you surrender a thing to him, that demands something of you that I'm going to share in just a moment. The third thing, now watch this, I must submit to his authority. If I expect him to complete my concern, I must surrender my concern to him. And thirdly, step by step, I must follow his leading. I must submit, surrender, and step by step follow his leading, because you see, when he allows a concern to encompass or engulf us, most of the time, he's not going to jerk you out of it.

But what is he going to do? The Scripture says, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. That is, a man who walks uprightly before God will be guided and governed and guarded by God. So that first of all, whatever this concern is, I'm going to submit to his authority and acknowledge his lordship in my life.

He has the right to do as he pleases. Secondly, I'm going to lay that thing down before him. And thirdly, once I have laid it down, I'm going to say, all right, Lord, I'm reporting for duty. What is the next step I must take in order for you, now watch this, not Lord, you complete my plan. He says, the Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.

He perfects by completing his plan, not my plan. That's why, submit to his authority, surrender that to him. I must let him complete that in his way. All right, Lord, step by step, what shall I do? Now that I've submitted to your authority, laid this before you, what is the next step I take? Now, you know what the next step may be?

Remain silent, do nothing, do not move, don't do anything. And this is where we have our biggest problem. We say, oh, but Lord, I have yielded myself to you, laid this thing down, but you're not going to do anything, God? Okay, we just take it and walk right off because we're afraid that he's not going to do it. Now watch this, we're afraid he's not going to do it like we think he ought to do it.

Now listen, the Lord, sovereign Jehovah God, omnipotent, omniscient, he will bring to completion that thing that concerns me. Now if he's going to do it, do you think he has the power to do it? Yes. You think he has the wisdom to do it? Yes.

Do you think his timing is right? Well, I'm not sure. You see, that's the thing that bothers us. Now, onto that last one, I want you to list about five things. Because if you're going to submit to his authority and surrender that to his keeping, and you're going to step by step follow his guidance, there are several things that are essential.

Number one is trust, you've got to trust him. You're going to look at that thing, you're going to think, now Lord, you're not doing a thing, I've got to take over. Now you see how many times you've said, now Lord, I've prayed and I've asked you to do it, maybe what you want to do, Lord, is you want to use me to do it. You see, we are masterminds at helping God do what we don't know how to do. And the thing that concerns us most, we just think if I don't get my hands in that, it'll never work. What God wants to show us, now watch this, this is very important.

What God really wants to do is to perfect that thing that concerns us in a way, in a way that it will demonstrate the supernatural, intimate, personal power of God, and the opposite of that is human ingenuity, and God isn't interested in human ingenuity. First of all, it takes trust, you've got to trust him. Secondly, it takes patience.

I don't need to explain that, do I? It takes patience to wait upon him. Thirdly, it takes courage. Because, you see, we said step by step, follow his leading. If I'm going to follow him step by step, first of all, I've got to trust him that he's going to carry me the right direction.

Secondly, I've got to be patient that I don't get ahead of his step. Because there's someone that says not only the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, the stops of a good man are ordered by the Lord. You see, sometimes God says take a step, we say, oh, this is the direction, and we just take right off and what we do, we get ahead of God. And what we don't realize is he wants us to take one step forward and we just head out where we think he wants us to go. Now, you parents, how many times have you said, now, son, I want you to go, and he's already out of the door and gone.

Hasn't even gotten instructions. He thinks he knows what you're saying. Now, we fall in the same trap. It takes courage, listen, it takes courage to step by step allow God to complete his purpose in your life and not move out and get your hands in it. Or sometimes where he leads you, you may think, oh, no, anything, God, but that, not that, no, never that. And he reminds you, did you not submit to my authority?

Did you not lay that concern down before me? Now, step by step, you follow my direction. It takes courage, patience, trust, but it takes something more than that. Sometimes it takes pure determination when God says that's it. Now, listen, God is a loving, wonderful God, but sometimes God will say move, move, move.

The one thing you cannot do is quit. And you see, that's why he says a step at a time. God will never rush an immature saint into maturity. And he's not going to allow you to jump over all the little gullies and all the little pitfalls to get where you're going.

Sometimes you're going to have to walk right through them. Now, you see, when a man takes a step at a time, he can be more sure where he's going. And it's very important to God that you learn everything that you're to learn on your way where you're going so when you get there, you'll be ready for what he's got for you. Then the last thing, there are many things, but the last thing I think we need to include here is that you need to learn the art of praying always. Now, how do you pray always? Well, you don't go around just talking to God out loud or even talking to him quietly. By praying always, it means that you are developing an awareness that God is personally involved in everything that concerns you. You see, what you're doing when you're praying is you're getting God in on what concerns you when you're praying about a major concern. So step by step, what are you doing?

Look patiently, trustingly, courageously, with determination. You are moving in the direction of allowing God to perfect, to complete in you the thing that concerns you. Now, God will do that for any one of his children who is willing to meet that first requirement and that is to submit to his authority.

Let me ask you this. As you examine your life this morning, could you honestly say, as best I know, God is in control of my life. If you can say that, my friend, and if you're willing to lay your concern down before him, whatever that is, and you're willing for him to order your steps, you're willing for him to order your steps, whatever is concerning you most this morning, God is going to work out beautifully. Watch this one last thing I want to say to you.

Watch this. He's going to work this thing out beautifully, but I'm going to tell you how he's going to do it. He is going to work it out so that the end result is that you focus your attention upon his supernatural power, not on your human ingenuity. God must be glorified in my concerns, not man, because he manipulated his way out. One of the reasons God will hinder what you're doing, he does not want manipulation.

He wants the mastery of your life. Father, there's not a person here this morning who does not have one or more concerns. Now, I just want to ask you this morning, would you just sink this message into their hearts and give them the wisdom to base their confidence on that promise that you will perfect, bring to completion what concerns them through submission to your authority, surrender of that concern, and to be step-by-step ordered through the control of the Spirit. Now, we want to thank you for what you're going to do in all of our lives as we apply that truth. And Father, I want to ask you this morning for somebody here who's not a Christian.

The major concern of their life ought to be their relationship to you, their present, their future life, their eternal existence. And I pray that you'll speak to that heart and help them to see that you'll change their life. You will dispel darkness and provide light, that something miraculous will happen when we look to you. Then I want to ask you, Father, for all the rest of us here now who have concerns. Give us the wisdom and the courage to make application. And we'll thank you for that in Jesus' name. Thank you for listening to Confidence Amidst Concern. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.