Facing The Future with Confidence - How to Face the Future In Times of Doubt, Part 2

With all that's happening right now in your world and the world, are you prone in private moments to doubt God's love for His plan for you?

I mean, maybe it's about financial security or personal safety or family issues or even that the goals and the dreams that you've had may never happen. Do you ever doubt that God has the power or even the desire to help you in those areas? If so, stay with me. I think we have some things that will really help. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge is an international discipleship ministry helping Christians live like Christians. I'm Dave Gruber, and in this program, Chip wraps up his series called Facing the Future with Confidence. Over the past several days, we've covered a lot of territory, talking about what to do in times of uncertainty and confusion and doubt. Now, if you've missed any of these messages, you can hear them anytime at livingontheedge.org or on the Chip Ingram app. Especially these days, it might be helpful to listen again to let the Word of God settle your soul and help you face the future with confidence.

So let's join Chip now for part two of his message, How to Face the Future in Times of Doubt from Psalm 145. Now, I don't know where you're at in your life, but it was a long journey and one that I'm still on to understand God's goodness. I believe some of us, I had a dad who was an ex-Marine. And I remember the years in the 70s and especially 80s, early 90s, everybody dumped on their parents and any problem we ever had was because of your parents and they should have done this, you should have done that. Well, all those people dumped on their parents now have kids growing up and realize that's not a good way to go. Because what we don't do is talk about all the great things our parents develop in us.

But since no one's parent was Jesus, that means they're fallible people and they didn't do everything right. I mean, a lot of my work ethic and my overachievement and focus on goals and make things happen, man, that's my dad pushing me and having confidence and believing in me. But he wasn't a believer when we grew up and so when I would achieve something, my dad thought I want to bring out the best, you know, that be all you can be.

Long before the Marines were saying that, my dad lived it. And so the bar was here and if you achieved that, then he would raise the bar. Oh, okay. Well, then you achieved that, then he raised the bar. Well, some of you have been around the block long enough that when you bust it, achieve it, bust it, achieve it, bust it, achieve it, and the bar keeps going up, what do you do? You just get discouraged.

He didn't mean to do that at all. And so somehow I transferred that to my relationship with God and I probably lived a good portion of my early Christian life and still struggle with this idea that no matter how hard I try, how long I pray, how much I serve, how generous I am with my money, I always feel like God's arms are kind of crossed and his toe is tapping and saying, well, Chip, that was pretty good, but. And you know what that is? That is very bad theology.

A.W. Tozer, a little book that's transformed my life, The Knowledge of the Holy, writes about God's goodness. Let me define his goodness. The goodness of God is that which disposes him to be kind and cordial, benevolent and full of goodwill toward men. He is tender hearted.

He's quick of sympathy and his unfailing attitude toward all moral beings is open and frank and friendly. And by his nature, he is inclined to bestow blessedness and he takes holy pleasure and the happiness of his people. Is that the God that you serve? Did you realize this morning before you were awakened, you were sleeping in bed and the triune God of heaven could look down on you sleeping and you weren't doing anything. And there's a smile on his face and they're thinking in the triunity of the Godhead, how could we bless him today? How could we bless her today?

How could we bring joy into her life for his life? You see, God is good to you, not because you're good. God is good to you because he's good.

And we don't get that. In fact, Tozer goes on to write, I love this, The whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us. Wouldn't you breathe just a little better if you felt like God is for me, he's not down on me? That when something good happens to you, that it's his holy pleasure, he delights, that when he sees relationships connect, when he sees the smile of your heart with one of your kids, when he sees an answer to prayer, when he blesses you financially, that it's the God of heaven. It's goodness, it's grace, it's love for you. When you begin to praise God that he's like that, you will start to believe that he's like that.

And when you start to believe that he's like that, it will change how you think. And so David praises God for his goodness, and then he shifts not only is God good, but he's sovereign. He goes, all you've created will praise you, oh Lord. Identifies his creatorship. He goes, your saints will extol you. And then next, as we walk through this, watch very, very carefully.

Because an interesting thing happens. David is a king, right? It's a different day, but when the king walks in, what do people do?

They bow down. And a king has a kingdom. What's a kingdom? You're the king. Anything inside your kingdom, you're the boss of, you control.

You have the power and the authority to say, this is how it's going to happen here, under my rule. All a kingdom is, is identifies the rule of that person in power. Now listen carefully to as David now exalts, he's thought through these specific acts of how God has delivered and intervened, and now he's going to praise him, not just for his goodness, but that he's absolutely in control of everything, every situation that comes in his life. As I read, listen for the concept of kingdom or dominion or rule or sovereignty. Verse 11, they will tell of the glory of your kingdom and they will speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your rule or dominion endures through all generations. Do you know what sovereignty means? It means God's in control.

Jotting your notes in the corner, Romans 8, 28, and 29. We quote that at different times, but God is in control. What do we say? And we know that God works all things together for the good. For everybody know, what? To them that love God, who are the called according to his purposes.

Listen very carefully. Nothing that enters your life comes to you unless it is ordained by God or allowed by God. And even the evil and the difficult and the fallen nature of what's happening in the world or your world, God promises because he is bigger and more powerful and sovereign, he will use it for your good.

And your good, however, is not necessarily to be upwardly mobile and be a little happy camper skipping up and down everything going great. See, that's the American gospel. If God's really good, he'll make my life work out my way on my terms to make me happy so I can be fulfilled. That is not biblical Christianity.

Verse 29 is biblical Christianity. He will work all things together for your good who are called according to his purposes in order that he may conform you and conform me to the image of his son. God is about making you like Jesus. He will use your finances. He will use a health problem. He will use a broken relationship. He will use a wayward child. He will use the health situation of one of your parents. He will use a personality defect. He will use a boss that is unreasonable or an employee who is making you crazy. He will use all things together for your good to make you and to make me a daughter or a son that progressively exudes, not because we're trying or faking it, but progressively exudes love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and gentleness and goodness and self-control in the very life of Christ.

And does the world need more of those kind of people populating it? But see, the way God gets us there isn't the way we always sign up for. And what he does is he praises God. What would happen if you actually believe that God's really in control? I'm thinking to myself, Lord, you don't understand. I've got a wife and four kids and I'm the breadwinner and I've got to be back and there's a pastor and I am so important.

You know, there's a coup, but you know, you can suspend the school for a chip, can't you? Forget all these generals and military people. You've got to get me on a plane now because I am so important. I wasn't thinking that way.

And then God brought this passage to my mind. Chip, who's in control of governments? You are. Who cares about your wife and children more than you?

You do. Now, Chip, I can get you on a plane if I want to and I can change the airline schedule and you should pray and ask me that. But I'm sovereignly in control of this country, this world, and the universe and I'll get you home when you need to be home.

What I would like for you to do is trust me and give thanks and cooperate with what I might want to do in you or even through you or in your wife or even through them regardless of your circumstances. Do you get it? Now, in that one, that was wonderful.

We got a last-minute deal and we got on that plane, got out of the country before they shut things down. But that lesson has stayed with me. And so then you begin to praise Him. You're in control. I don't understand it, but thank you that your ultimate purposes will be fulfilled in my heart and in my family and in my job as I align and depend on you.

Do you get it? Do you see how praise is an antidote for doubt? Your view of God as you praise Him for who He really is begins to get accurate and expands. He is good. He's for you. Second, He's in control. Nothing enters your life that He doesn't either allow or ordain.

And third, you can depend on Him. He goes on to say what? He's faithful.

Look at the text. Verse 13, the Lord is faithful to what? Some of His promises? 72% of His promises? The Lord is faithful to all His promises and He's loving toward all He has made.

Quick question. Who made you? Look at what the verse says. He is loving toward all He's made.

What if you praised Him for that? He said, you are so good and you're so in control. You know, in your sovereignty, I'm bulletproof. I need to obey and I need to submit and your sovereignty produces productivity, not passivity. I want to align with your purposes in my life, but you're loving toward all that you've made. And every single promise in this book, I can go to the bank on it. You're faithful.

You'll never let me down. The Lord upholds who? All those who fall down. Who does He lift up? All who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food at proper time. You open your hand and you satisfy the desires of every living thing.

God is faithful. I remember when my kids were younger and I'd hear them talk on the phone and they'd be meeting people. In Santa Cruz, everyone goes out for coffee. I mean, they just go out for coffee.

Or they go out to surf. And so I'd hear one of my kids on the phone, oh man, oh man. I'd say, what happened? He flaked on me.

I said, what's that mean? Well, we were supposed to meet and we were supposed to surf and he didn't show up. Or we were all going to meet for coffee and so and so didn't show up. He flaked on me. Anybody ever flake on you? Any employer ever flake on a promise? Any friend? Any mate? Any one of your kids ever flake on you?

How'd it make you feel? Can I tell you something? God will never flake on you. Any situation you're in, you think, I don't have the resources.

Here's a promise. He just said 100% of the time, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. 100% of the time for every believer.

That's true. You're wondering how you're going to make it with what's happening in the economy. What? My grace is sufficient for you and what do we know? End of Philippians 4. He will provide all your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus. Whatever you need, he'll provide.

You're under pressure in the relationship. His grace is sufficient. His power is perfected, what?

In your weakness. God will never flake. He'll be faithful. He's for you. He's good. And every promise in this book for you as a believer, you can count on it and you can count on the God who will come through and he's in control and he's not doing it to put you through some like marine boot camp.

He's doing it because he loves you and he wants your best and he's for you and he loves you and he wants to reveal his love to you. We were in that hospital and this passage came to my mind and my buddy's laying there and I mean he's in bad shape and it says here that first he's a restorer. He upholds those who fall down.

Then it says he's a provider. They look to him and he provides their food and then it says he satisfies the desire of every living thing. He's a life giver and I remember getting with a group of basketball players and we locked arms around our buddy Glenn before they put him in the back of this pickup truck and we decided to go the short route and I asked God to spare my friend's life and he satisfies the desire of every living thing.

God could be sovereign and take his life and still be a good God. Are you beginning to see how God works? The truth of God's Word in your experience he will bring to your mind so it is the basis of your trust so you can pray it in faith so the Spirit of God makes the written Word alive in your experience and you meet and experience him in the same way Jehoshaphat did. That's how the Christian life works. Change life is God's ultimate goal. The Word of God by the Spirit of God as people live in community taking steps of faith and dependency he wants to show up as supernaturally in your life and meet your need today as he does or has done in every Bible character in Scripture.

And what God's looking for is a regular group of people who would do what in their time of doubt? Praise him. Oh God, I'm going to list what you've done. God I'm going to choose to do it when I don't feel like it. Oh God, you are good even though I don't feel like it and circumstances don't look like it. God you're sovereign even though I don't know how you're going to make the lemonade out of this group of lemons I just got. God you're faithful even though I'm scared to death if you don't come through.

I can't make it. And then finally he's going to say he's righteous. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he's made. The Lord is near to those who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who what?

Fear him. He hears their cry and he saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he'll destroy. It says the Lord is righteous. When you think of righteousness we often think of that as his holiness.

That this is not the word here. It's true God is holy. This word has the idea that he's just or he's fair and he's loving toward all he's made. Have you noticed that's repeated?

We must need to hear that, huh? He's loving toward all he's made. Now notice that he's not fair or loving toward all people at all time. There are three specific conditions about experiencing the justice of God. Condition number one, the Lord is near to those who call upon him. In other words he wants to answer your prayer.

What's the condition? What's it say? To those who call upon him in truth. The moment, the second, the millisecond you get absolutely honest with God and get real and don't try and manipulate him and don't go into denial and don't play religious games, the moment you call to God in absolute honesty and truth, bang, he'll meet you. And when you play games and manipulate and try and cut deals, you know what? Talk all you want in that bedroom.

Talk all you want on that walk. But his ears are closed to those who are not honest and open with him. You know we've gotten this idea that God does not answer all prayers equally. He doesn't. I mean don't look at me like what?

No he doesn't. What's it say? James 5. The effective prayer of a what kind of person? Conscious man.

Second condition is not only honesty but notice humility. He says he fulfills the desires of those who fear him and he hears their cries and saves them. God answers prayer and he fulfills the desires of those who fear him, who understand life's about him, life's about God, who have reverential awe. To fear God means I'm going to do relationships his way. I'm going to be a man or a woman of the book.

I'm going to be a person whose life and priorities revolve around the scripture and prayer and integrity and loving God and loving others. That's what it means to fear God. It means the whole world and the whole Christian community can go that direction but if God says this direction, I'm going this direction. When you walk in the fear of the Lord, he delights to fulfill your desires.

But it does not fill the desires of everyone. God is a God of grace but there are clear conditions to him allowing you and allowing me to experience his grace. Finally we're to love him. The Lord watches over all who love him but the wicked he will destroy. Remember that Revelation passage where people lose their first love where, you know, kind of just going to church or religiosity or going through the motions or God gets like number two or number three or number four on the pecking order?

You know what? He's a jealous God. He doesn't want to be even in your top five. He's number one.

Number one, the only one. He wants to be the center of your heart, your life, your affection, your dreams, your agenda. And that means that daily and weekly we what?

Surrender ourselves before him as a living sacrifice. And that means also that unless you're different than all the rest of us in the room, your heart will gravitate and get sucked in and pulled into multiple things and you'll find yourself daily saying, Lord, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Those aren't the kind of thoughts that honor you. God, I'm sorry. I've gotten connected in this relationship in an unhealthy way. Lord, I'm sorry.

I've gotten stuck on this stuff and I for a while there I thought life was about my car and my money and my retirement and what people thought and impressing others. Oh, God, I'm sorry. And the moment you come like that, what's he do? He just eagerly runs to forgive and to cleanse. When you doubt, and there's certainly good reason to doubt in our day, David says biblical praise is the antidote to doubt. Step number one, choose to do it whether you feel like it or not. Step number two, itemize, if you will, verbalize specific acts of God in your life. Step number three, use those acts to move you from his acts to his ways and then focus on at least these four, his goodness and his sovereignty and his faithfulness and his righteousness and worship and adore him. And then finally, coming together, saying, God, not just as an individual, but as your body, I want to worship you. Look at verse 21. Isn't that what David does? David says, my mouth will speak in praise of the Lord, let – in fact, this is a little soft, it's a command – let every creature praise his holy name forever and ever.

I just have one quick question for you. Would an all-powerful God who takes holy pleasure in making you happy, who's completely sovereign, in control and faithful to you, who's righteous and just and fair and who's all-knowing and who delights over you and you're the object of his affection, do you think he could take that issue and do you think he could handle it this week for you? I think he could. Do you think he could give you the grace to hang on in a relationship? Do you think he could give you the grace to not have your heart beaten so hard or wake up in the middle of the night when you think about how things are going overseas or with your finances? Do you think he could give you the power and the grace to draw near to him and say, you know what, I can't change the biopsy report, I can't make one of my kids turn back to the Lord, I can't get my aging parents to trust Christ before they die, but I can draw near to the one who can and I can entrust those things to you, oh God, because you're good.

No one gets a raw deal. You're sovereign. You're in control and you are faithful to your word and I'm your son, I'm your daughter and no one gets a raw deal with the great God of the universe and so I come to you in truth and I humble myself before you and you satisfy the desires of every living thing who walk in the fear of the Lord and I want to be a worshiper, I just want to be a regular Joe, a regular Mary who gets up every day and I want you to be the object of my affection. I'd like to get to know you deeper and deeper and better and better and as I do, then those problems that seem to overwhelm my life get to be what they are, an issue that God wants to use to change me to make me more like his son and see who he really is. Chip will be right back with his application. Quickly though, the message you just heard is from his series, Facing the Future with Confidence. This three-parter outlines how you can positively face life's most challenging circumstances, even in the midst of overwhelming doubt and despair. Chip discusses the truth that God has a plan just for you to bring good out of evil. He shares how you can have complete trust that God's working out his good plan, even when the odds seem against you and how you can begin enjoying life to the full. The resources for Facing the Future with Confidence are discounted for a limited time, so now's the time to take advantage.

For complete ordering information, go to livingontheedge.org, tap Current Offers on the Chip Ingram app, or give us a call at 888-333-6003. Chip, it's been a while since we took a step back to remind people of a little outline we have that helps describe the focus of the ministry. Would you take just a minute and tell us about that?

Sure, Dave. At Living on the Edge, we do three things for three groups for one purpose. One, we teach God's Word to as many people as possible through radio, TV, small group resources, online tools like our app, and in partnerships internationally all around the world. Second, we train Christians to go deeper with teaching resources and small group studies. And three, we develop tools for leaders, for pastors and business leaders, to help them impact their worlds and beyond.

We do all these things for one purpose, to help Christians live like Christians. Now here's my question, if you were impacted today by the ministry of Living on the Edge, would you be willing to partner with us? We can't do this without the support of partners like you. And as you do, we will change lives, we will spread God's truth around the world, and we will help Christians live like Christians.

Here's my question. Would you join us? Well, if that mission resonates with you, we'd love to have you join us. We're amazed at what the Lord's doing through the ministry of Living on the Edge. He continues to hold the doors open to unprecedented opportunities, both here and around the world. So now would be a great time to become a financial partner. Together we'll have the greatest impact, reaching more people with biblical teaching, helping Christians live like Christians.

Now to send a gift or to set up a recurring donation, just call us at 888-333-6003, tap the donate button on the app, or go online to livingontheedge.org. And let me thank you in advance for doing whatever God leads you to do. Well now, here's Chip. As we close today's program and actually wrap up this entire series, I just want you to know that I think God really understands when we doubt. I want to just speak specifically to those of you that maybe have a little bit of that Chip Ingram disease where you struggle with feeling like God's down on you, you don't measure up no matter how much you do. And I would remind you that God is good, and that means that you live under a friendly sky and that God, who although exalted in majesty and glory, is eager to be friends with us.

That's a little quote out of A.W. Tozer's book, The Knowledge of the Holy on the Goodness of God. And I just cannot tell you the value in my own personal life of focusing on the attributes of God and praising Him for His faithfulness and getting to where you know what that means. It means He's going to come through. Or His wisdom. I mean, really getting to the point where, you know, you say, you know, God is going to bring about the best possible ends by the best possible means for the most possible people for the longest possible time. That's the classic definition of the wisdom of God. You are loved and you're the object of the affection of a holy, loving, faithful, good, just and fair God. And when you get glimpses of that and you begin to praise Him for who He is, I will tell you more than any activity you'll ever do, it'll transform your life. Because it's seeing God, it's getting to know Him.

That's what changes us. The writer of 1 John would tell us that we don't know what we will be like, but we know this, that when we see Him, we'll be like Him. And so as we close, I would just say get an accurate picture of God, because what I know is He really loves you and He's really for you. And a lot of you are really struggling because you want to believe that, but you don't. And you don't believe something by trying hard to believe it. You believe it by renewing your mind and by digging into the truth. God bless you. It's been a joy to be on this journey with you, facing the future with confidence. You know, a great way to soak in the truth, like Chip was just saying, is with the Chip Ingram app. You'll find a bunch of series there, all free. Scroll through, find something that meets a need or a struggle, and let God's Word pour into you in such a way that you get perspective and the freedom the Lord longs for you to enjoy in Him. For all of us here, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.