Trusting God

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's devotional, Moments in the Word. But first, here's the message, Trusting God. Verse 25, Therefore I tell you, this is a command.

It's good spiritual counsel, but it's also a biblical command. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. It's not life more than food and the body more than clothing. Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. The heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, being anxious, can add a single hour to the span of his life?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is today alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious.

Three times he says it. Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, do not worry. What shall we eat? What shall we drink?

What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But, and here's a key verse in Scripture, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

What things? All the things we need in life. Whether you're talking about your health, your wealth, your family, your future, your body, your soul. God says trust me in all of this.

Simple words. Trust in God. Jesus looked at his disciples one day and exclaimed, have faith in God. Trust God. Now I need to be clear that when Jesus says take no thought or do not be concerned about your life, he's not suggesting that we not care about life or have concerns about what is important, whether it be our careers or our health. He's not encouraging laziness here or not to care about things that matter, but he is saying in all of these cares and concerns that we have in life, things that are necessary and important in our lives, never worry.

No fear because worry doesn't work. It is unnecessary, it is useless, and it's ungodly. Yes, I say ungodly because Jesus said, oh you of little faith. If you are living in fear, you're not living in faith. Oh you of little faith. The Bible says whatever is not of faith is what?

Sin. So this is not just a little weakness or something chronic or something you're worrying grandmother passed on to you. Worrying, chronic worry and fear and anxiety can consume our lives if we allow it and rob us of our joy and our peace and make us absolutely miserable. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 1 verse 7, God has not given us a spirit of fear. We are not to be controlled by fear because fear will paralyze you and neutralize you. Jesus said, therefore, don't live in fear any day, but every single day live your life trusting in me.

He said, sufficient unto the day is the evil of each day. Now worry is such a waste. It's such a waste of time. It's as though you're in your car putting it in neutral and revving the engine. And you know what happens when you do that, right? You're just wasting fuel and you're stressing the motor and you're going nowhere. That's what worry does. It does nothing.

It wastes energy. It stresses you going nowhere. Physically, psychologically, emotionally, in fact, the word for worry in the Anglo-Saxon, the old English language is wergen, which is a word which means strangulation. Worry, anxiety, is emotional strangulation.

It will paralyze you and keep you from achieving God's best in your life. And yet, fear has so gripped the world. This is a scary world. We have terrorists. People are afraid about the economy.

Sort of hunkering down and waiting for the next recession. There are problems with healthcare in our country, of course politics. Violence is rising, unemployment, increasing crime, diseases.

There's always something, right? It's a scary world. And many of us face personal fears and worries. And some of these, of course, are very irrational.

In fact, most of these are irrational. I read one study which indicated that over 90% of the worries, the things we worry about, either don't ever happen or they're things we can't control. So amazing, how irrational is it for us to worry about things that we either can't control, can't fix, can't change, or the things most of which never even happen. But beyond just the emotional strangulation and the physical problems, and yes, doctors tell us that all kinds of physical ailments are related to stress and worry and anxiety, including heart problems and digestive problems and even arthritis.

And you can just take a list of physical problems and doctors will tell you, physicians will tell you that most of the problems, the physical illnesses they face are at root from worry and anxiety and fear or anger. Toxic emotions that strangle us, that tear us apart. James said, a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways, but not just physically destructive and emotionally damaging, but spiritually destructive. That's why Jesus said don't do it, because it demonstrates that you are not trusting in God. Worry is an insult to God. I define worry as assuming responsibility that God never intended for us to have. When we worry, when we fret, when we are fearful, we're saying something like this, God, I think this could be too big for you.

I need to either handle it myself or at least I can worry about it. Why pray when I can worry? We live with this tension between what is possibilities and realities, what is real and what is possible. Charles Mayo, the great doctor said, founded the Mayo Clinic, he said, you can worry yourself to death, but you can't worry yourself to a longer life. It's exactly what Jesus said.

We just read it. He said, you worry about whether or not God is going to take care of you, if you can pay your bills, if your finances are going to hold out, if your career. He said, God takes care of the birds, and don't you know if God takes care of the birds, he's going to take care of believers?

And then he said, don't worry about what you wear, your clothing, but trust God for your provision. Remember, Jesus was talking to people in that day who were down to the very bottom, the bottom of the economic span of people. He was speaking to Jewish people who were under the tyranny of Rome and the oppression of Rome. They were mistreated and beaten. They didn't have enough food. Many of them, most people, died very young in that era.

And so they were facing death and their children were dying and there were heavy taxes among the Jewish people. And so he's talking to people who had a lot to worry about, who lived in a very scary world. So don't put this off as, well, you know, that was then, this is now. I've got a lot of real things to worry about. Every generation has things to worry about.

And here's the interesting thing. God knows that we're going to be tempted to worry that there will be some scary things that we have to confront in life. And I admit, there are times when I've been afraid and when I have worried about things unnecessarily. But the Psalmist said, when I am afraid, God knew that there would be times we are afraid. But he said, when I am afraid, I will trust in God.

So we don't allow our fears, our anxieties, our worries to become chronic or to control us. And the antidote to anxiety is faith in God. Trust in God.

Don't be a worrier. Be a worshipper. Be a prayer warrior. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, Trusting God.

When you set aside daily time to connect with God, he'll give you the ability to live a godly life and fulfill his plans for you in the coming year. And we'd like to help you walk even more closely with the Lord in the year ahead by sending you Pastor Graham's one hundred and eighty day devotional moments in the word. It's our way to thank you for your gift today to help proclaim the gospel to more people around the world through PowerPoint. So call now to get your copy of moments in the word when you give. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham dot org where you can shop our store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our Web site again is Jack Graham dot org. Now let's get back to today's message. Trust in God. Whatever you're facing, fear, failure, death, career problems, family problems, problem with your children, those things that we tend to worry about. I would never tell you that there won't be problems in life. I would never tell anybody, come to Jesus and all your problems will be done.

It's just not true. In fact, God may choose to send us into storms and we've seen that before or allow tribulations and trials in this world. He said in this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world. Jesus said, don't do it. Trust God. You know some people are so afraid and so neutralized by their fears that they can't even utilize their spiritual gifts in serving God. Jesus told a parable about this. He talked about a master, a wealthy man who was going away to a country and so he brought his servants together and he said, I want you to take care of my property and I'm going to give you an investment to one servant. He gave five talents.

Remember this story? In Matthew chapter 25, five talents and to another servant he gave two talents and to another servant one talent based on their ability, Jesus said. So the master went away and while he was away, the man who had been given five talents invested it, worked hard and he reproduced five more talents. He doubled the investment. Same thing with a man with two talents. He worked hard, he invested it and he gained two more talents. But the man who was given one talent, he buried his talent in the ground, put it in a hole and covered it up. So when the master returned from the long trip and he called his servants together to ask, what did you do with my investment?

Each one reported, the five who now had ten, the two who now had four and the one who had only one. He said to the wise investors, the good investors, well done good and faithful servant. You've been faithful in that which is a little, you're going to be faithful in that which is much.

Investment, the principle of investment. But to the one who had buried his talent, he said, why on earth, what have you done? And he called him a wicked and slothful servant. And he condemned him. He said, why did you do this?

And do you know the answer? He said, I believed you were a hard task master, that you were requiring too much of me, so I buried my talent. I was afraid.

Afraid. Some of you have talents and gifts and abilities and time and energy and resources, but you're burying your talent because you're afraid to step out in faith. How many teams have lost because they play not to lose? How many Christians, how many churches fail because we play not to lose?

No, we play to win. And it takes courage and conviction and knowing that God will provide for all that we need. Philippians 4.19 says, but my God shall supply all of your needs, not your greed, but all of your needs according to his riches and glory in Jesus Christ. So glad it doesn't say out of his riches and glory, it says according to his riches and glory. God gives to us according to his riches and glory. You say, what's the difference? Big difference. If you walked up to me and said, Jack, you know, I've got some hard times, could you help me out a little bit?

Could you help a brother? I say, sure. And I reach into my pocket and I pull out some bills and there's a 20 and there's another 20 and maybe a hundreds in there and then here's some ones and I peel off a one and I give it to you.

I say, God bless you. Well, that would be giving out of my resources, out of what I have. But if I pulled out my wallet and gave you my debit card and gave you the PIN number and said, okay, take it, use it, everything I have is available to you.

That would be giving according to my riches. And that is the way God has given to us and does give to us. He provides abundantly for us to meet all of our needs. And we can trust God because not only do we know that He provides for us abundantly, but because everything that we face in life is filtered through the Father's hands. He cares and cares deeply about what we face and therefore His providence protects us. His love never lets us go.

He never turns loose. Jesus said that we are in the Father's hand, the grip of God, and no one will be able to pluck us from the Father's hand. Maybe you're wondering, am I going to make it? What if I slip and fall? What if I do the wrong thing? Am I going to get to heaven?

What if I don't make it? God says, Philippians 1.6, He who began the good work in you will perfect it, perform it, complete it unto the day of Jesus Christ. What God starts, He finishes.

He is the author and finisher of our salvation. He will never quit on you. You can trust Him.

You can believe Him. And remember this, the word oops is not in God's vocabulary. He never makes a mistake. Again, I'll never tell you you want to have problems, you want to have struggles, you won't face fears. But I will tell you this, that God is faithful through and through. That you can trust God through it all. He will keep you. He will hold you. He will sustain you. He will strengthen you. I've been giving you promise after promise this morning already from God's Word. One of my dad's favorite promises was Isaiah 41, 10. Fear not, for I am with you.

We sang it earlier. Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will hold you with the right hand of my righteousness.

Or try this on. Isaiah 41, 10, 6-3. You will keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, for His soul trusts in you. There is peace. There is provision. There is the promise of God's protection.

So why are we afraid? Do you ever wonder, is God sleeping in my storm? The disciples wondered that. Jesus was asleep below in the boat. And the storm came on the Sea of Galilee and they were fighting for their lives. And they wondered, where is God? Where is Jesus? And they woke Him up. Woke Him up. And said, Lord, do you not care that we're dying here?

That we're going under here? Jesus spoke to the waves and said, peace be still. And then He challenged their faith. He said, could you not believe?

Could you not believe? Do you ever wonder if God is asleep while you're awake? No. The Bible says, He who guards Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers. He's always awake.

So you might as well just go on and go to bed, go to sleep. No use staying up worrying all night because God's got it. You can trust in Him. There was a great Scottish preacher by the name of Alexander McLaren, Bible expositor.

He lived in the 19th century. His favorite verse was Deuteronomy 33, 25. As your days, so will your strength be. As your days, so will your strength be. God gives you strength for every day.

Don't empty your strength today for tomorrow's sorrows. And that was his favorite verse. And relating that, he was reminded of when he was a boy, when he was just 16 and he got his first job. He lived in a small village, six miles from the town where he was about to work and his father sent him off to work.

He would work an entire week and then come back on Saturday, Monday through Saturday. God sent him off to work. And as he was about to go, he realized that there was a ravine. And at night, this particular ravine was very scary. There were robbers and thieves and all kinds of things that went on this valley, this crevice. But to get from his village to get to the town, he had to walk through.

Now daylight was fine. He would just walk right through. But when the father said, now son, on Saturday after your work is done at five, he'll walk on home. The boy realized, young Alex remembered, that he would have to walk through that dark valley by himself. So he, afraid, said, father, no, I'll just wait until Sunday morning and I'll come then. He said, no son, I would have missed you so much. This is your first time away from home.

I want you to come quickly home after work on Saturday. And the boy swallowed, gulped real deeply and said, okay. He worried all week. He tossed and turned in his bed, he related. He just concocted all kinds of fears that what would happen when he walked from the city through that long, deep valley and to his little village and to his father's house. The day came and he was trembling and his lips were quivering and his chin was quivering and he came to that valley and it was getting dark and darker. He was paralyzed with fear. How am I going to get through there?

What's going to happen to me? He begins to make his way through and then sure enough, out of the shadows came a figure approaching him. He was staring down his worst fear. Someone was coming for him. But as he was looking, McLaren said, I realize a familiar gait and step of the foot. And as the figure neared him, he saw his father's face. And his father came to get him and walked him through the valley and home to the other side.

And Alexander McLaren would later relate. He said, ah, with that grand old man walking by my side, soldier to soldier, side by side, I had nothing to fear. We have a Father, Jesus promised, who holds us by the hands and walks us through every deep crevice and dungeon and valley of life. And he will take us to the other side. No matter how scary or frightful or fearsome it may be on the way, he said, I will never leave you or forsake you. Not one time have we walked alone who know and love our Father and are beloved by our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. Trust God.

You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message. Trusting God. Looking ahead to a new year can fill you with expectation, but it can also fill you with desperation. What if things get worse?

What if the world gets crazier? What if you don't have the strength to face what comes your way? It's through spending daily time in God's word that we find the strength, peace and hope we need. And we want to help you do that by sending you Pastor Graham's 180 Day Devotional Moments in the Word.

Moments in the Word is our special thanks for your gift this month. So call to request your copy today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Fear, worry and anxiety are toxic emotions. They are destructive because they paralyze us and keep us from living boldly and freely and happily in the Lord. In fact, the root word for worry comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word, which means strangulation, worry, fear, anxiety.

These are emotional strangulation. I like to define worry as assuming responsibility that God never intended for you to have. Now think about that. Are you taking on responsibilities that God never intended for you to take? Worry is when we try to fix things on our own and when we allow worry and anxiety to consume our hearts and minds, we're actually saying to God, God, I've got to handle this myself.

Maybe you're not big enough to take this on. And that, of course, is crazy and it's unbelief. So how do we overcome the fear that is really epidemic in our culture today that has gripped so many of our hearts, our homes and our world? According to Matthew six thirty three, we're to seek first the kingdom of God. When you put Jesus first in your life, God will take care of his business and you are his business. He will take care of you. In other words, when fear paralyzes you, believe, trust God, seek God's first, because there is no situation, no circumstance, no problem, no perplexity in your life that he will not see you through.

Trust God with everything. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's 180 day devotional moments in the word as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. Join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can help bring about a revival in our nation. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.