Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3. I have
said this many, many times, and I will say it
many more times. If you've not read the Proverbs,
you need to read the book of Proverbs. There's
31 of them, so you can start the first day of
the month and you can finish it up in about a
month. And there's a lot of good wisdom there.
And for me at least, and maybe for you too in
your experience, when I read through the book
of Proverbs, it's kind of like a test for me
in some way because it'll tell me about all the
stuff the wise person does and should do. But
it'll also tell you all the stuff that the fool
does and should not do. And I wish that more
times than not I could put a check mark in the
wise column. But too many times I end up saying,
golly, I'm the fool. You know, we don't like
to think of ourselves as fools. But God's word
is true and it's good. And if we read through
scriptures and it says one thing, and that's
what our life lines up with, then that's the
truth. And so Proverbs is a good test for us.
It's a good gauge for us as to where we rise
on the wisdom meter. Are we close to the top
or are we closer into that foolish zone? Now
you've probably, if you've read Scripture much
or heard Scripture much, it's a good chance that
you've heard Proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and
6 quoted at some point. Maybe you have not ever
heard it in your life. Today may be the first
time you ever hear Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5
and 6. Praise the Lord. It is such a good verse.
And there are some scriptures that really don't
need a whole lot of explanation. And some of
you are saying, well good, you won't talk very
long today. You can preach and get on out of
here. And it really doesn't need a whole lot
of explanation. But it is a good scripture for
us to consider and think about. And it's a good
reminder. I think it's important for us to continually
read the Word of God. Now, maybe you've read
the Word of God. Maybe you sat down one season
in your life and you started in Genesis and you
read through Revelation and you said, well, I've
read that book. I know what it says, but... The
word of God is so good that we need to continually
read it. We're always learning something. God
can always speak to us through his word. And
quite frankly, there's a lot in there. And sometimes
we forget it. Sometimes we just need to be reminded
of even verses that perhaps we've heard many
times. Sometimes in our life, we just need that
fresh reminder, that word of encouragement or
that word of instruction or that word. of correction,
whatever it may be. And maybe this is a verse
that you've heard before, or maybe not, but maybe
today we can find some strength in what this
scripture says. So we're going to read these
couple of verses, then we'll pray, and then we'll
talk for just a moment. Proverbs chapter 3, verses
5 and 6. Proverbs chapter 3, that's in the Old
Testament, right after the book of Psalms, kind
of in the middle of your Bible. Proverbs chapter
3, verses 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all
your heart and do not rely on your own understanding.
Think about him in all your ways. He will guide
you on the right paths. Let's pray. God, we thank
you for this word. We thank you for the truth
of this word. And I pray, dear Lord, that you
would help us to follow its instruction. God,
I pray that you would help us to be a people
today who would trust you. Maybe there are some
in here and they've never trusted you in their
life. Maybe they're going through this world
and they're struggling and they're seeking something
and they don't know what it is, but God, I pray
today that they would know that it's you that
they need. Maybe there are some that are yours
today and they, Just need to be reminded of this
truth, dear Lord, because life is so hard and
it is full of difficulties and struggles and
pains and hardships and tough decisions and bad
days at work and a lot of stuff, dear Lord, that
it's just hard to make it through or understand
what's going on. But I pray, dear Lord, that
this verse would be a call to us today to remind
us to trust in you. God, I pray that you'd take
away any fear or pride that's within me. I pray
that you would hide me behind the cross, that
I would preach and teach in a way that brings
glory and honor to you. Let your Holy Spirit
be among us today, free us of worries and distractions.
In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen. When I was a
young kid, I don't even know how old I was. I'm
going to guess about four or five years old.
We had a pastor of this church at the time. His
name was Brother Frank Traylor. Some of you remember
him. Some of you were here at that point in time.
And he was the first pastor I ever remember in
my life. But one Sunday morning, he had this
big thing that he wanted to do. Now, he usually
didn't do anything that I remembered as a kid,
too out of the ordinary. But I was young, so
I don't know. But one Sunday morning, he asked
for my assistance. And we came to church that
Sunday morning, and right here in this spot,
set a table about this big. It was about this
high. And he wanted me to come up and stand on
that table, which I did. I was excited to get
to come up front and center. And I came, and
I stood on this table, and he talked about, I
don't remember what the scripture was. It may
have been this scripture. I don't know. And he
talked about trust, that we need to. have trust
in our life, that we need to trust the Lord.
And he said, I want you to stand on the table
and I want you to fall backwards and trust that
I'm going to catch you. And I did just that.
I stood on the table and fell and he caught me.
And a simple illustration that was, but it was
effective because I remember it 38 years later,
what it means to trust. What it means to trust
is that is that you have to have faith in something
that you don't see. That's what faith is. Faith
is trusting in something that you do not see.
Now, we come here every Sunday to praise the
Lord. Now, we don't see the Lord sitting in a
chair. We don't shake his hand, but we know that
God is real, or we believe that God is real,
or we trust that God is real. Or maybe you're
not even sure if God is real today. Maybe that's
why you come every Sunday. Maybe you're still
trying to figure out, like, is God really there?
Does he really exist? Is all this stuff really
true? Well, keep seeking. If that's you today,
then you need to keep seeking the word of God.
And that's what God calls us to. Now, we have
all the proof that we're ever going to have in
the word of God. We have all the proof that we're
ever going to have. in the life and the crucifixion
and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's
the proof that God has given us. And we're called
to trust that, to have faith in that, even though
we don't see it. And that simple illustration
that Brother Frank did all those years ago was
something that stuck with me. He said he was
going to catch me, but was he really going to
catch me? I had to. Trust him. We trust people
all the time. You trust people when you go out
to eat. You trust that they're going to cook
your food properly, that you're not going to
get food poisoning. In just a little while, you're
going to leave these doors. You're going to go
get into your car, and you're going to trust
that all the cars you're going to pass from here
until you get to your next destination are going
to stay in their lane. You're going to trust
that everybody's going to do what they're supposed
to do, that they're not going to run the red
light. Some of you have been to a doctor or will
be going to a doctor at some point. And they're
going to do some surgery on you. And they're
going to say, here's what I'm going to do. I'm
going to put you to sleep. And then I'm going
to get all kind of crazy snips and pliers and
knives and saws. And I'm going to cut you open.
And I'm going to cut this. And I'm going to do
that. And I'm going to set your heart out. And
I'm going to fix this. And I'm going to patch
this up. Or I'm going to put a new one in. Or
whatever it is. It's amazing what technology
can do in the medical field. And many of you
have experienced that. They say, I'm going to
put you to sleep. sleeping. I'm going to do this.
And you have to trust that they're going to do
what they say. You're going to have to trust
that that doctor knows what he's doing. You're
going to have to trust that you're going to wake
up. And so there's many ways in our life that
we have trusted this week, probably more than
you can think of. There's a lot of people that
you have trusted this week. And if we trust all
these people around us, if we trust our children
and our spouses, if we trust those who we look
up to, if we trust our doctors, then how much
more so should we trust the Lord? And sometimes
it's hard because life is hard. Now, if life
was good, and we always had an abundance of money
in our bank account, and our health was good,
and we never had any issues, our family life
was good, if all of these things were always
good, then we wouldn't ever even have to preach
from this verse because we would just trust God
and would never think twice about anything. But
that's not how life is. We have to trust God
because... You don't know if you're going to
have your job next week. You don't know if you're
going to get a paycheck next week. You don't
know if your car is going to be running next
week. You don't know about that struggle you're
having with family. You don't know about that
diagnosis you got at the doctor. You don't know
about your loved one who's struggling and who's
suffering, who's in pain. You don't know what
the future holds. And so it's hard because we
say, okay, God. What are you doing, God? Why
do you allow this to take place? Why are you
allowing this to occur? And that's when it's
hard to trust God. And that's our life. You may
have a good season. You may have a bad season.
You may be in a great spot right now. You may
really be struggling with something right now.
And if you're not struggling, then praise the
Lord. Just put you a check mark by this verse
and just tuck it away and hold on to it. Because
one day you're going to need it. But maybe today
you do come in here today and you're struggling
in one of those ways that I've said are one of
the many ways that we hadn't even scratched the
surface of all the ways in which we may suffer,
in which we may be struggling in our life. And
maybe this verse is what God wants us to hear
today. A call to trust Him. That God cares about
us today. That He is not, forgotten you today.
Sometimes it feels as though God has forgotten
us today or that God does not have our best interest
in mind, but I want to tell you that that is
a lie from the devil. That God does love you,
that God has not forgotten about you, that God
does have your best interest in mind, but there's
also another truth I want to tell you and that
is life is hard. And God could spare us from
everything And sometimes he does spare us. Sometimes
he does deliver us. And sometimes he allows us
to walk through the fire. Like Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. Boy, that's a good story if you
never heard it. They're living for the Lord.
They're standing up for the Lord. And they get
tossed into the fire. And who is in the middle
of the fire with them? The Lord. There's three
people that get tossed into the fire. The people
looking on say, wait a minute, I thought we threw
three people in there. Why is it that we see
four people in the fire? It's because the Lord
was with them. That was the closest they had
ever been to the Lord was in the middle of the
fire. And some of you can testify to that today.
That maybe the closest you've ever drawn to the
Lord, the most you've ever trusted in the Lord
was a result of the fire that you went through.
That hardship and that struggle. that pain that
you've gone through physically or just with life
and it's been a fire and you've just wanted to
give up and throw your hands up and some of you
are there today maybe. You're in the middle of
that fire and you feel like, man, I'm fixing
to get burned up. But I want to let you know
that the Lord is with you today in the middle
of the fire. Boy, if you would just trust him,
if you would just seek him, I'm not telling you
that he's going to... keep you from going into
the fire. But I'm going to tell you that if you're
in the fire, he's going to be in there with you.
And you might discover that your faith grows
more in the Lord in the midst of the fires than
in the good seasons of life. And maybe that's
why God allows us to go through the fires. He
wants to make us and mold us and strengthen us
and harden us and use that fire to get the impurities,
just boil them right out of there. Because, man,
we come through those things sometimes so much
stronger than we were going in if we would just
trust in the Lord. And so it's hard to trust
in the Lord, but who else are we going to trust
in? If you're not trusting in God today, who
or what are you trusting in? And we can make
a long list of things that we trust in. But I
want to ask you this, is it helping you? What
are you trusting in? Is it helping you? Yeah,
maybe it's giving you some momentary relief,
some momentary comfort. It's getting your mind
off of your struggle for a moment. But is it
really helping you? It's not. You know it's not.
I know it's not. We all have those things. So
many times we trust in the wrong thing. And we
wonder why we can't find any comfort and peace
and help and guidance. It's because we're trusting
in the wrong thing. But the scripture says, trust
in the Lord with all your heart. So some of you
may say today, okay, I trust in the Lord. I believe
that God exists. I believe that God is good.
Life is still hard. I trust in the Lord. But
do you trust in the Lord with all your heart?
Maybe you do. But then again, maybe you don't.
Maybe you trust in the Lord with some of your
heart. Well, God, I trust you, and I know you're
pretty good, and I know I'm praying to ask you
to do this thing, but, God, you're not really
doing it as quick as I want or in the way that
I want, so I'm going to also help you out a little
bit, God. I'm going to keep praying to you that
you'd do this, but just in case you can't do
it, I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to start
making arrangements to get it done my way too,
just in case. Now, we would never say those words
to God, but we do those actions to God. We'll
pray and we'll seek God. But then we really don't
trust in the Lord with all of our heart because
there's still a part of our heart that's trusting
in our own abilities or trusting in somebody
else or trusting in something else. What does
the proverb say? Trust in the Lord with all your
heart. And here's the key to the call here. And
do not rely on your own understanding. Now this
is where it's tough for us as human beings. It's
to not rely on our own understanding. Because
we have been born and we have been raised and
we have been taught. What you see, you can believe
what you see. What do you see? That's what you
go by. What you see, what's before you. And sometimes
the things we see before us don't make any sense
to us. And since they don't make any sense to
us, we just begin to assume or we begin to question
whether or not God knows what he's doing. Well,
God, I want to trust you, but God, none of this
makes sense. God, I see what your word says.
I hear what the preacher says. I see what other
brothers and sisters in Christ say about you,
God. But I know what you say and I know what's
going on. And what my eyes see do not line up
with what your word says, God. And we have to
be careful that we don't fall into that trap.
Because the scripture calls us to trust in the
Lord with all of our heart and do not lean on
our own understanding. When I think about God,
I think about the big picture. I've used this
illustration. I've wore it out. That's the problem
when you have a preacher that's preached at a
place for 11 years. You've heard all of his good
illustrations. So I'll say it again because you've
heard it already. But I think about the plan
of God. is a puzzle. Now, when you get a puzzle,
you get a box, and on the front of that box,
you see the picture of what the puzzle's going
to be. Now, you open the box up, you pour out
a thousand pieces onto your table, but you've
got some guidance. All the pieces individually
don't look like a whole lot. But over time, you
can kind of study those pieces and you see the
final picture. You see the finished product.
You know what you're working toward. And even
if it's kind of frustrated, you keep on working
on the puzzle and twisting those pieces because
you know that they have to fit because you can
see what the finished product is supposed to
be. But our life is kind of like having a bunch
of puzzle pieces without seeing the big picture.
Now God, he sees the big picture. God knows exactly
why everything that's occurred in this world
has occurred the way it has. He knows exactly
why he allows this bad thing to happen or this
good thing to happen or this person to get the
promotion or this person to get fired or this
person to be healthy or this person to be sick,
this person to live long and this person's life
to be cut short. God sees the big picture of
why he allows every one of these things to occur
in some way. So God knows what he's doing. Every
piece in your life, as hard as it may be, the
good pieces and the bad pieces, to us, we don't
see how those pieces go together, but God knows
exactly how to put the puzzle together. But for
you and I today, we sit on this pew and we're
looking at this piece and this looks bad and
there's no way that this piece This is ugly and
dirty and bad and painful. There is no possible
way that this peace could do anything good or
make anything beautiful. And we come to that
conclusion based on our own understanding. But
here's what God says in the scripture. My ways
are higher than your ways. My thoughts are higher
than your thoughts. Our minds are not capable
of understanding why God does what he does. We
just can't do it. We can ask God why and maybe
he will tell you, probably not. He doesn't tell
us why he does the things that he does. There's
things that some of you are probably going through
today and you want to know why. You don't understand.
And I wish I could tell you the answer that you
want to hear. But I can only tell you what the
scripture says. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart and do not rely on your own understanding.
It's hard sometimes because life is tough and
you don't know why that God has allowed it. But
I want to tell you today that God is good. He
is good. And it may be hard to hear that in the
middle of our struggles and our pain and our
suffering, but I want to tell you today that
God is good. And sometimes we need to be reminded
of that truth. We need to hear it even when we
don't feel like hearing it, that God does care
for you. So trust in the Lord with all of your
heart. Do not rely on your own understanding.
Think about Him. In all your ways. Boy, that's
a good call for us today. To think about God
in all of our ways. Do we do that? Maybe we do.
Maybe every decision we make, we think about
God. God, how is this going to glorify you? God,
what do you desire me to do in this situation?
God, how do you want me to act? How do you want
me to respond? How do you want me to live? God,
I want to think about you in every decision I
make in work, in church, in my family. God, I
think about you in every purchase I make, in
everything I do, God. I think about you in all
of my ways because, God, I want to serve you
and glorify you. And maybe you wake up every
morning and you do that and you do it throughout
the day. But then again, maybe you don't. Maybe
you think about God in some of your ways. Maybe
you think about him in some of your ways. But
maybe you think about yourself some too. You
think about what you want. What you desire. How
you're going to handle the situation. How you're
going to respond to that person who does you
wrong. What you're going to tell them next time
you see them. You think about how you're going
to be rich and famous. You think about how you're
going to make money and how you're going to use
it on yourself. And you think about you a lot.
Maybe. Maybe you don't. I don't know. Maybe we
don't think about the Lord's ways hardly any.
Maybe we just think about our ways and we do
things our ways until, oh, guess what? Our ways
don't work out too good. You know who we call
when that happens? The Lord. Duh. Maybe if we'd
have just called on Him first, we would have
saved ourselves a lot of trouble. But some of
these lessons we learn the hard way. All of us
probably will attest to that. Boy, we should
have done what was right to start with. Think
about Him in all of your ways and He will guide
you. Own the right paths. So what happens when
we're the fool? We start thinking about ourselves
and all of our ways. And we go down some bad
paths. We make some bad decisions. We do some
bad things. We say some bad things. We act in
some bad ways when we live according to our will
and our desires. And some of you today are walking
down that path, and boy, you are down a bad path,
and you just, it keeps going from bad to worse.
One bad decision after another bad decision.
Man, we get in a bad shape. And it's because
we're not trusting in the Lord with all of our
heart. We're trusting in ourselves. We're seeking
ourselves. We're doing what we desire instead
of seeking what God desires. And that gets us
down a bad place. And sometimes we say, God,
I want to be in a better place. God, I don't
want to be where I'm at in life. I want things
to change. I want my life to be better. God,
I need to know what to do. I need to know where
to go. I need to know what choice to make in
this decision that's before me. How do we know
the answer to those questions? Where do we have
that guidance from? It comes when we trust the
Lord with all of our heart. When we think about
him in all of our ways, he will guide you on
the right paths. Some of you today may be saying,
okay, I'm ready to get on the right path. I'm
ready to get on the right path. Easy enough.
Think about the Lord in all your ways. Trust
Him with all of your heart. And He will guide
you on the right path today. There's only two
paths that we can choose and travel down. There's
the right path. There's the narrow way. There
is Jesus Christ. There is the word of God. There
is the truth of God. There are the commands of
God. And that's one way to say, okay, God, this
is the path. I see that Jesus Christ is the path.
I see that there is no forgiveness of sins. I
see that there is no eternal life apart from
Jesus Christ. I see that there is no peace, that
there is no joy, that there is no comfort apart
from Jesus Christ. God, that is the path I want
to take. That's one path. That's a path you can
take today. Some of you may be on that path.
Sometimes we stray a little bit from the path.
Sometimes we need passages like this to yank
us back, to get us back on the path, going in
the right direction. Maybe there are some of
you today that's traveling another path, that's
traveled a path of sin and rejection of God and
disobedience to God's Word. And that path leads
to destruction. Some of you have experienced
that. You may be experiencing it today. There's
some of you who have been down that path, but
you got back on the right path. And praise the
Lord, here's the good news for you today. Is
that through Jesus Christ, you can get on the
right path at any moment. That you don't have
to keep going down the wrong path. That you don't
have to keep living for yourself. That you don't
have to keep living for the ways of the world.
But that God calls you today to trust Him. That
God says this world is going to let you down.
This world will never give you the peace and
the comfort and the strength that you so desperately
need. This world will never give that to you.
But God says, I know you can't see everything
I'm doing. I know you don't understand everything
that I'm doing. But would you just trust me?
Would you just trust me? I'm standing here with
open arms. And I want to tell you that I'm going
to catch you. I want to tell you that I'm here
for you. No matter what things look like, I just
want to tell you that I've sent Jesus Christ
to bring this message of good hope. To take care
of everything that needs to be taken care of
for you. So that your sins could be forgiven.
And I'm standing here. And I'm calling out to
you today. And you see my words. And you've seen
my son. And I know that your life is tough. But
I want to tell you that I love you. And I'm here
for you. If you would just fall into my arms
today. If you would just trust me. That's God's
call to us today is to trust him. Have you trusted
in God today? If not, you need to respond to
his call. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we come to you.
We thank you for these good words. God, maybe
there are some in here and they have never trusted
in you. Maybe they know about some of your scripture
and they know about Jesus. But maybe they've
been living their life their way for a long time,
and man, it's got them down a path that's just
rough, dear Lord. And everybody in here knows
that path, God, every single one of us. We know
that path. We've traveled that path. And there's
some that's gotten off of it, dear Lord. There's
some that have trusted you and trusted in Jesus
Christ. But God, maybe there's some today that
have never, trusted you maybe today god they
are in the middle of the struggle and the pain
and the heartache and the hardships of life i
pray dear lord that they would hear you calling
that they would fall into your loving arms today
that they would fall into your arms of grace
and love and mercy and gentleness They would
know that there is forgiveness of their sins
if they would only ask that through Jesus Christ's
death and resurrection that they can be forgiven
today. God, maybe there are some here today and
they're just kind of wrestling with you, dear
Lord. They don't understand what you're doing.
They want to follow you, but there's a part of
them, dear Lord, that they're still doubt. God,
I pray. That you would be with that person today
if there's one here in that situation, dear Lord.
That they wouldn't give up on you, God, but they
would continue to seek you. Continue to dig through
your word. God, maybe there are some here today
and they're yours. They've trusted you. Maybe
they've been on the right path, but maybe they've
started to wander in one way or another. Maybe
there are some here today, God, and they trust
you. They know that. Your God, they know that
Jesus Christ has come for them, but God, maybe
there's that one area in life that they're really
struggling to trust you, to give it over to you,
dear Lord. Maybe there's some worry or some fear
or some doubt or uncertainty, God. I pray that
wherever they are, that whatever struggle they
have in life, that they would trust you today,
God. That they would stop trying to understand
something that's beyond our comprehension. But
just trust to know that what you're doing and
what you have done and will do in their life,
God, is according to your will. That you have
not forgotten about them. That you have not abandoned
them today. But just let them trust you. God,
as we have this song of invitation, if there's
somebody in here that... wants to trust you today,
I pray, God, that they would come forward as
we sing. Maybe there are some that just want
to pray where they are. God, I pray that if there
are any souls that do not know Jesus Christ,
that they would trust Him today and that they
would come forward as we sing and make that commitment
to Jesus that they are making today public so
that we can rejoice with them. And I ask these
things in Jesus' name. Amen.