Dr. Rick Mandl - January 3, 2021
Can I Trust God?
Sermon Manuscript: In God We Trust- Message 1, Can I Trust God
Message by Dr. Rick Mandl, Eagle Rock Baptist Church, January 2 & 3, 2021
Hey church family . . . Happy New Year! As we come together we’re beginning a New Series for a New Year and I think it’s an appropriate one with which to start the year, because it’s a series about trust... Specifically a series about Trusting God. And for many of us that’s tough to do in difficult times. The question I’m asking you to think about this weekend is . . . Can I Trust God?
Do any of you ever have a hard time trusting God? It’s not that you don’t want to trust Him, it’s more like you find it difficult to actually do. It's easier to say “I trust in God,” than it is to actually trust Him. You might feel like “I love God and I believe in God, but, I still feel so uneasy about the future.” When you look around, there's a lot to feel uneasy about, isn't there? There's tension all over our country. There's the racial and political division. And on top of that there’s the COVID craziness everywhere you turn.
A couple a months ago, when I watched the news, this whole virus thing was just something that was sort of “out there” - - it was more of an idea than a reality - - it was something that was affecting other people, but not me. But now there are people I actually know - - Not people in my home - - but people close to me who are catching this thing - - and that has the effect of moving it from the theoretical to the very, very real. And when there is an enemy out there that you can’t see, it becomes even more important to be able to trust God. And so, what I wanna do today is I wanna show you a story from Luke's gospel, Luke chapter five, and I want to give you two prayers that I believe will help build your trust. I want to give you the context first, and then we'll look at two prayers.
The story behind the story that we’re going to be looking at today is that Jesus was at a lake, it was the Lake of Gennesaret And he was there teaching. He was sharing a Bible study with the people who were listening. Also right nearby were some fishermen, who had been out doing what fisherman normally do - - but they had not had the success they normally have. And so they were ready to call it quits - - To pack up and head home, and try again another day. Our story begins in Luke 5, with verse 1 where we’re told that . . . One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.” Fishermen wash their nets when they’re done fishing, so that the next time they come out to fish, they can start fresh and with clean nets.
So that’s what’s happening here. These fishermen hadn’t caught anything so they were cleaning up their nets and putting away their boats. So, Jesus decided to make use of one of those boats. . . Because the people were crowding around him as he taught He decided to get into one of those boats - - push out a little bit from shore and teach from there . . . “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4
And you’ve got to wonder as Simon hears Jesus suggest this whether perhaps he was thinking . “Lord, you are a really good teacher” “I mean, I just listened to you teach” “And you are a GOOD teacher . . . “A REALLY good teacher” “In fact as rabbis go, there’s no one better.” “But on the flipside, Lord, you need to know I’m a really good fisherman. “My father was a fisherman, and his father before him . . “And the fact is that I’ve been doing this fishing thing, even longer than you’ve been doing your teaching thing. “So how about we make a deal. “How about . . .You don’t tell me how to fish, and I won’t tell you how to teach?”
Well, thankfully, if Simon was thinking that – he didn’t say that What he did say was. . . “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. Two things I don’t want you to miss in his words. . . First. . . . “we’ve worked hard all night. How long? All night long. . . . And then second, don’t miss the results. What were the results? Zilch! Nada! Nothing We worked hard all night and we “haven’t caught anything” And it certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying. And now, Lord, you’re asking us to go right back out where we just came from, And go right back to doing what we just got done doing.
And maybe Simon was thinking that because of that. . . What Jesus was asking him right now didn’t really make sense. But . . . . If you’ve walked with God for any length of time, you know that sometimes God asks you to do things that don’t make sense. Sometimes God asks us to forgive people who you don’t want to forgive And sometimes God asks you to show kindness to people that you don’t want to show kindness to. . . And sometimes God asks you to pray for people that you don’t feel like praying for The truth is you read in scripture, a number of things that at first glance don’t seem to make a lot of sense. Things like. . . "Don't worry about tomorrow "because tomorrow will take care of itself". That’s a really easy verse to quote that to somebody else but sometimes when you read it, you think - - “Don’t worry about tomorrow?” Lord, have you seen what's going on in our country? Somebody's got to worry about tomorrow.###
You read in scripture . . . "Bless those who persecute you" And again, it's a real easy verse to quote to someone else, But when someone quotes it to you, you’re thinking . . . But you don't know the people that I work with. ####
Scripture tells you "Don't lean on your own understanding". Well, fine. But if I don't lean on my own understanding, sometimes my bills aren't gonna get paid. “I mean, what you're asking me to do, sometimes, just feels unreasonable. It feels completely stupid. I wanna trust in you, but I can't see you, I can't always feel you.” And it’s at times like that, that you and I really need A prayer to build our trust
Our first prayer that we need at times like that is a short, but very powerful prayer and it’s simply this . . . It’s . . . "Lord, help me to obey you, even when I don't understand.” "Lord, help me to obey you, even when I don't understand". And this is a prayer that we see lived out in Simon, when by faith, he did what Jesus asked him to do… Look again at our scripture, Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. . . . But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Luke 5:5 Lord, what you’re asking doesn’t make any sense to me, "but because you say so” I’ll do it anyway. The take-away for you and me is at times like that to adopt the attitude of Simon And to pray . . . "Lord, help me to obey you, "even when I don't understand the thing you’re asking me to do." This doesn't make any sense to me, but because you're asking me to do it, and because of who you are, God, I'm choosing to put my trust in you. And this action leads us to the conclusion that you and I need to adopt which is that. . . You don't have to Understand Completely to Obey Immediately. You don't have to know the end of the story, to turn the first page of a story, and be obedient to the one who asked you to do this.
A lot of times, when we think of like trusting God, we tend to think about the big things like will I obey God if He asks me to move to a new city or start a new career. And that may be the case. Sometimes God will do that. But what I've found is that to really grow in our trust and our faith in God, it often starts by trusting him in the smallest of things. And sometimes, the smallest acts of obedience and trust, lead to the biggest results, the biggest blessings, and the biggest miracles. And in a sense, that’s what we see happening here.
When Jesus called Simon to ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch. . . . Simon had a choice to make . . . He could take Jesus at His word. . . He could do what Jesus told Him to do, even though He didn’t UNDERSTAND the logic in what Jesus told Him to do. Or, or he could say, “Lord, I’m sorry but I’m not going to trust you on this one, because now, you’re talking about an area - - FISHING - - where I think I know more than you do. So, “No disrespect intended, but I think I’ll lean on my own understanding when it comes to fishing, and let you teach me about the stuff that you really know about.”
Our memory verse for this week comes from Proverbs 3:5-6. It’s a great verse with a great promise. And if you've been a Christian for a long time and you have a coffee mug with a Bible verse on it, it may well be this one. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him." The word acknowledge comes from a Hebrew word, which means “to know.” "In all your ways know him, "and he shall direct your paths". In all your ways you know him. You know him on the mountain tops, and you know him in the valleys. You know him in the good times, you learn to trust him in the bad times.
How do you know God? How do you know him? How do you know him intimately? You know Him through His Word. By taking Him at His Word. By obeying His Word, even when you don’t necessarily understand completely what it is He’s asking you to do, you do it anyway. And that’s what Simon did in this story . . . Jesus said “Let down your nets” And Simon “Let down his nets.” He had no idea what the outcome would be, and that’s okay because outcomes are God’s responsibility. Obedience is ours. And that’s why we need to pray that prayer. . . “Lord help me to trust you, even when I don't understand.” Pray that prayer and what you’ll sometimes discover is that big miracles, often follow simple acts of obedience. And we see this in our story. Jesus says, "Hey, put down the nets. "Let down the nets for a catch". And Simon says, "We'll trust you".
And scripture tells us that . . . “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink” Luke 5:6-7. "Lord, help me obey you, "even when I don't understand." And that leads to our second prayer we can pray is this, Lord help me surrender what I cannot control. Lord, help me surrender what I cannot control.
Simon obeys and he lets down the nets, and he's surprised, He catches so many fish that the nets can't even contain them. And suddenly he realizes, Oh Jesus is not just a rabbi, he is the holy one. “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners” (Luke 5:8-10a). Peter felt like he wasn’t even worthy to be in Jesus’ presence. And Jesus gives Peter words of reassurance. He tells him, what you’ve done your whole life long, you are going to continue to do, just on a larger scale. Jesus told him . . . “Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ Jesus told him, you’re still going to be a fisherman, You’re still going to use those same skills. But from here on out you’re going after bigger fish. You’re going to be a “fisher of men.”
And don’t miss what happens next. It says that . . . . So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:10b-11). Don’t miss those last words. . . . they left everything and followed him.” What did “everything” include? Everything included everything, including their nets. Their nets - - The very thing that represented provision, and security, and their future. They were willing to surrender to follow Jesus. It would not be easy for a fisherman to lay down his nets and walk away from them. Their nets were what they had trusted in for their livelihood. How could they just leave them and walk away from them? They could only do it because they found something better to trust in.
What are you trusting in right now? What are your basing your hope on? I think all of us, as we move into a new year, are hoping it’s going to be better. But what if it’s not?
What if it’s more of the same? David penned some insightful words in Psalm 20:7. He wrote. . . “Some trust in chariots and some in horses If he was writing those words today, he might say. . . “Some trust in their bank account” “Some trust in their stock portfolio” “Some trust in the economy” “Some trust in their medical report” “Some trust in a new and promising vaccine” “Some trust in whoever holds office and happens to be sitting in the White House in 2021” But David said, as the people of God, where do we put our hope? but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” Psalm 20:7
If you feel like you want to trust in God, but it’s so difficult to trust in a God you can’t see. . . If you feel like you’re almost ready to give up . . . Let me ask you to consider something. Think for a moment, and then answer the question. . . When it came to the miracle we looked at today - - when did this miracle take place? When was it that these disciples get to see this miraculous provision in the form of a miraculous catch? The answer is it was at the end of a very long and frustrating day, or night. They told Jesus. . . “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.” The miracle they experienced happened when they had given up hope. And if you feel like you’ve reached the point where you’re just about ready to give up hope.
Maybe giving up hope on your marriage. You've been fighting for it, but your spouse doesn't even seem to care, and you feel like you can't even hang on for a moment longer. Could be the dream of getting out of debt, Or kicking an addiction. Or the dream of God. Whatever it is, if you find yourself about to give up hope, remember, when did the miracle take place? It happened at the end of a very frustrating day.
If you find yourself in the middle of a frustrating season, let me remind you, it's not over, it's not over.
Our God is still good, Our God is still here. Our God is still in control. If you're not dead, you're not done. God has more for you. God is still with you, He is still faithful and he hears the cries of your heart. Do not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time, you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. Let’s pray together.
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
Scripture References: Luke 5:8-10, Luke 5:1-3, Luke 5:4-5, Proverbs 3:5-6, Luke 5:6-7, Luke 5:10-11
From Series: "In God We Trust"
We all put our faith in something: family, a job, ourselves, or even the church. But quite often we end up disappointed when that something lets us down. The Bible says the only place to put our trust is in God. What if we're not sure that God can be trusted? How do we learn to do that?
