Trust in God - Proverbs 3:5-6

Has anyone ever asked you, “Do you trust?”  Fathers, sometimes we don’t trust our children.  Dads sometimes don’t trust mums and vice versa.

Is trust important in life?  Why do we need to be trust? Why should we be trusted?  Have you thought about trusting in God?  When the Bible tells you to trust in God, what does it mean to you?

I’ll give you an example, this man was so fearful to fly high and on his 23^rd birthday, his father said, “Do you trust me?” He answered, “Yes”.  The father being a skydive trainer said, “I will fly with you and we will sky dive together.  If you do this one time you will never fear again the sky and you will see the beauty of above and how down here looks from the sky”.

The boy prayed to God for help the night before.  In the morning, they took the plane.  The son told the father, “I trust in you, you are the only one who can save and secure me”.  The father said, “I am an expert”.  After jumping, the parachute didn’t work.  The boy was screaming and then he said, “Jesus”, and then the parachute worked.  The father said, “You should never trust in man but only trust in God”.

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”.

Trust God with all your heart, not just part of our heart and we should also submit to him.  What kills the world today is that we don’t trust in God 100%.  We only trust in God when we fail, that’s when we think of God.  Many people’s trust in God is very limited.  People can walk through the tunnel in the mountain that human beings have made without doubt but when we walk through Jesus, we don’t see the beauty of walking through Him.

To start our journey with Jesus, we sometimes don’t think it is good enough and we quit.  I have been going to the gym for 20 years and look at me, I am fat with no muscles while others do it only for 3 months and you see a change.  Because you see me going on Monday and then I eat heaps and don’t go back for 2 weeks.  I want to gain something and get in shape but I lack discipline.  To trust in God requires a type of discipline.  You should be committed. You need to understand if you don’t do it now, tomorrow you will see.

I saw a lady at the gym that was so large she couldn’t even walk on the treadmill she was struggling but now she is very slim and fit and I look so weak and fat compared to her.  By putting discipline and determination, she has changed her life.  We need to be disciplined with God, push yourself to ger up early and exercise and after a few months, it will be a part of your life.  When you don’t go, you will feel something is wrong in  you.

Instead of disciplining ourselves, we ask God for help.  We don’t need the help of God or others to stop stealing when I already know stealing is wrong.  It is up to me to decide.  People think it is better to sin than go back to God and ask for help.  People prefer to go to a counsellor for help and they trust in them more than God forgetting that a counsellor has their own problems.

I was once told to see a counsellor.  He was telling me about Lebon coming back from Africa.  I said to him, “You are the counsellor true but do you have problems?” and he started to tell me his problems.  He gave me a CD because he said that it was his solution to his problems.  I asked “Why can’t you pray to God?”  He said, “For counselling we believe we need relaxation”.  Relaxation doesn’t exist in this world.  Relax in God yes but if you try to relax using music or listening to birds, the relaxation won’t last.

In case of a problem, I go to my friends who are lawyers or doctors and trust in their promises more than God’s promises.  When you are searching for a job and your friend says, come, you will put all your trust in them.  God, who is a jealous God, will look down on you and ask, “Where is My glory in all of this, do you trust me or not”.  You may end up finding a wrong job.

Sometimes we lose trust in God because we feel like we are far from Him.  Although God was far from Job, Job never left God far from him and every time said, “I trust in God”.  No matter what you face, keep trusting in God. By doing so, you will become a winner.

One thing that makes us to not trust in God, is worry.  Worry is the enemy number one.  Although the Bible says more than 365 times do not worry, but we keep worrying.  “I don’t have money, what can I do, I should go and find it”.  No matter how much money you have, you will continue to look for money.  Bill gates still looks for money.

Bill gates earns $20K per second.  One day he saw a $100 bank note on the street and he stopped the car to pick it up.  By stopping the car, he spent 2 minutes.  He earns $20K per second.  Why not leave the bank note for a poor person.  Every person is after money.  If you could trust God as you trust money and if you could love God as you love money, how good you would be with God.

You protect your money in your bank account and check their accounts, “When did I spend this money?”  Sometimes people can call the bank, “Explain, $1 is missing from my account”.  The bank must find out. 

Last year, a sports group took double the money from me that they should and I keep asking for a refund.  If someone said to me, “Collect money from my house on 22 February 2022 next year”, I won’t forget but if it’s a prayer meeting, I will forget.  When we cancel a meeting, we feel happy.  We are happy when we don’t go close to God. 

We often don’t worry about yesterday.  Worry will never change the future.  When I was baptised and I accepted Jesus in my life, I said, “I trust in You and I give everything to You so I can get eternal life”.  That is the number priority of my life, to enter the Kingdom of God.  We all want to go to heaven.  That is priority number one.  We don’t worry about going to heaven but we worry about things that are not important, e.g. what will I wear, what will people say.

Birds don’t’ worry about where to buy food.  Flowers don’t worry about how they will look attractive.  We often worry about the useless things.  God looks at us and asks us, do you trust in me? I have a friend in Australia who has been working hard there for 15 years.  Then suddenly he was able to buy a house and he was so proud of the house he bought and he put it on Facebook, how he came to Australia as a refugee and has a house without mortgage.  Many congratulated him. 

One month later a fire came from the bush.  He couldn’t fight against the fire.  He broke in tears.  He took photos and videos of the fire.  His wife said, “Do you trust in God?”  He said, “Stop that, we have lost everything”.  “Yes, but do you trust in God?  Better to be alive and let everything get burnt.  God provides and will give something to us tomorrow”.  The husband wasn’t happy.

The fire fighters came and told them to leave.  When he came back everything was melted and burnt to ashes.  He said, “What is the purpose for me to live better to die”.  How many people because of lack of trust in God can easily finish their lives for material things.  After death you will be judged.  You will go to hell for love of things?

The wife rang me, “Talk to him, he wants to commit suicide”.  He said, “This is unfair”.  God is not fair.  I answered, “Yes, God is not fair but now you have to trust in Him and don’t take your life but trust in God”.  He replied, “How to trust in God when He didn’t protect my house, where will I go with my family?”

When we are in trouble, where do we go?  Count what God has done for you in your life, look back.  If a danger is coming, tell danger before you, God did something greater.  Trust in God and you will do something great. 

I told him, “Why destroy what doesn’t belong to you, you already gave your life to Jesus.  Sometimes you hate people, hurt people, and those people are not yours.  What you took without permission is not yours”.  He was quiet.  3 days later, someone passed away from the church and in his will, he gave everything to the African family.  The size of the house was 2x the house my friend previously owned, he had a farm, cows and he gave everything to him.

God asked him, “Did you trust in me?” For 3 days he was crying, how weak I am and how I betrayed God.  If you fail, He is capable of picking you and putting you higher than before.  Trust in God and see how God works.

Do what is written in the Word of God, trust in God.  My prayer every morning, I go back to Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd.  That is what I tell God, “You are my shepherd, take care of me”.  No matter what happens in the day, He will protect me.  He will take me to the proper place to eat and drink.  When you pray in the morning, what do you tell God?  Do you ask God for blessing so that people will be happy with you, protect me God today.

Not a long time ago, Sylvie told me, “Odon I’m at work here and everyone looks at me differently.  I want friends but I don’t find any.  I need people to come close to me and they don’t come”.  I told her, sometimes we must integrate ourselves.  When we reach a place where no one knows you, approach them.

One friend of mine is in Belgium.  He was sent to a village there to claim for asylum.  You must go to the office to be interviewed.  The office opened at 9am but you need to wake up at 3am to stand outside to line up.  The temperature was minus 3 degrees which is freezing when coming from Africa.  He had to walk 6km to be there and when he reached there, there was a que of 200 people.  He was cold.  He waited for hours.  The people in the office went inside and slowly drank coffee.

One by one, the refugees were interviewed, why are you here.  He gave his explanation.  They told him to go back home and the result will come back for 5 years.  I have my wife and children I left behind.  They gave him a small financial assistance and put him in village where he knew no one.  He knocked on the first door.  The first person said, “What?”  “I’m new here”.  “Why?  Are you selling something?” “No”.

Every person in the area rejected him.  Finally he picked up a chair and sat outside and believed someone might feel sorry for him.  No one came.  He became depressed.  He found he was rejected and the world was against him.  I told him, remember that you have a good friend Jesus.  Trust in God.  Don’t trust in what people think or act in front of you, trust God.

One day, he went to a catholic church, “I need you to help me”.  The priest said, “We need to love even our enemies and help them”.  After 3 or 4 months, people can now interact with him.

Find your place where you fit in the Lord, even if you feel Jesus is far from you.  “God no matter what has happened, I trust in You and wait for You”.  We can easily fit ourselves in a rugby stadium to watch a game.  I have spent hours watching Americas cup.  I’m happy for that.  Do I spend time reading the Word of God and praying?

I remember the day that Ange married Pete, we went to church on Cate Street and many people were there and everyone looked flash.  It was very clean.  I came late and there was no carpark.  Once in church, there was nowhere to sit.  Because I didn’t have a place, I took my camera and started taking images not because I was a camera man but because I had nowhere to sit.

Ofa came to the piano and everyone was quiet.  She was so good.  Pete was young and slim. That day was a special day where no one wanted to miss that opportunity.  We should also make sure not to miss being in the Kingdom of God.  You have burdens, bring all (all) your burdens to me and I will take care of you.

Why do we refuse sometimes for Jesus to take care of us?  We say it is hard, God is saying, come to me with your burdens but we prefer to go to someone else.  God is saying, I am here for you, come.  If the Lord is your shepherd, who leads you.  We try as the flock to tell God what to do.

We were driving in the country and saw cows walking by themselves.  They knew it was time for milking.  When we don’t see Jesus with our eyes, do we continue to follow the path made for us and know it is the time for milking and know what the farmer wants to do for us.  There was one cow as a leader and without question the other cows followed because it was time.  We are living a time where Jesus is coming back soon, are you ready to meet with the Lord.  Are you in the que ready to enter the Kingdom of God?

If you don’t trust God, who else will you trust?  I used to trust my father, “Daddy can I have a dollar?” and he would give it to me and I didn’t worry if he didn’t have it.  Don’t worry, live as a child of God, trust in Him.