[Steve Myers] We're back in Cincinnati again. We had been out of town over the weekend of the 4th. We were visiting Wheeling and Pittsburgh congregations over that weekend. We came back for a couple of days then we were off to Minnesota for our Ironwood Preteen Camp. And so we had started that camp a few years ago and we did a little bit of figuring. And now some of those campers that were at our very first camp that we started for the preteens in Minnesota are now 33 years old.

So they showed some pictures for the first year we had camp, and one of the little ones came up to me one of the campers, and said, “Wow, Mr. Myers, what was it like in the olden days?” The olden days, what do you mean? Wasn't that long ago. But 20 years goes by just like that sometimes and so it is amazing. We did have a wonderful time. We just didn't go to camp and sit around we had the opportunity to oversee the team challenge activities. So Kathy and I did quite a few different exercises and activities with the campers when it comes to team challenge.

And I don't know if some of you have ever been involved with team challenge, or sometimes companies will call them a little bit differently they'll call them team-building exercises. So any of you ever been involved in team-building exercises? Okay. Yes, I see the hands. Sometimes...oh, yeah, we've done that. We had an interesting time with the children we did a number of different things. And it always seems that some of the best activities have to do with blindfolds. So you give all these instructions, and then you tell them oh, by the way, you have to wear a blindfold. And so then they go in an uproar “Oh, no how are we going to do that?”

In fact, one of the probably most commonly done team-building exercise is called the Sherpa walk. Anyone ever hear of the Sherpa walk? Okay, a few of you. Like what in the world is a Sherpa? Well, the Sherpa, the name comes from those legendary high altitude guides that would lead the way up on Mount Everest, those were the Sherpas. And because of who they are and where they grew up, it seems that they have a special kind of genetic makeup that they can withstand those high altitudes. So the Sherpas were the guides, they were the ones that were the climbers and led people to the top of the world on the Himalayan those were the Sherpas.

So this idea of a Sherpa walk is taken from the idea of being guided. Now, of course, you just can't take someone and lead them somewhere you got to have blindfolds. So on the Sherpa walk, or sometimes they call it the Sherpa trust walk, you blindfold everyone, and then they are led, they are guided by only one person that can see. And everyone either is attached by a rope or they hold hands and they have to lead them. Sometimes just lead them through an area outside or maybe through an obstacle course. And of course, like most team-building exercises, the Sherpa walk is designed to build trust. It's called the trust walk. And if you don't trust the lead, you might just step in a hole or you might run off course, or you might fall down.

And so when you think about this concept of the Sherpa walk, there are definitely connections to our Christian walk as well. In a way we're called to be successful Christians, by allowing God to lead us in a spiritual, you might say Sherpa walk. I mean, do we even realize how difficult it is to trust these days? Doesn't come...that's why these companies do these team building exercises to build the commonality, to build a trust between team members. Because fear is so common these days that it actually has an official designation. Do you know what they call it? Yeah, it has a special designation it's called pistanthrophobia. Yeah, big name, pistanthrophobia the fear of trusting. It's got a big name for really, it's a big problem. It is a big problem. Not trusting where does that get you? Well, I could get hurt if I trust them. I could be betrayed if I trust them. But if you don't develop trust, where is that going to lead you? Well, you'll be isolated, you'll be left alone. I'm sure it will be a difficult situation.

And when you begin to think about that in comparison to our spiritual walk, trust may be the most important factor in our relationship with God, and really understanding Him and knowing Him. Knowing His will for my life, knowing my purpose, how to grow in grace and knowledge, how to draw closer to God, how to be a faithful steward. All of these things are tied into trust. Even preparing for the kingdom of God has a connection to building trust and a close relationship with God. And so preteen camp got me thinking about that very thing. How can we grow in a much closer relationship with God and truly trust him? How can we be trusting on this calling that God's given us to walk the Sherpa trust walk of life? Because that's in a way, our calling.

So as we think about that this afternoon, begin to think about what exactly is trust after all. Now, I didn't bring the dictionary definition or anything like that, but how would you define trust? I did hear one definition it said that trust is believing the dentist when he says it's not going to hurt. Okay, that is one form of trust. But let's think about that for a minute. How can I trust God? Well, here's how, number one, be totally committed to God both in your heart and your mind. That sounds kind of easy but can I be totally committed to God in heart and mind? If I'm going to develop a close relationship with Him, I have to totally trust Him.

There's a beautiful proverb that really exemplifies this over in Proverbs 3. We're going to take a look at this whole section of Scripture as we kind of kick off this idea of how I can grow and develop a true relationship of deep trust and honesty with God. If God's called me to the spiritual Sherpa walk, then I've got to trust Him because I'm in a sense, blindfolded when I face this world and the way I should walk in this world, but God knows. God knows the way. He's the one we have to trust as He leads us through this life. So Proverbs 3 discusses that very fact. Notice what it says here in Proverbs Chapter 3, right at the very beginning of the chapter.

Proverbs 3:1 Here speaking on God's behalf, “My son, don't forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands.”

One translation says “Obey them, obey my commands completely, completely thoroughly.” So we've got to trust God from the bottom of our hearts and that's kind of difficult sometimes because it feels like I'm blindfolded in life. Sometimes I can't see clearly, I can't figure it out myself. It's not possible so I have to trust the one that does have it figured out. And so in a way, here's Solomon talking about this relationship we're supposed to have with God, and it begins with total trust and obedience. He talks about complete, thorough obedience. In fact, notice the result of that.

Proverbs 3:2-3 He says, “Don't forget, keep my commands. For length of days and long life and peace, they will add to you.” So interesting connection here between not forgetting and obedience, and then the results. Verse 3 says, “Let not mercy and truth forsake you bind them around your neck, write them on the tablets of your heart.”

And so he reminds us, that's where it needs to be. We need to obey God, not just logically, but out of our heart as well with everything we are. So we have an interesting connection between love and loyalty connected to this trust, taking first place in our life. That's got to be number one that we know God, and we believe Him, we're going to obey Him and we're going to trust Him. So the challenge then is to listen to God in everything we do. Now some of the Sherpa's walks that you might do, they'll actually allow the leader to talk. And so he's the only one that...or she is the only one that's not blindfolded. And as they've got this string of campers behind them, “Okay, everyone take a step to the left, no, the first three take a step to the right follow along.” And they can call out instructions as they go. So they can go in the right direction and avoid all the obstacles that might be presented before them.

Now, in a way, God's the one that calls out to us and gives us the way we should walk. And He calls it and tells it the best way, the best way to keep us safe. And so we have to step out of this and recognize, I can't see where to walk, I'm not sure the track I should follow. And we certainly can't assume that we know what's best. And so he reminds us, verse 4 when we follow those instructions.

Proverbs 3:4 He says, “So find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.”

In other words, God's going to like us. I mean, He already loves us, we're going to follow Him. People will like us, they're going to esteem us, there's going to be benefits from following God's way. And in fact, then he follows that with probably a pretty familiar passage in scripture.

Proverbs 3:5-6 It says, “Trust in the Lord, with all your heart, lean, not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, He'll direct your paths.”

So God is the ultimate sherpa when we come to this life, He knows the best way to go. Do we always let Him lead us? Says He's going to clear the path, He's going to help us avoid the obstacles, He's going to guide us. So he says, “Don't be wise in your own eyes.” And it's always interesting listening to the campers because some of them just can't keep quiet. They might be blindfolded, but “Oh, I'm not sure we're going in the right way. Are you sure? I think we're in trouble. Oh, no. Are we going…” and they can't help themselves to verbalize their worry and their fear. And the leader is going to say, “No, this is the best way just listen to me, let me guide you.”

Proverbs 3:7-10 And so ultimately as it says here, okay, “Don't be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord depart from evil, it will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.” Honor the leader, follow the leader. So he says in verse 9, “Honor the Lord with your possessions and the first fruits of your increase, your barns will be filled with plenty, your vats will overflow with new wine.”

And I believe that's not just talking about physical blessings, but ultimately, the more important spiritual ones. We honor God in everything we do, in everything that we own. We give Him the first, we give Him the best, and He will supply our need. And most importantly, the need to be close to Him, to have a relationship with Him, to be led by Him. And so when we look at Proverbs Chapter 3, there's some powerful observations we make here as we consider this total commitment. In order to trust God, it takes a total commitment. If you notice these things, did you see what it's telling us about these different sayings?

When we look through this verse, what jumps out at you? Well, hopefully, you notice all of these sayings are all-inclusive, they're all-inclusive there's no exceptions. Did God say, well, partially obey me? Or just give it your best shot? No, He doesn't say, well follow some of my instructions. No, He didn't say well, with most of your heart, you know, put a little bit into it. No, if we're to trust, we see it's not as sometimes, kind of, once in a while kind of thing. He's the leader. Do we really commit to follow and trust Him? And so we see these words that jump out to my eye as I look down here, he says, “Don't forget,” He says “Keep,” He says all. He says “Bind them, acknowledge all your heart, all your ways, acknowledge, honor,” all-inclusive. Don't see any exceptions here.

So, it's sure a reminder that it's a total commitment that God wants for us so we can have a close relationship with Him. And in fact, as we look down these verses, is another thing that jumps out at me. These statements that God makes precede a promise. They come before a promise, you could think of it as a if/then. If you do these things, then here's the result. And so each one of these commands is followed by a promise, the promise follows that. So God says, if we do these things, there's going to be some amazing, wonderful results. And we're not just talking about physical things, spiritual things are much more important. And so as we look at these different commands and the promises, and the results, there's also something else that's important. Did you notice how they're conditional?

If you do this, then these things will, there's a contingent aspect to this. We do our part, God promises to do His part. And so it starts with trust, having a total commitment to God in our heart in our mind. And then we got to ask ourselves when we look at these statements, well, do I have that kind of confidence in God? You know, how does it work? Do I truly trust God? And of course, the answer is usually well, yeah, of course, I do. Of course, I do. Well, do I trust and obey Him completely? Is He really my source? Will He really supply my need? Do I trust Him in everything? Or maybe we're like some of those pre-teeners that we had at camp.

So we were doing one exercise with team challenge and of course, you give them different instructions, and you say, “Okay, this is what we're going to do.” And they go, “Oh, no, that's going to be hard.” “Well, now we're going to put on blindfolds.” “Oh, we can't do it. And it's not going to be possible.” And they overreact and they're very emotional. It's so much fun to spring something new on them that they're not ready for. But then you get into the exercise and you...in one exercise, we had a leader giving directions to their partner who was blindfolded. Now, some of them are very trusting and they listen to the one giving them instructions, and they follow right along. But, you know, a lot of them just couldn't do it. A lot of them once you get them blindfolded and they start through the obstacles, you know what they're doing? They keep peeking all the time. Or the really sneaky ones do this. Okay, and they're cheating.

And I think it's such a reminder do we do that as adults? I mean, when we think about do I trust God in some things, but then other things, I think I better be careful I'm not quite sure I better keep my own eyes open. And maybe we trust Him in big things, but what about the small things? Or maybe vice versa do we trust Him in the small things, but the big things, I better keep a handle on this one God. And so it is an incredible, difficult question to answer, especially when you put it in the context of the world we live in. I ran across the Edelman Trust Barometer. You may never have heard of the Edelman company, but they do an annual survey for businesses that focuses on trust, and they do this every year. This year's results were kind of interesting. I mean, this company has done it for decades. And they study the influence of trust all across society, to help businesses succeed is really their purpose.

One of the things they found in this year's 2022 survey was the default emotion for most individuals. If you had to name the default emotion for most people today, do you know what it is? Their survey found it is distrust, not trusting anybody. So 6 out of 10 people, that was their go-to tendency not to trust anything or anyone for that matter. In fact, it was interesting they found that 64% of the people that they surveyed said they are incapable of having a constructive conversation or debate with someone that they disagree with. You imagine that? Not that we could agree to disagree in any way, they said they were incapable of talking to someone else that they disagree about something on, can't even talk about it. And I think if we look around the world today, is that the way that it is? I think in so many instances, that is the case. And so, Satan is so sly that in the society we live in, that goes to distrust, that goes to questions, that can't even have a civil conversation with other people that can influence us. And we have to be so careful that that doesn't influence our perspective on God, and His Word. And so we have to overcome the challenge of the default emotion in our world today and trust God and trust His Word, and realize it is possible. With God's help, we can be totally committed to Him in both heart and mind. But sometimes it's going to feel like we're wearing a blindfold and we're not sure where we're going. But we always have to recognize God is in charge, and He promises to lead us. So trusting God is definitely a key to our spiritual success.

So how do you develop that relationship? That deep, trusting relationship with God? Yes, it takes total commitment. But secondly, we can realize God's care is constant. God constantly watches out for our best interest. Now, you might say, wait a second, sometimes it doesn't seem like God's very close. Sometimes I feel like God's a million miles away. I'm not sure about that because it feels like maybe God's forgotten about me, He's not really...is He really that involved in my life? I wonder sometimes if that's the case. And we can be tempted to feel that way. Maybe we all feel that way from time to time. Maybe we can truly relate to what David said in Psalm 22.

Psalm 22:1 He said, “God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Those were David's words, originally, He deeply felt where are you, God? I'm going through this difficulty and it feels like you've given up on me, that you've deserted me, that you're far away. And it's easy in those situations to wonder if God really, truly does care. Or maybe He only cares part of the time. Doesn't He hear me? Doesn't He feel my pain? Doesn't He know I'm just groaning, yearning for Him, and I can't seem to find Him? We go to that default emotion that Edelman talked about.

And that's the challenge. The challenge is, will we believe those feelings? Because we really feel it, we really sense that. But will we go with the feeling and the emotion, or do we default to the Word of God? I mean, we certainly feel that way and those are strong emotions, those are strong feelings, but are feelings the measure of truth? You see, we've got to remind ourselves feelings aren't always truth they're not really truthful. The Word of God is truth, all right.

John 17:17 Christ said that very clearly, “Thy word is truth.”

Not the things I feel. So if we feel God isn't near, or He's gone off somewhere, He's not really understanding my issues. We have to come back and recognize His word, remember His promises. Remember what He has said to each and every one of us because He reassures us. If we go to His word and don't default to the feelings or the distrust, that His care is absolutely constant.

The Book of Isaiah is a great example of that very fact. Can you turn with me over to Isaiah Chapter 43? I'm sorry, 41. Notice Isaiah Chapter 41. He says it a number of times here just as a tremendous admonishment, as a great reminder that on this spiritual Sherpa walk, God hasn't gone off and left us blindfolded. Yeah, life may be uncertain at times, but here He gives us a very specific reminder. In fact, notice how specific this is. If we look at Isaiah 41:10. Isaiah 41:10 here, Isaiah is really quoting God, he's quoting God. So we could think of this as God's speaking to us. Here's God speaking and notice what He says in verse 10.

Isaiah 41:10-13 He says, “Fear not, for I am with you.” But I feel that you're not. “Fear not, I'm with you. Don't be dismayed. I am your God, I will strengthen you. Yes, I'll help you I'll uphold you with my righteous right hand.” And if you don't believe that, I'll say it again. Go down to verse 13. “I'm the Lord, I'll hold your right hand saying fear not, I will help you.”

Have you ever thought of it that way? When it seems like God might be missing, He's not involved, He's gone off. No, God tells us wait a second I'm not going to just send an angel to help you, He says I'm going to hold your hand. I'll hold your hand. I'll hold your hand in my hand. And so He gives us this beautiful figurative expression to show how close He is to us. We might not know that He's right there because, after all, I'm blindfolded I don't know the way to walk. I don't know how to direct my steps, but my Creator does and He's right there leading the way.

In fact, oftentimes on Sherpa walks, you hold each other's hands as you go through the obstacles. And here's God holding our hand and He says trust me, trust me, I'm going to help you, no matter what because I'm caring for you continually. And He's personally there to strengthen us, to guide us, to support us, to encourage us He's going to uphold us. And so we don't have to worry, we don't have to be dismayed, we don't have to be discouraged, we don't have to be downhearted, because He says we can trust Him because He promised it. He promises it. So we don't have to doubt even when it seems like He might not be caring for us. He says He is there no matter what. So we don't have to ponder that question are you really there? Are you really there?

I suppose in a way, it kind of reminded me of a story I heard about a little boy who was walking on the beach. You may have heard the story. This little boy is walking, and here's this lady sitting on the beach, and he walks up to this lady and he says to this woman, “Are you a Christian?” And the lady says, “Well, yes, I am.” And the little boy then wasn't quite satisfied with that answer so he said, “Well, do you read your Bible every day?” And the lady said, “Well, in fact, I do read my Bible every day.” The little boy then said, “Well, Oh, do you pray a lot?” And the lady said, “Yes, I do.” And the little boy said, “Well, good would you hold my quarter while I go swimming?”

You see I'm not going to trust you unless I get the right answers that I want. We don't going to be like that little boy and question...well, what would God's answers be? He'd say well, of course, I'm with you, Of course, I'm caring for you. Of course, I've got your best interests at heart. Of course, I am there. God's answer is yes. It is yes even when it feels different to us. That's when we go to God's Word and we recognize fear not. He is with me. I don't have to be downhearted and discouraged. Don't be dismayed because He's here, He's there all the time. In fact, if you flip over a page or so to Isaiah 43 here He reminds us that even in those challenges He's there, He's there watching out for us. In fact, Isaiah 43 at the end of verse 1 He says it again.

Isaiah 43:1-2 “Fear not.” Because that lack of trust and worry and doubt, yes, tends to be our go-to emotion. He says, “I've redeemed you, I've called you by your name, you are mine.” But if we didn't trust God, He says, you belong to me we take care of things that belong to us. He says in verse two “When you pass through the waters, I'll be with you, and through rivers, they'll not overflow you.” Yeah, and sometimes it might be a little puddle that's the obstacle. But sometimes life brings a river, a current against us. But God says you're going to be able to pass through that. The rivers of hardship and uncertainty I'll be with you. Then he says, “The fire is not going to burn you. You're not even going to be singed, you're not going to be scorched.”

And so God reminds us of...and sometimes we look at that we might say, it's easier said than done. Can I have that kind of trust in God? Can I recognize how much He really cares for me? Do you trust some things in life? Well, anybody ever been to a doctor? You go into the doctor's office what do they usually have on the wall? All their diplomas and certificates, they're there and you feel really good about that. But have any of you ever called the school, the medical school they went to, and say, what was my doctor's grades? C minus. Well, no, we don't call to verify whether even that certificate is real, we just buy into it. And of course, what happens? The doctor then looks at you and they give you a diagnosis, and we believe it.

And then they scribble on a piece of paper that I can't read their writing. And I believe they're giving me a prescription for something that's going to help me but I don't know what it says. And I bring it to the pharmacist who I don't know and I expect him to put the right pills into the bottle that that scribbling says he's supposed to do. And then I go home, and I take those pills thinking I'm going to get better. That's trust. That's trust. So if we can trust in something like that, trust in some physical thing, how much more should we trust in our Creator God, who made us? He says we can trust Him and His care is constant it's not sporadic, it's not occasional, it's not partial, it is continuous.

And if you think of it, God doesn't let anything touch us. Nothing can touch us. nothing can come in our lives, without first passing by God. And that's the kind of God we have. And so we can trust Him, it's the key. It's the key to a deep relationship with God. But can I really trust Him? On this spiritual Sherpa walk of life, God tells us here's how you can trust me, here's a third way you can trust me. Not only do you realize it's a complete commitment, recognize my care is constant, but we have a generous God. God is generous. And if we want to recognize how much we can trust Him, recognize how much He gives us, how much He watches out for us. And we're not just talking about physical things.

Great example of this Psalm 136. Turn over to Psalm 136 with me. A very familiar Psalm. Psalm 136. We sing this song quite often at services. You recognize Psalm 136? “Give thanks to God, for He is good. He who alone do with great works, his kindness shall always endure.” That wasn't very good. “His kindness shall always endure.”

[Everybody] His mercy never fails.

[Steve Myers] All right, His mercy. That's the Psalm that is it. Psalm 136 it's a song that we sing. And it points out the fact His mercy never fails. Or here in my King James.

Psalm 136:1-9, 23 It says “His love endures forever.” And notice how generous our great God is. “He's good. He is the God of gods. There is no other God before our awesome God. He is the Lord of lords. He's done great wonders. His understanding He made the heavens.” He made everything. Can we trust Him? Yes. “His love endures forever.” It says “He made great lights. He made the sun, the moon, the stars.” Verse 23, “He remembers us.” Even though He is so awesome and amazing and did these great things, He's concerned about me. He's concerned about every one of us. It says “He's rescued us. He gives food to all the creation, all the creatures.”

And so we recognize the awesome things that He has done. And even that last statement, “His mercy never fails, His mercy endures forever.” You look up various translations of that last phrase that it repeats, verse after verse after verse after verse, just to remind us how generous and great and awesome our God is. “His steadfast love endures forever.” “Yes, His love never quits.” One translation says. “His everlasting love endures forever.” One translation says, “His faithful love.” Another says, “His grace continues forever.” Another says “His loyalty to us never ends.” Another says “His love never quits, never fails.”

And what a great reminder, we have a trustworthy God that gives us great things. And not only has He been generous, not only is He generous, but what this reminds us of, is that we can count on Him to continue to be that way. He'll continue to be that way because that is part of His character. And we can trust Him because He promises to be a great, generous, loving God. And that will never, never, ever fail. So can we trust this awesome being who created us? He says, yes, you can. We can develop a close relationship with Him because He's called us to this life. And even though it may seem like we are blindfolded, our ultimate spiritual Sherpa, God Himself, is leading us so He says we can trust Him.

And here's how He gives us another way, a fourth way. We can know that we can trust Him, even in adversity, even when we're going through difficult situations, even though we're going through terrible trials, when it seems like wait a second, shouldn't everything be going well? Well, you know, sometimes on those Sherpa walks at camp, not everybody follows directions exactly right and they might step into a hole out there in the field, or they might not follow right along and they get into trouble. Yeah, we set up one little team challenge game we called it Minefield. And we put all these different obstacles out on this course. And of course, we paired up the groups so each had a partner, one could see the other was blindfolded. Of course, it wasn't that he led them by the hand, the one could give directions from the sidelines and had to say “Step right, step left.”

Of course, some of those little ones “Which way is left?” “I'm not sure which way.” “Follow my voice step this way. No, step that way.” Probably the funniest one was “Jump.” It's like “How far?” Or “Take a giant step.” Amazing when you see that. And here, you see even when you're about to run into trouble God's there. God's there. Now, of course, we made it a little bit more interesting before we put the blindfolds they could look out on the course and see all the obstacles. Then we made it even more difficult we put out mousetraps of course then I had to tease them “Okay, everybody take your shoes off.”

No, we didn't make them take their shoes off. But just to recognize you've got to trust this individual. Even though it looks like there's no way you're going to make it across. No way you will make it through the trials, the difficulties, the adversity. But when we listen to God...take a look at Psalm 56. Psalm 56 is like David going through a minefield. Here's King David and he wrote this song after the Philistines captured him. Because that seemed to be the perennial, you know, challengers yeah, he not only fought Goliath and the Philistines they kept turning up. Here in Psalm 56 notice David's perspective. Notice what he says right here at the very beginning of Psalm 56.

Psalm 56:1-4 He says “Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up. These Philistines are after me fighting all day they oppress me.” Yeah, this was the challenge. And life feels like that sometimes there are so many mines in front of me so many things that could blow up, there's no way I can make it. He says, “My enemies would hound me all day. For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.” But in adversity, where did David turn? When faced with difficulties, the things that could explode in his face. “Whenever I'm afraid,” what's my go-to emotion? Not distrust. Whenever I'm afraid David's default was, "I will trust in you. In God, I will praise His Word, in God, I've put my trust. I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?”

Well, it could kill me but I'm in God's hands God's going to watch out for me. And so here David is telling us, we have a responsibility to develop that kind of trusting relationship with God. That no matter the circumstances, we're going to look to Him. And that's a challenge for all of us because can I really trust, the one who's giving me directions? The preteeners had a little bit of a challenge with that for sure. But we've got the perfect Sherpa, we've got the perfect one leading but all too often we think we might know better. Sometimes we may step away from God's directions and he says, no, follow me, follow me. Trust me, even though you can't see the way to go, you can trust me. Because even the things that you can't fix when they're in my hands, they will work out for good.

All things will work together for good when we put our trust, our love in God. Even when we can't reason through it, even when we can't figure out the solution He says trust me. And so yeah, sometimes we take control ourselves, and we move over to try to do God's part. And that's where we've got to catch ourselves. We can't say, well, God, I'm not sure you really understand my problems. Do you really understand the issues I'm having in my marriage? Can I actually put my relationship with my spouse in your hands? Do you really understand? That's when we've got to put it in God's hands.

God, can I really surrender my finances to you? Are you going to watch over me? I don't know if you understand all the bills and the challenges that I face. Do you understand how bad my finances are? How could I ever get out of this? Well, He says trust me. But if I step out in faith, do you really understand all the obstacles I'm facing? Well, I think that's where we need to be a little bit like those preteen campers because Christ said, be like a little child, and the simplicity is having that willingness to say yes to God. Yes, I believe you. Yes, I trust you. Yes, I don't understand how this is going to work out, but I am in your hands. And when I don't have the answers, I know through these difficulties I can try to be like David.

And when I'm afraid I'm going to trust you. When I'm facing the difficulties and the minefield is in front of me, I'm putting my faith and trust in you. I believe you God, help my unbelief. Help me, God. And even when I don't understand, I'm going to trust you. And we can grow in a much deeper, trusting relationship with God when we do trust him even in the most of difficult times. And I think that can help us in another way to develop a true trusting relationship with God. How do we do that? Here's how we go to the source. Fifth thing, go to the source. Go to the source. You know, when we're feeling blessed when things are going great, when life's good, don't trust those blessings, don't trust well, everything's great it's going to stay this way forever. Well it might, but then again, it might not. Is that the basis of our relationship? Is that the basis of our trust?

We could get a little out of sorts if that's the case, we could become self-reliant or self-dependent. Instead, go to the source, recognize the source. We don't going to trust the outcome or the circumstances. You know, when we trust our job, we've placed our trust in the wrong hands. We've got to trust God, who is the provider of that job. If we trust our health, instead of trusting God who is the provider of health, we're going to get things all reversed. Sometimes we even count on ourself. We trust our own intellect, well, I'll figure this all out. Well, wait a second, if we go to the source, we trust God, who gives us the power to think and to reason. That's where our trust should really be trusting the source, and that is so important. But sometimes we get a little out of order.

Proverbs Chapter 18 is such a great reminder of that very fact. Let's notice what the Proverbs tell us. We have words of wisdom here in chapter 18:10. Because oftentimes, in the Proverbs we're shown, here's the way to be, here's what your perspective should be. But if it's not, here's what's going to happen. And we have these two contrary concepts that are going on. And here in Proverbs 18, we see that very thing. Here's one way you could go and it's going to go well. Here's another way you could go, and it's going to lead to trouble. One is trust, one is distrust. Let's notice what it says.

Proverbs 18:10 It says, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. But on the other hand, the rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall, his own esteem.”

Well, other translations say “A rich man's wealth is imagined to be an unscalable wall.” So we really have two things that we trust, and either we trust in God or we trust in ourselves. Those who trust in God they put their constant faith in Him. They immediately continually go to Him. They're not just kind of casually...no, they run to God, they can't wait to be in His presence. But you make possessions your city, your wall, you think you're untouchable because you've built this wall around you. You say, wait a second. That's right when Satan is ready and able to convince you, “Hey, you've got it made, you're untouchable.” And so when we look at this, we're reminded all right, do you have an unscalable wall or is your trust truly in the strong tower? That true strong spiritual tower? That strong spiritual Sherpa?

What's leading you? Where are you guided? Who leads you? Is it your own wall that you think is protecting you? Is it your job? Is it your education? Is it your salary? It's my retirement account, I'm going to be all right. Or maybe it's my youth, I'm young, I'm energetic, I can do these things. And sometimes we can get off track putting our trust there. Our position, maybe even our health. You see those things get us off track because we don't recognize the true source of all of those blessings because the source is God. And if we allow it, God will be that source of constant continual need. He'll fulfill every need for us. And so as we consider that, we make God the source and we recognize Him as the source no matter what, no matter what.

And when we put all of these various things together, I think we recognize that trust and faith go hand in hand. Because an absolute unshakable trust in God, and in God's promises, really is the definition of what faith is all about it's absolute trust and commitment to God. And that builds that beautiful relationship that God wants to have with each and every one of us. There's a beautiful summary passage of this back in the Psalms. Psalm 37:23. Notice what it reminds us of. In a way, it's summarizing these five how to have that trusting deep relationship with God. It's a reminder of how we can build not just a team but build a right relationship with the one true God, Psalm 37 notice verse 23. I'm sure it'll sound very familiar. Imagine this walk that God has called us to as He directs us here in Psalm 37:23.

Psalm 37:23-24 It says “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand.”

And this is such a beautiful statement. When we trust God, He's going to direct our steps. He is the ultimate spiritual Sherpa. He's going to guide us no matter what, and we follow the guide, we can follow Him. And sometimes yeah, we're going to mess up, we're going to go off track, we're going to step on an obstacle because we're not always that tuned to Him as we should be. Well, does He give up on us? Does He say, well, that's what you get? No, He helps us up. It says, “He'll uphold us.” He's personally involved in our life. And so like those team challenge games, He reminds us that trusting Him is the key. And that yeah, life is kind of like a Sherpa trust walk. And He wants us to recognize we can have a total commitment to Him, we can trust He's going to help that commitment. He's going to help us to trust Him.

And He shows us that if we recognize His care, never fades it never goes away, that He's continually there and constantly caring for us, that we can put that trust in Him. And that He is generous He doesn't withhold. Even when we're not perfect in our steps, when we're not perfectly following Him He still is a generous God who loves us and wants the best for us.

And even when we step on a mine, even though those obstacles we're faced with in our life, He says, you can still trust me, I'm going to bring you through these things. I'm going to watch over you because you can trust the source of all that is good. And so what a great reminder for all of us that we have a loving, caring God. So no matter what the case, you can face any circumstance with confidence and hope because it's not your strength, it's not your wisdom, it's not your energy, it's not your power that brings the victory. Success comes because of God's ability. And you can tap into an irresistible force that no one and nothing can successfully oppose when we place our trust in the one true God.

[Steve Myers] When you think about being a church without walls, certainly, this virus has changed things, hasn't it? As this virus spreads, life has become a little bit different. We've seen some interesting things happening over the last couple of weeks. The stock market has been totally unstable, stock markets around the world for that matter going up, going down, all kinds of things happening. We've had school closings here in Ohio and many other areas. Large gatherings of people are banned. It's affected the entertainment industry as well. So Broadway has shut down even Disney World and concert events. Those are all being canceled.

Sporting events around the world as well are being canceled, so whether it's the NBA or the National Hockey League or March Madness as well all being suspended or postponed, the golf with the Masters Tournament, all of those things. As a national emergency, all of these things are being put on hold. And one thing that hasn't been put on hold is anxiety. There was a poll that came out yesterday that polled people in the United States, and it found that two-thirds of Americans are concerned that they or someone they know will be infected with the coronavirus. I mean, when you consider that, what do we do? What do we do? How do we face a challenge like this? What do we do? Is there a way that we can have the strength to stand up? And not only to this adversity, but how do you stand up to any or every adversity?

I was just thinking about this over the last few days. One word came to mind, Ziklag. Now, it's probably not the word that came to your mind, but that was a word that I couldn't get off my mind. What does it have to do with…? Well, back in 1 Samuel 27, it begins with the story of David, and David has been on the run. And it starts with David thinking all the wrong things. He's come to a point in his life that he's thinking exactly opposite of what God has in mind, opposite of what God promised him. David's on a whole different wavelength because now he's thinking that King Saul will actually succeed in killing him. He's forgotten God's promises.

You know, imagine that situation. Obviously, Saul was pursuing David. No doubt about that. He barely escaped several times where Saul tried to assassinate him. He had to spend a lot of time running around in the wilderness and hiding. No doubt about those kinds of things. But when we get to 1 Samuel 27, here he's at a particular point of weakness. Perhaps he's down and discouraged, maybe even depressed because no doubt servants of God, members of God's Church can fall into a deep depression. But ironically, do you know what David does? He seeks refuge in the city of Gath, Gath. Oh, yeah, remember that guy, Goliath of Gath, the one that… the giant that David conquered and beat? Yeah, that's the Gath.

And so he goes to Gath, a Philistine city, and meets with the king, King Achish, and he pretends to make a treaty with him. And by doing that, he didn't just go by himself. He went with his wives. He went with his mighty men. He went with his whole entourage. So he's got 600 mighty men that are with him plus all of their wives, all of their families. In total, probably well over 1,000 people going to Gath with David. And so he pretends to have this treaty with Achish the king, and by doing that, David can go out and attack other enemies of Israel and make it look like he's in alliance with the Philistines. So he could do as he wants. Now, as time went on, the King started to trust David, and so eventually, he gives him his own city. And do you know what the name of that city was? Ziklag, Ziklag.

So Achish gives Ziklag to David. Now David can even go out and fight his enemies, the enemies of Israel even more fully. And Achish doesn't know the better. Now, the interesting part, as time goes on, Achish is gathering all of his forces to battle the Israelites, to battle Saul. Now, that's something David doesn't want to do. But I think in part he's hoping he'd go along so that he could help protect the Israelites, but do you know what happens? Achish says, "David, you can't come." The rest of the Philistines were kind of nervous. They weren't really trusting David. So, what does Achish do? He sends David home to Ziklag, and that's where the story begins to get interesting.

If you look at 1 Samuel 30, here we find David coming back to Ziklag. What do they find? What do they find when David kind of gets back home? He's not really home, but that's where home is for the moment. Well, what they find is the Amalekites have attacked Ziklag while David and all the mighty men were gone, and they burned that city to the ground. And worse than that, they kidnapped all the women, all the children. All the families are gone. Everything lost. What happened to them? They don't know. They don't know. David and his men are beside themselves.

I mean, can you imagine what was going through his mind. I mean, everything. On your watch, David, our families are gone. Where do they go? What have they done with them? Did they kill them in the desert? Did they burn our children in this fire that took down the city? What happened to them? I mean, the people couldn't help but think it's got to be David's fault. I mean, he should have known. He's a military man. You'll always leave a guard behind. You never leave the children and the women to defend themselves. So it must be David's fault. All these people could be dead because of his bad judgment. So it's about as painful as you might think it could get.

So in verse 4, the obvious happens. It says, "David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep." I mean, at this point, David has no one to support him. No one in Israel could help him. Philistines didn't want anything to do with. His family was gone. All that he owned gone, everything. Every support he had was gone except one, except one. Now, you would think this must be the absolute worst position anyone could be in. Verse 6, look at what happens. “David was greatly distressed,” no wonder. It says, "The people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters.” And David wept.

And you might think, "Well, why did David weep?" Of course, it's not only because his family, his wives are gone. Everyone has lost everything. But it wasn't just weeping because of that. It wasn't just weeping because now even his mighty men are turning against him. I think part of why he's weeping is he knows he's mainly responsible for this. He feels it's his fault, and so he is deeply saddened. He is down and discouraged and anxious and depressed and just about panicking. What would you do? He's got to be feeling hopeless. He's got to be feeling like, "I am just about over the edge." What else could happen next? And you consider where David was. I mean, many people today are right at that very point. He's about as low as you could go.

I mean, just consider this. I mean, actually think about what was going on. These mighty men, these valiant men, men of valor, fighting men, soldiers weeping like babies, pouring out their emotions, and then they're cursing and they're cussing, and they're accusing David, thinking about killing him and revolting against him. But over there, David's over there. He's by himself. He's sitting there probably in the dust in the dirt crying with tears streaming down his face. What does he do? End of verse 6, "But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God." Just a few short little words but so much meaning here. David had been thinking all the wrong thoughts before. He lost track of God and His promises.

Should he become distressed, depressed? Should he be hopeless? Should he feel like all is lost? Maybe he should become defensive and tell those mighty men that they better not rebel against him. What is he going to do? He doesn't do any of those things. He turns to God. It says he “strengthened himself.” That Hebrew word strengthens means to become strong, to become courageous, to prevail, or to strengthen. But could David do that on his own? That's something that he could accomplish all by himself. I mean, how is it for us? How can we strengthen ourselves in the Lord? I mean, look what it took for David to come to this place. Here he is. Here he is. And what is he recognizing? He's recognizing the fact that God alone is his strength. That's it.

And this David… remember this man. This is the man with fears. This is the man who was worried. This is an anxious man that man who had done some amazing things, miraculous things by the power of God. But yet on the other hand, yeah, he's that guy that made a lot of mistakes. He's that man that often got off course. He was that wayward David. He was that man that often made mistakes. But he began to realize the only hope that would be possible would be to seek God. And, of course, you think about David, you think about his circumstances, you think about the things that he did, you think about what was going on just before this that is just thinking wrong in every way. I mean, why would God strengthen him? Why would He? Why would God bother? David, you were all off track. What were you thinking? I mean, why would God strengthen us? Why would God bother to strengthen us?

When we step back from the story, we recognize who God is. God is a God of mercy. We have a God of grace. God loves us because He loves us. God favors us. He is a graceful God who loves us because that's who He is, and He's called us to be His people. And you think of David, you think of us, what did we do to deserve that? I mean, is there anything we can do? I mean, sometimes we may fall into that kind of thinking, "There's something I need to do to achieve God's love. There's something I need to do to earn God's grace. There's something I need to do to warrant God's blessings in that way that He would love me." Is that the case?

You see, God would strengthen David because He is a God of grace because He is a God of mercy and because David is humbly turning to God. In a way, God brought him to this point so that David would humbly and readily submit himself to God and submit himself to God's way. I mean, imagine before this. David's going out, and he's conquering all these different enemies. He's got Achish the king fooled. He's got everything under control, right? Sometimes we feel that way in life. We got it all under control. A little bit before this, David wasn't feeling too weak. I'm sure he didn't have a thought that he was actually suffering from weakness. But after coming home to a burned down, abandoned wifeless ghost town, yeah, he recognized weakness. It changed everything.

I mean, could he have seen that…? He didn't see it coming. Well, think about that for a moment. A couple of months ago, did the world seem like a weak place? Just a month ago or so, did America seem like a weak nation, a vulnerable country? What about God's Church? What about our vulnerability? You see, David came to see something absolutely vital. He's weak, and the only way to have strength is to turn to God. God is his only hope, his only hope. And as you consider this amazing story, it in a way it's kind of a Passover kind of story because David had to look at himself and recognize his need. And we do too. We have to do the same thing. In fact, the great heroes of the Bible, men and women, all had to come to that point in their life to rely solely on God and His guidance and His strength and His mercy and His grace.

The apostle Paul had to do the same thing. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul suffered. Paul recognized he was weak. And when he petitioned God to heal him physically, do you remember what God told him? 2 Corinthians 12:9. God says to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you." God favors us. He cares for us. He goes on and says, "My strength is made perfect in weakness." So Paul says like David coming to realize the same thing, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me. Therefore I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." I mean, powerful words. Yes, physically, he was on the short end of the stick. Physically, he was weak David. Those mighty men were going to help him a bit. So, he had to turn to God. He had to become strong spiritually. Paul had to stay strong spiritually through the power of God.

And so what did David do? David knew none of these other people are going to strengthen him. He didn't wait for somebody else to give him strength. He didn't sit around waiting and thinking, "Well, the CDC will find the cure." No, he wasn't doing that sort of thing. He didn't think, "The World Health Organization, they'll find a way, and I'll just kind of hang in there until they do." No. You see, David recognized that God's strength was there for everyone who looks to Him. In fact, God's strength was there all along. He should have been relying on that strength all along. But now David comes to that point in his life that he sees it. He understands it, and he seeks that strength that can only come through God. And, in fact, as David did this, we've got to put it in the right perspective because this is not some kind of a, you know, self-help seminar.

This is not a rah-rah, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and let's go positive thinking hocus pocus everything's going to be fine. It wasn't that at all. What we find David doing, what we found Paul doing. This is strength that is from the living God. That's the strength. David had to understand that and make that real in his life. He had to recognize that very fact and realize he was hurting. He was fearful. He was worried. That's his state of mind. So he needed God's strength. He needed God's guidance, and that's the kind of strength that leads to repentance. That's the kind of strength that brings an answer to weakness. It's strength for brokenness, strength for anxiety, strength for stress, strength so we can be determined to look back to God in all cases at all times and to win back what the enemy has stolen. That's where David found himself. He found himself in that very condition.

And even for us, I mean, think, "What has the enemy stolen from us? What's been taken?" Is the real adversary the coronavirus? It's not. There are times of stress and anxiety. Certainly, fears will come in this life, discouragement, but we cannot allow that to swallow us up. So how can I be strengthened in the Lord? How can I strengthen myself like David did? In fact, when we read through this story, there's not a lot of specifics here. We have to look to many of things that David wrote to find his mindset and what he actually did in this particular situation, what he must have done because the Bible doesn't exactly say. But one thing we know for sure, he connected with God. We have to be sure we connect with God. If we're to strengthen ourselves in the Lord, there has to be that unbreakable connection turning to God from despair so He can lead us to confidence.

You know, I'm sure David socially distanced himself and cried unbelievable tears, tears and agony to God. And he began to pray, and he began to worship, and he waited on God. He wept and he praised, and he probably sang to God. He lifted his voice because he knew if he kept seeking if he kept praying, if he kept petitioning God, there was no doubt God would answer, no doubt. So instead of making plans… I mean, the city was burned down. Where were the families? Are they all dead? Instead of just rushing off, instead of focusing on his circumstances, instead of running out to buy 10 cases of toilet paper, he didn't do that. That's what they're doing. That's what they're doing in our town. Is that our perspective? You know, do we rely on our own resources? Is that going to save us? Was that going to save David just, "Oh, I better take action immediately and do something. I better stock up on alcohol"? Is that really going to save us? David didn't do that. That's what's so interesting. Precious time was elapsing.

You know the scenarios when it comes to kidnappings. You know, if somebody's kidnapped, they normally don't keep their victims alive for very long. So I'm sure his mighty men were looking at David like, "What are you doing? Why are you wasting time?" But David kept seeking God. He knew, he knew he humanly speaking could not think clearly. He couldn't clearly evaluate the situation. He really didn't understand what was going on. There was only One that could. If David made the wrong choice, if he ran off just to do something, it could have been the wrong thing, and even more, people might die.

You see, he realized he needed God's mindset. He needed his attitude to shift away from his own way of thinking. He needed his heart to be in a whole different place. It had to be shifted from doing his own will to doing God's will. David realized that. And when he truly submitted to God, it changed his whole perspective. That's when David began to receive strength, strength from God to keep on going, to regain confidence. Not confidence in himself but confidence in God. God gave him the insight into this entire situation. And it wasn't that David found a strategy to get back at the Amalekites. No, God gave him the strategy, the best approach. And you see, if we're going to have the best approach, we have to make sure we are connecting with God. We have to be sure we are devoting time in His Word. And not just when scary circumstances come around.

How can we fill our minds with hopefulness? How do we fill our hearts with truth? How can I be sure my mind has a loving approach? Always when I examine myself, and I have to recognize I need to come to the right conclusions. I need to make sure I'm looking at things in the right perspective. How can I discern the truth for my life? How can I determine who I really am? Am I a real Christian, or am I a pretender? You see, we can't do that if we neglect the Word of God. We can't. God's Word is probably the biggest coping mechanism of all time. We've heard the predictions. I mean, the predictions that are out there. They range, I mean, just wildly. Some have come up with models that show this virus will totally overwhelm the United States, overwhelm the world.

But I read across an interesting quote from a lady named Lauren Gardner. She's an associate professor at John Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, and she's one of the scientists that models epidemics. Do you know what she said? She said, "When people change their behavior, those model parameters are no longer applicable." Think about that in David's case. The model was everything is lost. There is no hope. But David strengthened himself in the Lord. The model changed. Changing behavior changes outcomes, and that's a biblical principle. That's a godly principle. That's a Passover principle, isn't it? That I need to change my human nature, and I need to model God's nature. I need to model the character of Jesus Christ.

We know that passage that James wrote about this very thing. It is a biblical principle. James 4:7. Let's remind ourselves of this very model. Change our thinking, we change our direction. We need to connect with God so we have a whole different model than that human way of looking at things. James 4:7, "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." That's the biblical model. Verse 8, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Is that what David did at Ziklag? Absolutely. James goes on, "Cleanse your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you double-minded."

You see, David lost track of God's promises. He had kind of two frames of mind, and it got out of sorts. He had to line himself back up with God. Verse 9, "Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom." I'm sure that happened when all the men came back to Ziklag, and it was burned to the ground. I mean, we see this kind of attitude around us today, people lamenting and mourning and weeping because of circumstances. But it doesn't have to be that way for us. We lament and mourn and weep because we haven't been close to God. And in drawing near to God, submitting ourselves to God as James writes, it doesn't keep us in that depressed state of lamenting and mourning and weeping.

We see in verse 10, when we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, what does He promise to do? The same thing He did for David at Ziklag. He promises He will lift you up. That's a promise. We can write that one down. There is no doubt. When we connect with God, when we study His Word, when we draw close to Him, we can write an equal sign. Submit to God. Draw near to Him. And what does He promise to do? Draw near to us. He promises to be there. And it is an amazing story when you think of the many events in David's life. In fact, it might be a good idea to study through the Psalms. As you study through the Psalms, they certainly tell the story of David's life. They talk about his great triumphs, but they also talk about his shortcomings. We can connect with those stories because we see his anxiety. We see his stress. But on the other hand, we see his courageousness.

Yeah. We see times when David is in full panic mode, but we see God's power exhibited. Yes, we see David's weakness, but we can identify God's strength. A good example of this is found over in Psalm 56. In Psalm 56, it seems like it would have been one of those written about this time at Ziklag. It wasn't most likely, but it sure applies at this time in David's life because it begins with him petitioning connecting with God.
It starts, "Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up," or for purposes today, this virus could swallow me up. It says, "Fighting all day he oppresses me." In fact, verse 3 it says, "Whenever I'm afraid," what should I do? David says, "I will trust in You. In God, (I will praise His Word), in God I put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?" You see, God's in charge. God's in charge.

In fact, just a couple of pages over in another Psalm, Psalm 59, David reiterates the same thought in verse 16. Psalm 59:16, "I will sing of Your power. Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You've been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; for God is my defense, my God of mercy." I mean, this is an amazing recognition. David recognizes the fear. He recognizes his shortcomings. He recognizes the pain. He recognizes life brings trials and difficulties and fear and anxiety. But what does he do with it? He connects with God. He brings it before the almighty throne of the Creator of the universe. He petitions God, not only with the immediate problem but even the situation of what everybody else is doing. You see because the things everybody else is doing affects us too, doesn't it?

I mean, if people are panicking out there over this, yeah, it can have an impact on us as well. And what did David do? He worshiped, and he prayed, and he praised God and honored Him so he could connect so closely together with God so close. It's the same thing we need to do. We need to connect with God so closely and so constantly that it changes our perspective. It changes our thinking. It transforms our minds. And it only happens when we connect with God, and we can connect with God because He's giving us His Word. He talks to us through the inspired Word that we have before us. And so what an amazing blessing that when we meditate on His Word, and we read that word and it becomes a part of our thinking. When we praise and honor Him, it changes everything. It changes everything.

In fact, we think of this time of the year and the difficulties seem that often come at this time of the year over the years, Passover time. That was something that reminded me of Jesus's example itself. What a powerful example when you think of Christ. Did Christ do this sort of thing? I mean, he did it all the time, didn't he? Didn't He continually distance Himself from others and go off into a deserted place and connect with God, get close to His Father? He was always it seems getting close to God, spending time with God.

He said in the book of John, "I can do nothing of Myself." John 5:30 reminds us of that. He said, "I do not seek my own but the will of the Father who sent Me." That was Christ's perspective. That needs to be our perspective. And even at the very end, that's what He did facing the greatest trial of all time, giving His life for mankind, facing the crucifixion. That night He was betrayed, what did He do? He went off alone and petitioned God, and He prayed to God. He connected with God, and He said, "Father, if it's your will, take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine will be done." You see, that was Christ's perspective. What an amazing, unbreakable powerful connection He had with God the Father.

And He exhibited the fact that that's what we can have too. We can have that kind of a connection, and so we need to pray like that. We need to connect to God like that. We need to study His Word, and we need to pray, "God, help me to learn to see you. You are my source. You are the source of my energy. You are the source of my strength. You are the source of my power. You are the source of my perspective. You're the only true source. Help me and guide me so that your power and your direction becomes my power and my direction." That's what David did. That's what Ziklag was all about. He aligned himself with God and asked God to direct him and guide him. And so making that connection with God, it moved David I think to do another thing that is so important for all of us.

Not only did he connect to God through prayer and worship and praise and the study of His Word, but he had to take a serious look at himself. David had to examine himself. He knew if he had to find a way to walk in confidence, if he was going to find the fullness of God's direction, then it was going to require him to depend fully on God. He had to turn things around and renew that commitment, that connection, that confidence, that covenant with God. He had to renew that. He had to fully depend on God. Well, am I there? Am I fully dependent on God? Well, I better look at myself. I need to look at myself because, when I look at myself, I've got to look at the reality of who I am. I've got to in a sense have a conversation with myself about my own spiritual state.

Charles Spurgeon once wrote, "Some of the best talks in the world are those which a man has with himself. He who speaks to everybody except himself is a great fool." And so David had to strengthen himself in the Lord. And if he was going to do that, what had to happen? Yes, he had to examine himself by recognizing how he was thinking. He had to look at his thinking because, when you really get down to it, the fear and the anxiety, the depression, the discouragement that he was feeling, the only way to overcome that is to recognize the true thoughts he should have when it comes to all of those things.

What does the Word of God say when it comes to fear? What do I do when my thinking, when my thoughts don't align with God's thoughts, with God's ideas and His instructions and His Commandments? David had to fight that. We've got to fight that. We've got to fight the anxiety and the discouragement and the fear and the panic. How do we do that? We can't fight fear. In fact, we cannot only fight it. God has given us the means to overwhelm fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 is such a great reminder of that. We fight fear with the Spirit of God because Paul reminded Timothy, "God has not given us the spirit of fear." That is not what we're about. And sometimes I got to change my thinking and remind myself, "No, that is not what I'm about" when that stress and that worry comes. It's what you do with it.

When it does come in, we got to kick those thoughts immediately out and recognize the fact God's given us a spirit of power. It's a spirit of love. It's a spirit of a sound mind, healthy thinking, wholesome thinking. That's what a sound mind is, right spiritual thinking. That's the kind of spirit God's given to us. Don't forget that. David let that slip. If we find ourselves slipping, we got to get right back here and determine, "Boy, by the power of God's Spirit, He's given me the authority over my thinking, over the fear, over the anxiety, over the stress. So I don't have to worry like everyone else in the world worries because God can bring an amazing peace of mind." Yet sometimes, boy, that thought comes that, "Well, you know, it just doesn't seem like I'm even worthy to stand before God and bring these things to Him. I don't think I measure up." And those thoughts come at times.

Do you know who else thought that way? David. David thought that way. In fact, notice what he says in Psalm 40. Psalm 40:17. David certainly felt this way at times in his life, and Psalm 40:17 is such a beautiful capstone. When we feel this way, we could think of Psalm 40:17. I mean, we could certainly think of 2 Timothy 1:7. No doubt we fight fear with the power of God's Spirit and healthy thinking, a healthy frame of mind. Sound mindedness is a characteristic of the Spirit of God, and we can petition God to give us that right kind of thinking. But when we don't feel like we measure up, we don't feel like we're worthy, David wrote Psalm 40:17, "But I am poor and needy." I'm not good enough to come before God in a way is what he's saying.

But look what he wrote next, "Yet the Lord thinks upon me." I mean, after all, who of us is worthy? I mean, we all fall short of the grace of God, but the Lord thinks about you, about all of us. If you were to read this in the Living Bible, look back at verse 17, the Living Bible says, "I'm poor and weak, yet the Lord is thinking about me right now. O my God, you are my helper. You're my Savior. Come quickly and save me. Please don't delay." And I love this passage because it not only says He's thinking about you, we're on God's mind. That's an amazing thought. We're on God's mind, but even more than that, He wants the best for us. And He knows what I'm thinking. He knows what I'm thinking. He's thinking about me.

And when I begin to align my thinking to His, when I analyze my own thoughts and I reject the negative ones, I get rid of those sinful thoughts, what has to happen to the enemy. It'll be defeated because we have the authority from Almighty God to use His Spirit and His Word to pull down strongholds, to pull down even thoughts and ideas that go against God's Way so that we can ultimately be victorious over Satan the devil in his way of thinking. We don't have to be conformed to this world. That's what Romans 12:2 talks about. Instead, we know what it tells us. Instead of being locked up in the ways of the world and thinking the way that they're thinking reacting to difficulties and circumstances the way that they do, our thinking has to be brought under the power of God's Spirit so that it's transformed.

Romans 2:2 says, "Transformed by the renewing of your mind, the changing of your thinking." In fact, if you turned over to Romans 12:2, the "New Living Bible" puts it a little differently. Romans 12:2. It says, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think then you'll learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." That's what David wanted. That's what we all want. We want that. We all then have to change the way that we think and refocus the way that we think so that we look to God. We change our thinking to God's thinking. We focus on His Word. We can find out what's on the mind of God by looking at His Word. And so it's not my solution. It's not my direction. It's God's solutions to the problems that we're facing, and so we trust God to be God. And, you know, He's promised to do what He said He would do.

So we can't allow our thoughts or anyone else's thoughts impact us to break that focus off of God Himself. Because we know there's no doubt life is going to bring problems. Do we focus on the problem? Should that be our mindset? No. God tells us, "Focus on the solution." Focus on the solution, especially at this time of the year. As we look at ourselves and we examine ourselves, don't get caught up and focus on sin. That's the problem. Yes, we identify it, we recognize it, but that's not the focus. The focus has to be, it must be on the solution. The solution is Jesus Christ our Savior who died for us. God the Father gave His only Son so that we have a solution, so we can bring every thought into the captivity of the obedience of Christ by recognizing and focusing on that solution so that His thoughts are my thoughts.

And so we spend time with God. We spend time in His Word, and we recognize that's not only a temporary fix. That's not a temporary inoculation. This is a permanent solution to the problems that we face. That's what David did at Ziklag. But it didn't end there. It didn't end there. Because what did he do next? He didn't stay at Ziklag. After doing these things, it was time to go forward. It was time to move forward in faith. It was time to move forward in faith. So after petitioning God, God had some instructions for David to get going. And we have to move forward in faith, I mean, even as we think about what may lie ahead. What if we get sick? What if we get sick? Don't panic. We know what we're to do.

James 5:14 is such a great reminder. It's one of those things that help us turn our mind and connect with God. We know what James wrote. He said, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call on the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." We turned to God. We petitioned God. And what's the promise? Verse 15, “The prayer of faith will save the sick. The Lord will raise him up, and if he's committed sins, he will be forgiven.” Now, when we consider that, we know that not every sickness will be healed. We're not going to live forever. We know that. We know that. But will there be ultimate healing? Absolutely. The Lord will raise him up. And if he doesn't immediately heal us, it may take a little time, and He'll heal us. He might not heal us in this life, but the prayer of faith will save the sick.

Turning to God, aligning our thoughts with His thoughts, moving forward in faith, not losing faith, we recognize the absolute fact. It's undoubtable. The Lord will raise us up. He can raise us up physically, but He will certainly raise us up at the resurrection because we know ultimately that's where our hope lies. The hope is in the resurrection, isn't it? What if our hope is only like right now? Is this our hope right now?
I mean, it's an amazing thing if you look at the resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15. The apostle Paul zeroed in on it when he said, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable." We are in such a sorry state if this is all we're looking at. We've got to look beyond this life. We can change those anxious thoughts. We can change the way we think, and when we change the way we think, it will change the outcome. Those anxious thoughts can be thoughts of confidence. Those worrisome thoughts can be thoughts of trust.

When we can erase the doubt and walk forward in faith, God can give us the courage, and that anxiety can become assurance because we've been given the promises of God. He's called us, and He's promised to never leave us or forsake us. In fact, if you turned over to chapter 15 in 1 Corinthians, Paul talks about that great hope that we all have. We all have this great hope. Verse 51, the end of the resurrection chapter, Paul says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” That's the ultimate hope, the resurrection. And so he says “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” And he says, verse 55, "Death, where is your sting? Grave, Hades, where is your victory?" Is that the end of the story? He says, Absolutely not. “The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

And so Paul writes these encouraging words, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, be immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." And so Paul gives us such a fantastic reminder. God will make those promises happen. There's no doubt about it. And we can have faith, we can have confidence that God will deliver us. He can change that worrisome perspective, and we can be different. In fact, I can't help but thinking maybe Psalm 34 is what David had in mind at Ziklag. Look at Psalm 34:4. It's kind of a summary passage of this whole concept of Ziklag and the coronavirus or any trial or persecution or trouble that might come. Psalm 34:4. It says, "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, not only did He hear me, but He delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” So Ziklag really changed everything.

David with a changed perspective by connecting to God by examining himself and trusting God, now it was time for David to do something about it, take that strength from God, and walk forward in faith. And so God told him. "Go, go to the Amalekites. Attack them and you will overcome them. Face the enemy head-on, and I'll be with you." David and his men did just that. They went into battle. We know the rest of the story. He overwhelmed the Amalekites, and not only that, he recovered the women and the children. The families could finally be together again, and what an amazing end to that story. By the strength of God, David was able to win back all that was lost. And when you read the story, even more, even more than what was lost. It can be the same for us. It can be the same for us.

Colossians 1:9 is another passage that I think summarizes this thought so well because it puts it all in the context. And that's such an important reminder for all of us to recognize God's context. Because we know difficulties will come. We know those things that it says in Luke 21 and Matthew 24, how it talks about difficulties. It talks about earthquakes. It talks about diseases. It talks about wars. There's difficult times ahead. I don't think we're quite there yet. This may be a precursor to those things, but we know those things are coming. They shouldn't take us by surprise. And so when those things come and as they do, here's the perspective that we need to have.

Colossians 1:9. Paul wrote to Colossi, he says, "For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, we don't cease to pray for you," and we need to pray for one another, no doubt, no doubt, "to ask that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;” he tells them to pray that way "so that we may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who's qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He's delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins."

God has such blessings in store. It'll be a great time just to look through the Bible and do a study on these amazing promises of God. There are so many. There is no doubt. When you recognize those promises and rehearse those promises, we recognize there is absolutely no doubt God promises to help all those who put their trust in Him. So when we feel like giving up, we're just worn out. We're tired. We're discouraged. We're fearful. We think, "Wow, I don't know if I'm going to make it." Well, like David, we can. We can connect with God. We can study His Word. We can go to God and praise and worship Him. We can draw even closer to God. We can do that by examining ourselves, looking at our life, changing our thinking, and recognizing the power that God's given us through His Holy Spirit.

And we can change our focus. We can change from focusing on the problem to focusing on His solution. And by doing that, we can go forward in faith. We don't have to panic. We can have faith go viral. Let faith go viral. Let's make sure faith takes the day and determine to have faith take us beyond our own human limitations. Remember those promises of God. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. So as we face the challenges of life, they'll certainly come, but let's always be determined to strengthen ourselves in the Lord our God.