I was asked to post my notes (which I, thankfully, had) for today’s sermon, so here they are:

Back to the Place Where My Soul Finds its True Poise

Most, if not all of us, have experienced those times when, for reasons unknown to us, the “wheels begin to run off our wagons.” During these times, it seems that everything that can go wrong goes wrong and we are losing our grip on life. If we should dare to be so honest, we would admit that we feel much like Job must have felt when he sat in sack cloth and ashes in the middle of the road.
Most importantly, we begin to feel that God has forsaken us, that He no longer loves us. We begin to feel what the Psalmist talks about in Psalm 73, that the God favors the evil and causes the righteous to suffer, that God is, therefore, being unfair.
When this occurs, we begin to focus on what we have done wrong, on how we have offended God, on what sins we might have committed, and, to be honest, we get angry at God (though we have a hard time admitting it).
We are, thus, in that place where the soul has lost its poise.

Sadly, we are often taught to believe, that in these situations, our faith is on trial, that God is testing us to see if our faith is genuine. Rest assured that, if that were true, all of us would fail the test because our faith is really faithlessness.
If He is testing us to see if His faith working in us is genuine, then I think He already knows the answer to that, as His faith is always genuine.
In my opinion, however, these difficult, debilitating times do give us the opportunity to examine how much we trust His faithfulness.
Now, please listen carefully: Faith is God’s gift to each of His children, and I might add, faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to move a mountain. This faith is always genuine and it always accomplishes God’s purpose. God has no reason to test His own faith!
Trust, however, is another issue, altogether. The fact of the matter is this: trust is earned—always. We do not automatically trust someone simply because he says he is trustworthy, and this is true regarding God.
Now, as I said last Sunday, (and I am speaking specifically regarding the realm of the spiritual) we can certainly have faith without trust, but we will not (cannot) have trust without faith.
To use the words of Paul (if, in fact, he is the author of Hebrews), “Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” The question becomes: “Is the substance evidence enough to cause me to trust?”

So, when we find ourselves in that place where our souls have lost their poise, what is the key to our trusting God, the key to our being able to say as Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”
1. We must understand that faith is God’s gift to us, not something we muster by trying hard to believe; faith is something God works within us.

2. We must understand that trust is something we exercise in direct proportion to what we believe about God.

3. We must, therefore, be certain that what we believe about God is, actually, true.

4. With truth firmly in place, we, then, begin to remind ourselves of what we believe and trust comes, as surely as the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening.

5. Constantly reminding ourselves of what we believe, those truths that have been proven over and over, reinforces the truth that God is faithful—always—and, therefore, He is trustworthy.

The following are some examples:
1. If you believe that God is out to “get” you, then you will not trust Him to take care of you when your soul has lost its poise. If, on the other hand you believe that God is not out to get you, when we remind ourselves of this truth, you will trust Him to take care of us—regardless of our circumstances.

2. If you believe that God is keeping an account of your sins, then you will not trust Him to embrace you when your soul has lost it poise. If, on the other hand, you believe that your sin debt has been paid in full, canceled, and nailed to the cross, never to be remembered again, then when you remind yourself of this truth, you will trust Him to embrace you—regardless of your circumstances.

3. If you believe that God accepts you according to your behavior, then you will not trust Him to accept you when you soul has lost it poise. If, on the other hand, you believe that God accepts you according to Jesus’ behavior, then when you remind yourself of this truth, you will trust Him to accept you—regardless of your circumstances.

4. If you believe that God blesses you based upon your behavior, then you won’t trust Him to bless you, when your soul has lost it poise. If, on the other hand, you believe that God blesses you in the same way that He chose you in Him before the foundation of the world, then your will trust Him to bless you—regardless of your circumstances.

5. If you believe that God loves you, but only when you are living in obedience, then you will not trust that He loves you when your soul has lost its poise. If, on the other hand, you believe that God’s love for you is unconditional, then when you remind yourself of this truth, you will trust Him to love you—regardless of your circumstances.

One final thing: If you are going to trust God then you must believe that you own nothing and He owns everything. If not, then every time you find yourself in that place where you soul has lost its poise, you can rest assured that you are holding on to something, something that, at least in your mind, you cannot live without.

Each of you is well-aware that we are living in very difficult times. Every morning when I read the paper, I am reminded of just how close to home these difficulties really are. Just this morning I read where two kids, who were waiting on the school bus, were shot! No one in his right mind wants his children or grandchildren to be exposed to this kind of hooliganism. Of course, this is just a drop in the proverbial bucket! We can all rest-assured that this kind of depravity will only get worse (if depravity can worsen) in direct proportion to the corruption that is going on at every level of government. The financial crisis is obviously bringing to surface the very worst in man, and we haven’t seen anything, yet. I could go on-and-on, but be aware–please.

On top of all that is going on not only a round our feet, but also around the world, we know have a huge storm that is about to cause much devastation along the east coast. If, as predicted, this storm hits the Outer Banks of NC and lands on Long Island and NYC, we will have one major catastrophe. My prayer is that God will change the storm’s course (He can, you know!), but, if not, then to spare lives. So many seem determined not to move out of the storm’s fury, so who knows what will happen to them? The financial ramifications of this storm will be enormous; however, we seem to have plenty of money, so that should not be a major concern. Our debt is now only 14 trillion and I do not believe we have any on reserve for emergencies, so I guess we will have to print more next week.

Have we all gone nuts? What has happened to reason, to common sense? I heard someone say the other day, that listening to the Democrats and Republicans argue over how to solve the debt problem is about like listening to two drunks aboard the Titanic argue over who would pay the bar tab.

Folks, like the Titanic, this “ship” will sink, even though most are fully convinced that all is well, so in my opinion most of the arguments of the day are really irrelevant. We have but one hope and that Hope is Jesus, the living, breathing, Son of the Living God, our Savior! Whatever else you might do, lay hold of Him, as He is one, fine life preserver.

The text for Sunday’s message is as follows: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:18-21 NASB).

It is my prayer that on this very Sunday the eyes your heart will be enlightened so that you may know (1) what is the hope of His calling, (2) the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and (3) the surpassing greatness of His power toward all believers.

If you think about it, that would make for one incredible day of worship!

I love each of you and truly look forward to seeing what He has in store for us!