Trust God Always
An all-creatures Bible Message

Trust God Always
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
5 June 2016
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

1 Kings 17:8-24
Psalm 146:1-10

Trust God always is something that every true believer should be doing, even when things are not going the way we want them to.
 
We believe that just about every believing adult has prayed to God for something, and the Lord didn’t answer those prayers the way they wanted; the true believers may be sad or unhappy about the results but they continue to trust God with all their heart and soul; however, there are those who are weak in faith and have turned away from God.
 
God’s ways are not always our ways, even when we are trying to live in His heavenly will, so we have to trust God always and continue to seek His guidance and answers.
 
As we continue with our discussion about why we are to trust God always, let’s take a look at 1 Kings 17:8-24…

8. Then the word of the LORD came to him [Elijah], saying,
 
9. "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."

Elijah was being called out of hiding, where God told him to hide himself.
 
We can see that Elijah was one of the people who trust God always; he did when he went into hiding, and he even trusted the Lord to provide food and water for him, and as we will see next, he will also trust God when he leaves his place of hiding.

10. So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, "Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink."

Will this woman, who is not a Hebrew, also trust God because of the word of Elijah

11. And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand."
 
12. But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die."

By her statement, we know that this woman knows who God is, but does that mean that she will also trust God…Let’s see.

13. Then Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.
 
14. For thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.' "

Elijah and the Lord are really putting this woman to the test; what will she do?

15. So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days.

This gentile woman is showing more faith by trusting God than the vast majority of the Israelites, and she is prospering because of it.

16. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah.

Do we have this kind of faith?
 
Will we trust God as are Elijah and this woman?
 
If not, we should, even though the Lord continues to test our faith to strengthen us so that we will be able to trust God always.
 
This is what happens as we continue with our story about Elijah and the woman.

17. Now it came about after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe, that there was no breath left in him.
 
18. So she said to Elijah, "What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance, and to put my son to death!"

This sure sounds like a loss of faith, and something that is really quite common when it concerns the death of a loved one, whether human or animal.

19. And he said to her, "Give me your son." Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed.

Elijah is acting upon his faith, and by his actions it is fairly certain that he will trust God.

20. And he called to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, hast Thou also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?"

Are we wrong?
 
Or, perhaps this is from the Lord to strengthen their faith even more.

21. Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the LORD, and said, "O LORD my God, I pray Thee, let this child's life return to him."
 
22. And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived.
 
23. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, "See, your son is alive."
 
24. Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."
NASB

The woman listened to the directions that Elijah gave her, but this time it really set in that what he was saying was truly from God, and most of us are or were like this before we came to trust God always.
 
Elijah is one of the few people who were able to raise someone from the dead with God’s help that we talked about last week.
 
Now, let’s keep in mind how we are to trust God always as we look at Psalm 146:1-10…

1. Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
 
2. I will praise the LORD while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

This is speaking in earthly terms, for we know that God is praised in heaven, but the significance is that here on earth we are constantly being exposed to the corrupt ways of the devil and his minions, which can distract us from focusing upon the heavenly will of God, so the psalmist is saying that he and we are always to see beyond the corrupt and evil ways that abound here on earth and praise God for being able to do so.

3. Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.

We are being cautioned not to trust in mortal man or even in our human leaders, for they may not be doing and saying what is in the heavenly will of God.

4. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.

We are to trust God always and not be drawn away to seek earthly answers unless they are truly in the heavenly will of God.

5. How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God;

There is no blessing from following the corrupt ways of this world with all its pain, suffering, bloodshed and death that is inflicted upon millions of our fellow human beings and billions of animals every year.
 
We are to focus and trust in the Lord our God…

6. Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps faith forever;
 
7. Who executes justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free.

The ways of this earth are not like this; the ways of the earth oppress both humans and animals; the ways of the earth cause humans and animals to go hungry, and the ways of the earth imprison both humans and animals.
 
We are to recognize the difference and trust God always.

8. The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous;
 
9. The LORD protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow;
But He thwarts the way of the wicked.

This is what God did for the widow that Elijah went to visit.

10. The LORD will reign forever,
Thy God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!
NASB

Yes, praise the Lord and trust God always, for from Him comes our eternal salvation, and life ever after in heaven.
 
Trust God always!
 
Amen.

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