Trust Overcomes Bargaining
An all-creatures Bible Message

Trust Overcomes Bargaining
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
23 July 2017
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Genesis 28:10-22
Isaiah 26:4
Daniel 2:7-10
Philippians 2:24

Trust overcomes bargaining with God, because we only bargain when we lack trust and want to make sure of the outcome.
 
If we truly trust in the Lord, then we will patiently wait for Him to respond, because we live in His heavenly will, and know that He will respond in a positive manner, even if it means taking us home to heaven.
 
We are always to love the Lord with every part of our being, and this kind of heavenly love also contains trust; thus, if we doubt or distrust the Lord, it also means that we don’t fully love the Lord, and each and every one of us needs to understand this in our own hearts and souls.
 
When God told us to care for and protect the whole of this earthly creation, He was trusting in us to fulfill that charge, but with relatively few exceptions, we, as a society, have failed miserably, for not only are most of us indifferent, but we actually corrupt His creation.
 
Humans pollute the environment, but we also cause billions of animals to suffer and die every year.
 
In our opinion, this means that we don’t fully love or trust the Lord our God.
 
Let’s think about how trust overcomes bargaining as we look at Genesis 28:10-22, and how some people still resort to bargaining with God to get what they want, which may not be what God wants.

10. Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
 
11. And he came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.
 
12. And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

The fact that the angels were ascending the ladder, first, means that they were already here on earth; but for what purpose?
 
Angels are messengers of God, and this shows us that angels are all around us and are taking our thoughts and prayers to the Lord, and then descending with His answers for us.
 
And obviously they were taking Jacob’s thoughts and prayers to God, and the Lord responds to Jacob in his dream.

13. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.
 
14. Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

In essence this is the same promise that the Lord gave to Abraham and Isaac before him.

15. And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

If God told all these things to us, would we believe and trust Him to fulfill them?

16. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."

This really is the first sign of Jacob’s doubt, for he should have already known that God is with him continually.

17. And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
 
18. So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on its top.
 
19. And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz.

God isn’t looking for us to build monuments to Him; all He wants is our love and trust and obedience.
 
Do you think that Jacob trusts in God?
 
Let’s see.

20. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear,
 
21. and I return to my father's house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.

The Lord should be Jacob’s God already, but he still doubts and resorts to bargaining with God.
 
The Lord had just repeated His promise to Jacob that He had given to his father and grandfather before him, but he still doubts, and we believe that these doubts are the main reason that Jacob has a troubled life instead of having the peace of God.

22. And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house; and of all that Thou dost give me I will surely give a tenth to Thee."
NASB

Jacob is even dictating the terms of his gifts to God instead of just doing everything he could to end the suffering in the world and usher in the heavenly peace of God.
 
And unfortunately, Jacob is like most of the people in the world today who want whatever they can get for themselves without seeming to care about what God wants.
 
This is why so many people struggle with faith and trust in God; they forget or perhaps don’t even consider that faith overcomes bargaining.
 
Daniel was a man of great faith and trust in God, but the Chaldeans were not, as we are told in Daniel 2:7-10…

7. They answered a second time and said, "Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation."

Because they are part of the world system, and not relying on living in God’s heavenly will, they don’t have the answers, and will just be making something up that they feel the king wants to hear.
 
They don’t even have any faith or trust in their own so-called profession.
 
The whole thing is a pretense, and the king knows it.

8. The king answered and said, "I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm,
 
9. that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation." 
 
10. The Chaldeans answered the king and said, "There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean.
NASB

The Chaldeans are like most of the people in the world today, and if you care to read on, Daniel does answer the king, because Daniel trusted in the Lord to give him the answers, and Daniel didn’t have to bargain with God about anything.
 
Trust overcomes bargaining.
 
Do we trust God as much as Daniel did?
 
We sure hope so.
 
Think about what we are told in Isaiah 26:4…

4. "Trust in the LORD forever,
For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.
NASB

If we do trust in the Lord forever, it also means that we never have any doubt about trusting in the Lord.
 
It means that we know that the Lord will respond, perhaps not in the way that we want, but in a way that reflects His heavenly will.
 
And finally let’s take a look at what Paul wrote in Philippians 2:24…

24. and I trust in the Lord that I myself also shall be coming shortly.
NASB

Note the way Paul expresses his trust in the Lord.
 
Paul had the desire to go to these Philippians, but he only says that he trusts in the Lord that he will be able to visit them, but even if he doesn’t get a chance to go, he still trusts in God for he knows that God will always act in His heavenly will.
 
Trust overcomes bargaining.
 
Amen.

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