The Cure for Worry - Trust

Daniel chapter three I remember reading this story in part of sermon several months ago. I don't recall which sermon it was but if it sounds familiar, that's why. There's several points can be taken from this story here in Daniel three. These are Daniel's three friends. Their names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Amaziah.

No, it's what's the other one. Anyway, Hezeiah and they were taken captive along with Daniel from their homeland in Judah and taken to Nebuchadnezzar's palace in Babylon as young men and there they were trained in the ways of the Babylonians. They even changed their names. Try to make them forget the true God and become attached to the gods of Babylon. They changed Daniel's name to Belteshazzar though we usually call him Daniel and they changed the other three's names to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which are names that you are likely familiar with are the Babylonian names of his three friends.

As the story goes in Daniel three, Nebuchadnezzar built this humongous statue and he called all of the leaders of the nation together in this valley and and he told them at the sound of the music that they were supposed to bow down and worship the image which was likely his image. The the passage doesn't specifically say. As you can imagine, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had a problem with bowing down to an idol. Seeing the law strictly forbids it and seeing that there is truly only what? One God and other idols are nothing but the fabrication of men.

And so, Nebuchadnezzar as you can imagine wasn't very happy. So, he called them in privately and because he knew them and and they must have been somewhat special to him. He gave them a second chance and that's what we read about here in Daniel chapter three and we'll begin reading in verse 14. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, is it true? Oh Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not you serve my gods nor worship the golden image which I have set up.

Now, if you be ready, that at what time you hear the sound, the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made well. But, if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of the burning fiery furnace and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, oh Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand, oh king. But if it not, but if not, be it known unto thee, oh king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Let's pray once more. Lord, thank you for the service today. May you be honored and exalted in all that we do. May we recognize that there is someone to whom we can go with our struggles, our trials, our burdens, our requests. One who cares for us and that we have no need to be anxious and worried.

But that we can trust in you. In Jesus precious name, we do pray. Amen. As Daniel and his friends were brought before Nebuchadnezzar and he said, okay, here's your second chance. Take it or else you're going in there.

They said unto him in verse 16, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. In other words, we are not burdened with the need to answer your question. We are not fretting about it. We're not worried about it. There is a higher authority than you to whom we bow.

And we will not bow to your image. Let come what may, whether our God save us from the furnace or whether he choose not to, we will not bow to your image. Of course, you know the story or most of us do. They didn't bow. Nebuchadnezzar had them thrown into the furnace.

The people that threw them in were killed by the heat that came out from the furnace. It was so hot but Shadrach, Meshach, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they didn't burn. Matter of fact, they were joined in the furnace with one who is very likely a pre incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ himself. The son of God with them and in reality, God was already with them and God is with us who know Christ as our savior today. We may not see him and sometimes we may not recognize his hand in our lives except often in the times of greatest trial.

And this is the case with Daniel's friend Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The cure for worry is trust in God. There are many examples in scripture of those who seemingly were unafraid, though the trials were upon them, often times for their faith. Martin Luther stood before the council and said, I will not recant. In his case, he escaped martyrdom though many like him did not.

But it's interesting to read their stories. I have a book called Fox's Book of Martyrs. I'm gonna read a story this evening briefly from it about a man named Polycarp. Polycarp's story goes similarly. Though he did not recant, he was murdered for his faith, but the story around his martyrdom is quite interesting, particularly the peace that God gave him and the testimony that he left behind.

You can have peace. Turn if you would to Philippians four six and seven. You don't have to worry. You don't have to be overcome with fear about tomorrow. Because we who know the Lord are not alone.

We're not alone. Philippians four, six, and seven. If I were here on Thanksgiving day, this might have been the message I had preached. That's what kind of led me to the message this morning. It has the word Thanksgiving in the verses that we are going to read.

Says in verse six, be careful for nothing and don't do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. There is peace that passes all understanding to be had. In verse six tells us how to get it. First of all, in verse six, the first phrase, be careful for nothing. It means stop worrying, stop fretting.

It is an imperative. It is a command. It means not that you have never done it and so don't ever do it. It's more of a statement that says, you have been doing it, so stop doing it. It is man's human nature to what?

To worry and to be anxious and fearful about the future, about things that we don't understand, about things that we have little control over. We worry, we fret, we're anxious, we get stressed over these things. It is our nature but God says, via Paul to the Philippian Christians, stop fretting. You don't have to fret. You don't have to worry.

You don't have to be afraid. Instead, you can have peace. Peace that passes all understanding. You can have the peace and the joy and the contentment that God wants you to have. It is there.

It is within your grasp to have peace. We live in a world today that cries out constantly for peace and has none. There's one day that Christ will come back and set up his kingdom and then this world will know peace. But this world will continue in turmoil. Worlds will not cease until Christ returns.

But you as an individual and you as a child of God, can personally have peace. Peace with God. Through faith in Jesus Christ, his son, who paid the price for your sin on Calvary and the peace of God as you walk through this world through and around the trials and obstacles that lie in your path. You can have victory over depression. You can have freedom from bitterness.

You can have joy in the midst of trials. You can find peace despite turmoil. You can find rest for your weary soul. Jesus said, in the gospels come unto me and I will give you what? And I will give you rest and peace.

Look back if you would to Philippians four and verse 10. Paul continues on in verse 10. He says, but I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for of me have flourished again wherein you were also careful but you lacked opportunity. The Philippians had sent a contribution, a present to Paul which he is very grateful. But he goes on in verse 11 and says, not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. Now, we take that verse out of context often and use it in relation to other things. Things in which sometimes it does apply and things maybe in which it does not.

But in context, Paul is saying this, I can handle it. I can handle being hungry. I can handle being needy. I can handle being on the road with very little. I can handle various trials because I have who?

I have Jesus. And in Jesus, I find contentment. In Jesus, I find peace. In Jesus, I find the power and the ability to continue on. And continue on he did.

From city to city, he got beat, he got whipped, he got thrown in prison, he was shipwrecked, he was stoned and left for dead, and each time he got back up, and he went to the next city, and he preached the gospel, and the majority acted the same way the last city did. And after he got beaten or thrown in prison or run out of town, the next day, guess what he did? The very same thing. He got up. He went on to the next city.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me and he moved on. He didn't let fear or worry keep him from doing the things that the Lord had called him to do. The key is this, the key is trust. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart. Lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.

I got something up here to use, it will take me just a moment. Alright. There we go. The cure for worry. Stop fretting and worrying, instead of worrying, trust in who?

Trust in God. Trust me, God says. You can't trust you. You you you can't do everything. You can't trust you.

Your your desires in the flesh will lead you astray, but you can trust me, God says. God says, I will not leave you. I will not leave you. Hebrews thirteen five, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have. Well, why and how can we be content?

He continues on. For he hath said, for God hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake me. If you have Jesus, you have everything You need. I will not leave you. I will not fail you, he says.

Deuteronomy thirty one six, be strong and of a good courage. Fear not nor be afraid of them. For the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee. He will not fail thee nor forsake. He will not fail thee and he will not forsake thee.

He will not mislead you. Psalm thirty two eight, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. God says, I will guide thee. He says, another passage, I will guide you into all truth.

Speaking of the guidance of the holy spirit who dwells in the heart of every believer. He will not mislead you. Others will mislead you. You, your own heart, the Bible says, will mislead you. But God won't trust in him.

He says, I will never stop loving you. You may have been in a relationship with a parent or sibling or friend or spouse who seem to stop loving you but God assures you that no matter what happens, no matter what failures you may have as a child of God, he will never ever stop loving you. Jeremiah thirty one three, the Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. What kind of love and everlasting love?

How long does that last? Forever. Forever. It's everlasting. It is eternal.

His compassions, they fail not. His mercy is new. Every morning. His mercies endure forever. His love never fails and he will not stop loving you.

And then finally, God says, I know what's best for you. Sometimes, we think we know what's best for us. Have you ever thought that you knew what was best for you and you found out later you were wrong? Anybody want to raise their hand and join me? Alright.

Okay. I see some nods. The Bible says there's a way that seems right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death. When we ignore God and his counsel and we listen only to our own heart which the Bible says is desperately wicked, it leads us always into trouble and ruin. God says, but I won't do so.

Trust in me. Trust in me. When our desires are in line with His desires, then follow your desires. But when your desires aren't in line with His desires, you must make a choice. Choose God.

Trust Him because He does know what's best for you. He knows the future. He knows how He made you. He knows what's best for you. So trust in Him.

Don't worry, don't fret, don't be afraid. Our God will never leave us, fail us, mislead us, or stop loving us. Learn to trust in him. The Bible says in first John four eighteen, there is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

You don't need to fear, folks. Recognize. God loves you. Love him in return. Perfect love casteth out all fear and if we love God as we should, then we will not fear what man can do unto us.

We will not fear the trials of life because we love and trust in one who is altogether trustworthy and will never stop loving us. And as you trust in him, we are told here in verse six to do these things, okay? First of all, pray. Now, the word pray in Greek is the word proseuche. It's also translated worship.

To pray is not just to go through a a spiritual exercise or ritual or right. It it it isn't it is even more than just talking to God. Though prayer is talking to God, it's it's even more than just talking to God. It is an exercise, a practice of worship, a demonstration of a sincere humility as we bow the knee. Our knee, our heart our will before the Lord.

Prayer is an act of worship because he is worthy. And because I am not. And despite his worthiness and despite my unworthiness. Through Jesus Christ, he not only accepts my worship and he not only accepts and hears my prayers. He invites it.

He invites it. He tells us to come boldly before the throne of grace. And we should daily and we should publicly and also in private. Worship the Lord in humility. For worship is always an act of humility before the God of heaven.

We're told in first Peter five and verse five, he giveth grace unto the what? He giveth grace unto the humble. To those who are willing to humble themselves before the God of heaven. When we come to Jesus for salvation, we must first recognize and humble ourselves before him as sinners. We are sinners.

We have sinned. We have failed him. And you look at others around, you know, they have failed him, and they have failed me, and these things hurt, and I'm not like that. But the Bible says, yes, we're all like that. For all have what?

Sinned and shall come short of the glory of God. Others may have hurt you, but you may have also hurt others. And the most important one of all is the God who made you, for we have all hurt, quote unquote, him, because we have transgressed his law, because we have rejected his guidance. But yet, he sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for you. Jesus humbled himself, and God became a man and took upon himself our sin that we might be reconciled to God through faith in him.

God says, there's only one way to reach heaven and that's through faith and humility, repentance upon Jesus Christ, our savior. And when we come humbly to God and say, God, save me a sinner. God hears and answers that prayer and saves the lost sinner and makes him a child of God and translates him into his eternal kingdom. Not because we are worthy, but because why? He is worthy.

God says, come to me in prayer, in worship, in humility because I need Him, and I'm nothing without Him. Turn if you would to Matthew chapter six. Turn if you would to Matthew six. This will seem familiar to you. Jesus' disciples wanted to know how to pray, so Jesus gave them example.

This is not meant to be a prayer that we pray every day or over and over again. It's meant to be an example of how to pray, how to form a prayer. And in Matthew chapter six, beginning in verse nine, we have what is often referred to as the Lord's prayer. The Lord says after this manner, therefore, pray ye. Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. One of the first things that strikes me when I read the Lord's prayer is this, it is worship. It's worship. It's a it's humility and it exalts the Lord.

He begins with, our father, which art in heaven, hallowed or holy be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, in earth as it is in heaven, not mine but yours. It ends with, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. When we run into trials in life and difficulties, there is one to whom you can run. But you must run to him in humility and faith.

Bowing the knee before the one who is worthy and who is able in prayer. The second thing we see from Philippians four, six, and seven is that we are to come with prayer and supplications. What are supplications? Well, they're requests. They're requests.

God says, when you come to me, when you're feel like you're going to be anxious for something, when you are anxious about something, when you're worried, come to me. Come to me humbly in prayer and bring your request and give them to me. Let me hear them. Speak them. Bring them to me.

Your supplication, your request. They can be request for yourself. They can be request for others. God pleads with you to bring them to him. No matter how big, no matter how small.

Matthew seven, God says, ask and it shall be given unto you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. For he that askth receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. God says, you need to bring those requests to me.

There are some things that you can't change and even some things that you think you can change that are troubling you. God says, bring them to me. You know, when you're a parent and you have children and they're struggling in school or they're struggling with something going on in their life, with how other people are treating them or they're struggling with some other need, as a parent, it makes you feel good when they come to you. Say, Daddy, will you help me? Daddy, I need help.

Now, you don't want them asking the same questions maybe when they're 40 that they do when they're four, okay? But, it's good to be needed. And God is a person, and God also feels good to be needed, and he is. But he likes to hear our prayers. He wants to hear our prayers.

He is ready to hear our prayers. And He knows best how to answer our prayers. He doesn't always answer them exactly as we would like. But He says, Trust Me. Please bring them to Me.

I will help you. My children do not always like my answer. I know when I go to people for advice, I don't always like their answer. When people come to me sometimes, they don't always like my answer. But unlike us, God's answer is always what?

It's always right. And you can be assured that God cares more for you than anybody else on this planet. And he hears your prayers. In Matthew chapter six, in the Lord's prayer, the middle of the prayer goes like this, give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. These are needs that we have, and many more personal ones. God says, when you come to me, bring those with you. Bring those with you because I will help you with them. I will carry them for you.

I will guide you. I will be there. Paul, we consider to be one of the great heroes of the faith. Paul often asked others to pray for him. And he often prayed for others.

He had needs, you have needs. I may not know your needs. Others may not care about your needs, but God does. He says, pray and bring your request to me. With what?

With thanksgiving. In appreciation of God's hearing and answering our prayers, whether life is rosy or whether life is not. The bible says, in everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. When you come to the Lord in prayer with your request, come with what kind of heart? A heart of gratitude.

And there are many things for which we have to be thankful for. Beginning with our salvation. God owes me nothing. He offers me everything. He owes me nothing.

Even salvation itself is not something God owes me. It's just something God has chosen to freely give to me because He loves me. And if He has given to me salvation, He has saved me from hell, what's to keep Him from giving me every good thing that I need? Come with thanksgiving, who God is, what He's done, that He hears your prayers with a grateful heart and not a selfish one. In James chapter four, in James chapter four, James wrote, let me read it for you here.

James four says, you have not because you what? You have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not, because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lust. We have not, because a lot of time we just don't ask, and we receive not when we do ask because we ask selfishly, and proudly, and not with humility and gratitude for what God has already done. What has God done?

He saved your soul from hell. He's given you a home in heaven. He's given you the Holy Spirit to guide you in life. And the list goes on and on and on and on and on. It's easy to focus on the things we don't have and forget about the things that we do.

And finally, we're to do this in what? In faith. Faith in who? Faith in me? No.

Faith in others? No. Faith in prayer? No, not really. Faith in who?

Faith in God who hears and answers what? Prayer. People talk all the time about the power of prayer. Power of prayer is real but it is not the power of prayer itself. It is the power of the God who answers and who hears.

Your prayers. There are many people that don't know Jesus. They've never bowed the knee before him. They pray every day and they don't receive answers because they have not accepted God's offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. They have no relationship with God.

If I go to somebody three houses down and two streets over and I say to them, you know, I need a car. Will you give me a car? And they've never seen me before and they have no relationship to me. Are they likely to give me a car? No.

They don't know me. They have no connection with me. But if I go to my parents or I go to my brother and say, hey, I'm direly in need of a car, they might help me or they might at least listen. Because I have a what? Relationship.

Many people pray every day to God but they don't have a what? A relationship to him. You first must be related to him through faith in his son, Jesus Christ. There are many others around this world that pray every day to every idol and God around the globe and as the Baal did not hear the prophets of Baal in first Kings 18 but God heard Elijah's very brief little prayer. The idols of this world are dumb and blind and ignorant and immobile and they cannot do anything An answer to anyone's prayers.

But your God, he can. And he does. And he cries out to us, believe and trust in me. Pray. Bring your request with thanksgiving and I will give you what?

He doesn't promise to give us everything we ask for. He doesn't promise to make life rosy and take away all the bumps because sometimes the bumps are good for us. What God does promise is this, I will give you peace that passes all understanding. Come to me. I will give you rest.

And He will. Today, you may have many things on your mind that worry you. And I understand. It is our nature. It is mine too.

I was having surgery on my elbow a while back. I'd never had surgery before. I thought I was doing well, not worrying. But the last two weeks before I had surgery, I'd wake up every morning and my jaw would be stiff because I was clutching it all night long. I must have been stressed out and I didn't even know it.

God understands our frame, but God says, I'll help you with that. Trust in me. If you're here today and you've never trusted Jesus Christ as savior, the first step is becoming related to him through faith in his son. The first step is recognizing that you're a sinner and that God loves you and humbling yourself and coming to him. And asking him who is the Lord and who died on the cross for your sins and is risen at the right hand of the father in heaven to save you and give you eternal life and I hope and I pray that if you do nothing else this Christmas season that you will accept God's gift of eternal life through faith in his son.

Let's pray. Dear God, we thank you Lord for all that you've done for us and all that you promise you will do and I pray that we would quit fretting and worrying as we do. That we would begin to trust you a little more, that we would grow in our faith. And Lord, allow you to help us with the things that make us anxious, that make us afraid. We would realize how great your love is for us and that you do know what's best and that you'll never leave us.

You'll never mislead us. You'll never fail us, Lord. You'll never stop loving us. Lord, we thank you for the peace that we have in Jesus Christ and I pray Lord as we go into the end of this year and the beginning of the next that we would learn to trust you more, to bring the request before you, that we might have the peace that is ours to have. In Jesus name, we pray.

Amen.