Trusting in the Lord

By Tony V. Hammack These notes are best when used in conjunction with the audio or video. To listen to the audio (podcast), click here. To watch the video, click here.

There’s a very spiritual man who has been notified that his house is going to be flooded and he needs to get out of the house. He says “no I don’t have to, I’m trusting in the Lord, God is going to take care of me.” Then the flood starts to rise and a sheriff comes along and tells him to get out. The man says no, God is going to save me. So, the floods continue to rise, and he climbs on top of the house. A boat comes along and he’s told to climb into the boat. He says, “no, no , God is going to save me.” Finally, a helicopter comes along and they lower the net to rescue him. The man says, “no, no, God is going to save me!” Well, the man drowns and goes to heaven. When he gets to heaven he says to God, "why didn’t you save me?" God says, "I sent the sheriff, I sent a boat, I sent a helicopter, what more did you want me to do?"

Proverbs 3:5,6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Trusting in the Lord begins with rightly discerning the word of the Lord for your situation. There is not a one size fits all response for every circumstance of life. There is never a time in the scriptures where trusting in the Lord means doing nothing. There is always some kind of action the Lord will have you to take.

James 2:20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

What is God saying? Rightly discern the word of the Lord then obey.

1. Sometimes he says stand
2. Sometimes he says fight
3. Sometimes he says prepare
4. Sometimes he says flee

1. Sometimes He says Stand
Trust in the Lord
The Red Sea
   A. Exodus 14:13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.

The command to stand included:
Trusting in God’s way
For Moses, he had to obey, raise his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea to divide the water. (Ex. 14:14)
Waiting all night with the Egyptian army massed against them. (Ex. 14:20)
Walking through the sea with walls of water on both sides. (Ex. 14:22)

The Battle for Jericho
Deuteronomy 1:30
30 The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,

What does it look like when the Lord fights for you?
You hear the word of the Lord and obey it
Get the fighting men 7 rams horns and the ark of the covenant to march around the city once a day for 7 days blowing the trumpets
On the 7th day march around the city 7 times and on the 7th time give a long trumpet blast and synchronize that with a war cry from the people

The walls supernaturally fall
Joshua 6:21, 24
They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys. Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house.

2. Sometimes he says fight
Trust in the Lord
The Amalekites Defeated
Fight -
Moses instructed Joshua to attack the Amalekites. (Ex. 17:9)
While Moses held his hands up the Israelites were winning. When Moses let his hands down the Amalekites were winning.  This adds a spiritual component to the battle.
God wants to completely blot out the memory of Amalek (Ex. 17:14)


The Sun Stands Still
Joshua 10:1-15
Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem realizes that Israel has a treaty with Gibeon. This scares the king because Gibeon has great fighters and is a large key city in the region.
So Adoni-Zedek forms a coalition of armies to attack Gibeon.
The Gibeonites who used a ruse to get Israel to ally with them cry out for Israeli help against the 6-7 army coalition.
Joshua marches all night with his army unleashing a surprise attack on the invaders.
The Lord throws the enemy armies into confusion v. 10
Israel pursues the enemy army cutting them down when the Lord begins to throw large hailstones from the sky at them killing more with the hailstones than what died by the sword. v. 11
So Joshua could continue the battle in daylight Joshua prayed for an extension of daylight. God answered his prayer and he received about an extra day to continue the battle.

3. Sometimes he says prepare
Trust in the Lord
Noah and the Ark
Rightly discerning the word of the Lord and obeying.
Genesis 6:13
God tells Noah he’s going to end all life on Earth due to the violence!
He then tells Noah in great detail how to construct an ark.
Gen. 6:22  Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Gen 7:1 God tells Noah and his family along with the animals to get into the ark.
Noah obeys and saves terrestrial life on the Earth.

Joseph and the Famine
Rightly discerning the word of the Lord and obeying.
Genesis 41:1-40
Pharaoh has a dream about 7 large healthy heads of grain and 7 shriveled up heads of grain. Then he has a dream about 7 fat and sleek cows and 7 gaunt cows that ate the fat cows.
No one can interpret the dream but the chief cupbearer remembered Joseph had interpreted his dream in prison.  Joseph gets summoned to Pharaoah’s courts after a change of clothes and a shave.
Joseph correctly interprets the dream as a matter firmly established by God because of the two dreams having the same meaning. v. 32
7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine that will be so severe the 7 years of plenty will be forgotten.
Pharaoh promotes Joseph and allows Joseph to act on the information and interpretation of the dream, representing Pharaoh’s wishes.
Actionable Intelligence
Not only does Egypt survive the famine but they sold the grain they had stored to foreigners for profit. (Gen. 41:57)

4. Sometimes He says Flee
Trust in the Lord
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
Genesis 19
v. 15 The angels urge lot to leave the city, he hesitates and they grab him. He does leave however and is spared.
He flees to Zoar and lives. His wife turns into a pillar of salt and his daughters have been corrupted by Sodom.

Signs of the End of the Age
Matthew 24:15,16
"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
An ability to understand the times predicates fleeing.

Flee from Babylon
In Revelation 18 we see the destruction of the City of Babylon and God saying, in v. 4 "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

If you’re not sure what the Lord is saying sometimes it’s appropriate do to the last thing He told you to do.

Proverbs 15:22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.


I Corinthians 14:32
32The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.

What is God saying? Rightly discern the word of the Lord then obey.

1. Sometimes he says stand
2. Sometimes he says fight
3. Sometimes he says prepare
4. Sometimes he says flee

What is God saying to you regarding the current circumstance you're in?  There isn't a cookie cutter Christian response to everything.  Never in scripture do you see an individual or a people trust in the Lord by sitting back and doing nothing (accept saying they are "trusting in the Lord") .  There is always a direction from God that needs to be taken and heeded to avoid calamity. 

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