By John Thiel, mp3

Psalm 46:1 God [is] our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 [Though] the waters thereof roar [and] be troubled, [though] the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 11 The LORD of hosts [is] with us; the God of Jacob [is] our refuge.

I have experienced over the years that fear, stress, anxiety is even in the ranks of people who are Christians. They shouldn’t have that. We should have such an appreciation of the God who loves us that there is nothing that spoils our peace.

As we go carefully into the amazing sources of trust that are found in God may we personally release ourselves from the things that  cause us personal fear.

When we read in the Scripture “and God said”, the meaning of this at creation is very important.

Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spake, and it was [done]; he commanded, and it stood fast.

When God says and speaks. What do we receive from that Scripture? It is; it happens. Whatever God commands, that is what happens. As we apply that to anything that God says in His word, then we know that the creative power that is in the word that He spoke when He created the world, that same creative power is active in whatever else He says. Let’s see if there is any difference from when He created to what He will do.

Psalm 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I [will be] with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

If God spoke and it happened at creation, then He speaks here and He says those of you who set your love upon me I will deliver. If you take that for what it says as a creative reality, what follows? God will set you on high because you have known His name and as you call upon Him He will answer you, He will be with us in trouble; He will deliver us and honour us with long life, eternal life, He will satisfy us and show us His salvation. You can depend upon God’s word because there is power in the word. It is creative.

Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

When God speaks He verifies the fact here; it will do exactly what the rain does when it falls on earth, it produces. My doctrine shall fall as the rain. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit that it is talking about is that it will happen; it will produce.

Entirely trusting in God gives us a basis upon which we can trust. At the creation of the universe the word produced and that universe, that creation that God has created, is still sustained by the same word, it is out there. As you look into the starry skies and study it all, it is there because of His word. The question that we want to find the answer to within our inward self is, does that word affect you? That is the question that we have to answer for us personally. God’s word will produce but there is something about me that has to be dealt with so that that word can produce in me.

God said in Psalm 91 if you will set your love upon me. There is the condition of the word having its power in your own personal life, in my personal life. Whether I set my love upon God, whether I will accept the love that God has expressed to us in the gift of His dear Son Jesus Christ. The reason why people do not find God’s word operative in their life is because they have not set their love upon Him. They still have fear, they still have something inside of them that puts a barrier between God and them as Adam and Eve did. If I have a barrier there, can God’s word penetrate? That is what it suggests that we must come to a point of entire trust in God. Entirely so, not just partially because then only the partial of the word’s blessing will affect us; other things will be shut out.

When we do set our heart upon and love Him because He has loved us and have His wonderful love, then this very God whose eternal love becomes ours will speak accordingly about us. Let God’s word create within you and me, this perfect release.

Isaiah 49:1 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?

That is most unreal isn’t it that a woman will forget her sucking child?

Isaiah 49:1 …yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of [my] hands; thy walls [are] continually before me.

May God grant us to take these words personally. He says I have graven you upon the palms of my hands; you are constantly before me. His word falls upon a person who has set his love upon Him.

Isaiah 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called [thee] by thy name; thou [art] mine.

How many people have read these words and have said that’s alright for the believer over there? They do not take it as a reality for themselves. God is speaking to Jacob which is the believer; God is speaking to Israel who is the one who has set his love upon the Lord. He says do not be afraid, cast out all fear because you have set your love upon me. I have redeemed thee. What have I done? I have redeemed thee. I have come right into your life as one with you and have purchased your redemption by the detail of the cross of Jesus Christ. I have redeemed thee, I have called [thee] by thy name; thou [art] mine. This is reality. These are not just some lovely romantic words. We have become so conditioned to romantic words like it is in a marriage sometimes. The husband says to the wife, I love you and she goes, yeah!? Or she says to him I love you, but he says okay?! Okay!? We have been conditioned to pick up on words that mean nothing to us. You can trust God’s word.

Psalm 146:5 Happy [is he] that [hath] the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope [is] in the LORD his God:

The issue that we face is that all those beautiful words are read and then we plunge back into our daily work and we are full of anxiety. We are not continually mindful every day and moment of these realities.

How do you face each day? The daily work that comes your way? I have to confess, that I actually need this message because when I come face to face with responsibilities, it overwhelms me. Even the work I did recently not so long ago, I went there and I went oh, can I do this? I am a person who is afraid of failure. If I go and make success, I surprise myself. I need a constant reminder and I practice what I am sharing with you that as soon as a fear wants to overwhelm me I turn my mind to what I have shared with others. The Lord has sometimes had to remind me with the words when others were in the situation that you are in, what did you tell them? Thank you Lord, of course, I shared the power of His word. That lifts me out of my danger zone of distrust of God.

We all face daily responsibilities. Are we concerned about our future? As things close in on us and we think, what’s going to happen? I’ve got a pain here, I’ve got this agony there, I’ve got this and the other thing; financially I can see trouble and I am concerned and anxious about it. I face my daily work with a certain amount of tension and stress and I become burdened. Are we perfectly at rest in the realisation where it says in the words of apostle Peter let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand? In other words, don’t be stressed out. I am not proud of myself as I am very much dependent on the Lord. Let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. I am not the big guy; the Lord is the one that is actually here to carry me through and I can be free of stress.

The present world is dying, is sick, because of tension, anxiety and stress. How many people say I am stressed out? It is sad to see that a great number of Christians are saying the same words the same symptoms of stress related sufferings. The Lord Jesus has spoken about this to His followers. He tries to remind His disciples don’t be like the world, you don’t need the stress that they have.

Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares.

Because your mind is not on the Lord and you are so overcharged with all the responsibilities that are happening to you, Jesus says take heed to yourself. Be careful that you don’t become overcharged. Notice that word. In today’s society everything is charged with more and more stress, more and more expectations. People will put you on expectation lists and you find it difficult to be able to disentangle yourself from the burgeoning effect of expectations.

How do we deal with the words of Jesus when He says take heed to yourselves;? Don’t be overcharged? Don’t let the world place so many burdens upon you; to deal with that, we have those cares. Is it so easy to just dismiss certain things that we think are expectations that we don’t want to let people down. We want to try to please everybody all the time whether it is in business or whether it is in our social or family life. What do we do? Let the word of God take our stress away.

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; [so] shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring [it] to pass. 6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Here is some important practical instruction by which we may find perfect peace in the circumstances that take away our peace; that we will so communicate with God and love Him so dearly. We are learning here what it means to place your love upon Him.

Commit Your Way to God

The word commit is a word where you say all right, I give over to you. I want you to take care of my problem; I commit myself to you. Who are your committing yourself to in this setting? The king of kings; the one who rules, the one who sees the little sparrow fall and says, I care for you.

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Here is the meaning of let your moderation be known to all men; be moderate in your own ideas.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Casting, committing your care, commit to Him the king of kings all your care. Place it upon Him. He has broad shoulders, we are weak. Like the hymn:

I need Thee, oh I need Thee.

If we need Him, why don’t we cast everything upon Him? To commit or to cast everything upon Him He answers to that and says I care for you. Who is caring for us? He the king of kings, the God who takes care of the universe for whom nothing is impossible. Just taking that into our psyche and experience, we can say I don’t have to worry at all, I am giving it to somebody who can handle it., I can’t. Whenever we meet circumstances which we feel are overwhelming us commit it to God. That is what I do when I have all these things to do. Lord, into your hands I commend my spirit, I commit it to you and then I marvel how when I am doing the work. I surprise myself because I couldn’t have done it. It is God who is true to His word; He gives you the skill, He gives you the help to do the things that we have to do because we have committed it to Him. If we don’t commit it to Him, we take the burden upon our own selves and we are feverishly trying to do it right. I have done that a few times and it fails every time. Commit. Caste all your care upon Him, humble yourself. Don’t take it on your own shoulders thinking I can do it.

Trust in the Lord

If you commit, then trust. He can do it so trust Him. Don’t say I have given it into your hands and now I am not quite sure whether you are doing it right. We often do that.

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; [so] shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Go about your life free of care. You cannot earn your salvation; you cannot gain your health; you cannot have a relationship in the church that is correct if you are under a care and stress. Go about your life in perfect trust.

Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

We say don’t worry about anything; this really punches it home’ be careful for nothing. What are we to do? Caste your care upon the Lord and trust Him, be careful for nothing. How do you ask God to help you? Oh Lord, please I need your help, or Lord, I need your care and help here and I thank you that you will care for me. There is no stress.

How many times we fall into the danger of praying with a stressful spirit? No, He says don’t be stressed, don’t stress about anything. Stress over nothing. Be careful for nothing but put your prayer before the Lord, commit your needs before Him with supplication and thanksgiving. It is an attitude of the heart where there is perfect release that is here being expressed. Let’s apply His words directly as it is meant.

Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

He is saying don’t try to think how you are going to get your food, how you are going to manage to eat and drink. Have I got enough clothing to keep myself warm? Life is more than meat and raiment. See how God cares for the fowls of the air.

Matthew 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought,

He repeats it; don’t worry about anything.

Matthew 6:31 saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:)

The unbelievers are constantly focusing on the supply of their needs.

Matthew 6:32 …for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

What should you be seeking?

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The kingdom of God is first in my life and I want to encourage you when you make God’s kingdom first in your life, you might go through some little moments of concern but commit it to God. Be thankful for it when you commit it there; trust Him. He says all these other things will be added unto you. I have been through some tight moments but I am here today and I’m going through some tight moments now too. The Lord has lead me in the past and He is going to lead me on.

Matthew 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.

I love how Jesus makes it abundantly clear to us what is meant about be careful for nothing. Commit it to God and trust Him. Look how He takes care of the fowl of the air, they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (Verse 26) And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

They receive of God, they gather and absorb as the necessities are upon them. It’s there just for the taking. God provides it, can you trust Him? The question is according to verse 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof. Are we not to plan ahead? When you read these things, you think what a futile thing to even plan. Sr. White does touch on this to help us understand correctly. Do we have to plan for the future? When I go to a job to do something, I have to plan to make it work. I turn to God and then it all comes together.

Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. {SC 70.1}

Every day make the kingdom of God first in your life.

Let your prayer be, “Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. {SC 70.1}

Can you see the word commit here?

I lay all my plans at Thy feet. {SC 70.1}

I have plans but those plans are not to predominate me.

Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.” {SC 70.1}

Do you see the mental activity here?

This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. {SC 70.1}

Now comes the important thing to do with the plans.

Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. {SC 70.1}

Are we prepared to do that? You have plans and you want those plans to come to fruition and then comes a providence that stops them. I’m going to make this work not matter what stops me. That adds stress; that adds problems. The Lord says here just commit all to the Lord and yes, have plans but be prepared to alter them according to God’s intervention for that day. That is what is meant here by those words take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof. You have to plan for tomorrow but don’t worry about that. Tomorrow when you get up in the morning you have that plan but if the Lord puts a blank on it never mind; that’s it. That is the mentality. That is trust; that is relying upon God to direct my path every day. Notice the complete dependence of a union together with Christ every moment.

There are few {5T 200.4}

That tells you something, doesn’t it?

…who rightly appreciate or improve the precious privilege of prayer. We should go to Jesus and tell Him all our needs. We may bring Him our little cares and perplexities as well as our greater troubles. Whatever arises to disturb or distress us, we should take it to the Lord in prayer. When we feel that we need the presence of Christ at every step, Satan will have little opportunity to intrude his temptations. It is his studied effort to keep us away from our best and most sympathizing friend. We should make no one our confidant but Jesus. We can safely commune with Him of all that is in our hearts.  {5T 200.4}

This perfect trust, there are few who do that. Are we going to be those few so that we can be totally at rest and have no anxiety because we are taking all our concerns in the privilege of prayer? Making our supplications to Him, depending upon our prayer to Him and His answer to our prayers and changing our plans where providence directs us?

Do Good, Your Very Best

We have plans and perplexities, we have different things but we commit them to God and then what must we do when God directs us? Trust in the LORD, and do good (Psalm 37:3). In other words, as you lay your plans down and are free of concern and then take up the duty that God places before us for that day, if He says yes go ahead with that plan, now do we just say that’s nice then sit back and relax or do we get into it? Do good; whatever you do at every given moment, do your best. There is an enthusiasm of action that is needed.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might;

In other words, God doesn’t make us drones. He says now you have no problems or  stress, now I want you to do this and to do that, this is duty. That is My voice, providence is My voice. Whatever you do, do it with exactness. With our expediting ways, we often let those expediting ways conquer our concerns. No, you only expedite that which the Lord directs in your life and then you do it with all your might, but don’t let it predominate your concerns and your fears and start to go along and run ahead of the Lord. This is all under God’s perfect trust, doing what He says, that is all.

The habit of brooding over anticipated evils is unwise and unchristian. In thus doing we fail to enjoy the blessings and to improve the opportunities of the present. {5T 200.3}

What do we often do? Oh, I am afraid of this; I’m afraid of the other thing and anticipated evils; this is unchristian. Don’t be afraid; be careful for nothing. If you will be careful for everything you will fail of enjoying the blessings. When you are not worried about anything you just see the benefit coming your way and thank the Lord for helping you. It wasn’t such a burden after all. If we anticipate and brood then we miss out.

The Lord requires us to perform the duties of today and to endure its trials. {5T 200.3}

Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof. You will have strength for that day; you haven’t got strength for tomorrow, you have the strength for today. If you worry about tomorrow you will wear your strength out for today. How many times do people do that? They sap their energy by worry. I need to have energy to do the duties of today and the Lord has given me that.

We are today to watch that we offend not in word or deed. We must today praise and honor God. By the exercise of living faith today we are to conquer the enemy. We must today seek God and be determined that we will not rest satisfied without His presence. We should watch and work and pray as though this were the last day that would be granted us. How intensely earnest, then, would be our life. How closely would we follow Jesus in all our words and deeds.  {5T 200.3}

Trust in the Lord and do good. Apply all the energy that you will apply to a given task for that day and the Lord will bring it to pass, whatever you labour for. If we do our work well today we have no need to fear for the future because that work that we have done well today will bring its results. Did you notice something very important? He said the birds simply take what is given to them. When you watch them they are really hard at work, hopping around all the time. They are always active. They are looking at this and picking up on everything that God provides them. What is the message here?

As you work, draw on your victuals and not on your vitals. What does that mean? That first came to me when I was reading Jones’ sermons of 1888. He said draw on your victuals, not on your vitals. What is a victual? It is something that is food; that has been given you as food whether it is physical food to eat in your mouth, or whether it be strength that is given you. If there is strength that God gives you, He says my strength I will give unto you. That is a victual, whereas if you are relying on your vitals, you are relying on your adrenals, your liver that has some store but you are relying on that store and eventually it is going to drain out and you won’t have anything left.

Have you heard of adrenal fatigue? That is when people have relied on their adrenal vitals. The adrenalin has drained out with all the stress and then the person takes ten to twenty years to recover from that when he may learn to rely on his victuals and not on his vitals. This is the point. The example of Jesus when He spent all night in prayer; did He rely on His vitals? No, He was fresh the next day. It was God who said come aside I am going to give you the energy for this night’s prayer life and tomorrow I will give you life for the day. God called him into that. The Lord taught me that.

The only time that I prayed all night was when I had the need of prayer all night. I continued all night in prayer and the next morning I was alive and my eyes didn’t even burn. It was God who called me to that and it was obvious that it was Him who called me to that; it was a duty. Jesus needed to pray sometimes all night so that He could continue to work the next day the way God wanted Him. He used to get up early in the morning; God woke Him up and gave Him the words to speak. Strength comes from food not from store.

Palm 68:35 O God, [thou art] terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel [is] he that giveth strength and power unto [his] people. Blessed [be] God.

What is the victual? The God of Israel giveth strength and power.

Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

He has plenty of riches and if you need a supply of victuals God will supply what you need and you will not wear out your vitals. You will not end up at the end of the day so completely spent that after a night’s sleep you are not strong enough for the next day. Your sleep will be sweet because you trust the Lord and that will produce energy for the next day. You have not so over worked and drained yourself of all your vitals that you have nothing left for the next day. This is what God is saying. Do good according to what He supplies, not what He doesn’t supply because then you have to work on your vitals.

Delight Yourself in the Lord

Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

When you commit all and you find God supplies your strength there is something else that strengthens you and that is delight. You know what it’s like when you suddenly get a boost of joy nothing is too hard or a burden. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. That is precious! When your desire deep down is in harmony with God’s will He will bring it to pass. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. Delight yourself in God’s kingdom and all these other things will be added unto you. Your desires will be satisfied. In other words, wean your affections from all of the world and place all your affections upon the things of God. Delight yourself in the Lord.

Do we well to be thus unbelieving? Why should we be ungrateful and distrustful? Jesus is our friend; all heaven is interested in our welfare. We should not allow the perplexities and worries of everyday life to fret the mind and cloud the brow. {SC 122.1}

It is something you allow to happen if you fret and are brow beaten. Don’t allow it because Jesus is our friend. How many times I see this problem. We allow the perplexities and worries of everyday life to fret the mind and cloud the brow.

If we do we shall always have something to vex and annoy. {SC 122.1}

There is always something to annoy you when you permit this to happen. There is always something that is going to annoy you. Haven’t you found that? That is only if we allow the perplexities and worries of everyday life to fret the mind. Every time you fret you know, no, I ‘m not trusting.

We should not indulge a solicitude that only frets and wears us, but does not help us to bear trials. {…} You may be perplexed in business; your prospects may grow darker and darker, {SC 122.1}

When that happens you can see things going wrong.

…and you may be threatened with loss; but do not become discouraged; cast your care upon God, and remain calm and cheerful. Pray for wisdom to manage your affairs with discretion, and thus prevent loss and disaster. Do all you can on your part to bring about favorable results. Jesus has promised His aid, but not apart from our effort. When, relying upon our Helper, you have done all you can, accept the result cheerfully.  {SC 122.2}

If all your plans come down in a heap, be cheerful. It doesn’t matter because God in His providence has crushed that anticipation. It’s gone but God knows why. Be cheerful about it.

It is not the will of God that His people should be weighed down with care. But our Lord does not deceive us. He does not say to us, “Do not fear; there are no dangers in your path.” He knows there are trials and dangers, and He deals with us plainly. {SC 122.1}

When He shows you the dangers are you now going to be scared?

He does not propose to take His people out of a world of sin and evil, but He points them to a never-failing refuge. His prayer for His disciples was, “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” “In the world,” He says, “ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 17:15; 16:33. {SC 122.3}

There is the cheer; with the perplexities and our reliance upon God we will overcome as Jesus did.

It is my deep desire that each one here will trust God. That we will trust God unreservedly. That is what comes through this entire message. God’s word can be trusted completely because His word will not return unto Him empty. Let us take these thoughts that we have been going through here seriously. Live only for this hour, for this day and leave the rest with God for you to connect tomorrow for the next bit. This is what He says; be careful about nothing, but let all your requests be made known to the Lord with thanksgiving.

Amen.