The Overwhelmed Challenge - Lesson 4 God Is Faithful

The foundation scripture for this study is Romans 8:28 (HCSB)  We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

Review

Last week we talked about stress and the things that cause stress.  Things like:

1. The belief that I am in control of my life
2. When I know without a doubt what God has told me to do but I begin to listen people who tell me it’s impossible.
3. When I try to explain myself to those who don’t really want an explanation; they just want to argue.
4. When I refuse to take some time to disconnect and rest.
5. When I begin to take on the “Messiah complex”thinking how Jesus needs me  rather than how much I actually NEED HIM!
6. When I focus on the size of the problem rather than the size of God.  
7. When I worry about results more than obedience
8. When I fail to share my worries and concerns and admit my mistakes to others for fear that it may make me seem weak and stupid
9. When I become unaware of HIS presence every single minute of my life

This week we are going to talk about the faithfulness of God and how knowing that He is faithful we can overcome our stress and worry.

 Introduction

Whenever we feel stress no matter the cause, or we start to worry about things that may, or may not happen, we should try to slow down and focus on God.  We have talked about these things in our previous times together  but what we haven't talked about yet is the faithfulness of God.  That's what we are going to do today.

I want to start out study today with a quote from Pastor Rick Warren that I saw on Twitter last week.
 "Stress is a choice. We get stressed out when we choose to focus on our own limited resources instead of focusing on the unlimited resources available through our heavenly Father."

When we focus on the unlimited resources available through God we look first at His faithfulness.  

The definition of faithful 

Old Faithful Geyser 

1. strict or thorough in the performance of duty
2. true to one's word, promises, vows, etc.
3. steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant
4. reliable, trusted, or believed
5. adhering or true to fact, a standard, or an original; accurate

This description accurately describes God's faithfulness.  

Lamentations 3:19-26 and God's Faithfulness

Lamentations was written by the prophet who was constantly under stress.  Jeremiah began his ministry during Judea's king Josiah's reign.  In a previous study several months ago we talked about Josiah and the revival that happened during his reign.  After him, if you remember, things went downhill and he was the last, so called good king, before the exile to Babylon.  Well Jeremiah's ministry started five years after the revival.    This time in Judean history is one of constant political, moral, and religious decline, culminating in the Babylonian exile. 

Jeremiah, and his message, was completely rejected.  He was regarded as a meddler and a traitor.  He was even thrown into a well at one time.  So you see that Jeremiah was under constant stress.  Well his prophecies about the exile did happen and Judea was taken into exile and Jerusalem and the temple were subsequently destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.  

Lamentations was written by Jeremiah to express his and is people's mourning and anguish at the ruin of Jerusalem, the temple and of the nation.  What we are going to read in chapter 3 is Jeremiah's acknowledgment of God's faithfulness even under these circumstances.  The section that we are reading is part of Jeremiah's prayer of reassurance because of God's faithfulness.   Here is the passage:

Lamentations 3:19-26 (NKJV) ¹⁹  Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. ²⁰  My soul still remembers And sinks within me. ²¹  This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. ²²  Through the LORD'S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
²³  They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ²⁴  "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" ²⁵  The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. ²⁶  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.

What does this have to do with dealing with stress?  

The lesson for us is that  God is Faithful  and that should reassure us when we are stressed.   Things were not ideal for Jeremiah but he still declared that  God is faithful, that His mercies are made new every morning and he will wait on the Lord.  We too can do that even when things are not ideal for us. 

God is faithful  

We can all remember times when things were tough.  Maybe we needed to make critical decisions,or we were launching out on something new that God directed and we had no idea of how to go about it or how it would end up.  At those times we can remember what Paul wrote to the Corinthians when he was having to deal with criticism

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (HCSB) 16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  

 When you were broke and didn't know how you were going to make it He was faithful.

Revelation 3:8 (HCSB) I know your works. Because you have limited strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name, look, I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close.

We can all remember times when things were not so rosy and God was faithful.  I am a risk taker, (many times to the chagrin of my wife), so I have left jobs to take others that I thought would improve our lives (like the grass is always greener) and the opposite happened.  In a couple of cases the new companies didn't last and I was out of a job.  Sometimes there was unemployment compensation, at other times I was an independent contractor which meant no unemployment compensation.  One time we relocated to a brand new city and opps no more company or job (thank God He delivered me from taking those kinds of risks).  God provided for us in each instance.  Oh there was lots of stress but we knew that God is faithful and that we would survive and be able to use our experiences as a testimony that will help others.  I don't recommend that you make the same mistake over and over, like I did, or like one of our study group members said is not very smart, or another said that's the definition of insanity.  My point was, ( yes I was convicted of not making very smart decisions), that God was and is faithful even when we do dumb things.  Remember though that there are consequences for or actions.  Yes God is faithful but we still have to deal with the consequences.  

A couple of weeks ago one of our group members told us that she keep a Gratitude Journal.  What she is doing is recognizing God’s faithfulness.  She writes the things down that she is grateful for, all of them.  It doesn't matter how small you think they are.  When you do that and concentrate on  God's blessings you will forget about the thing stressing you.  Your focus in now on God and not the circumstances.    

Let's close with something from Pastor Nobel Perry's devotional series "The Overwhelmed Challenge".  

• God IS faithful!
• My circumstances do not dictate His character!!! 
• I can always trust Him and know that He is in complete control of the universe and that ALL things are ultimately for HIS GLORY and my good (Romans 8:28!)