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Unshakable | Where Do You Turn?

 

When life gets complicated, where do you turn?

  • Not where you think you should turn

  • Where do you really turn?

 

Might be people:

  • Parents/grandparents

  • Mentor

  • Friend

 

Might be things that bring you SECURITY/CONTROL:

  • Money

  • Stuff

  • Work

  • Accomplishments

 

Might be things that make you FEEL GOOD: Tuning out your problems

  • Sex/pleasure

  • Distractions (TV, hobbies, etc)

  • Drugs/ alcohol

  • Food

  • Self-improvement/working out

 

Think about it — Where did you often turn to in this last year?

 

We all turn somewhere to something…

  • It is often a non-thinking REACTION

 

We don’t always think about where we turn, it’s what we have learned to do to bring us peace

 

What we turn to determines our success in handling the situation well

 

This series has been about building an UNSHAKABLE FAITH that can withstand difficult times

 

SUFFERING IS NORMAL

  • We should not be surprised when difficult things happen to us or around us

 

We have been looking at the life of David, and what we can learn from his unshakable faith

 

Let’s talk about a story later in David’s life

 

David had many children

  • From several different mothers

 

One son was named Absalom

  • We’re introduced to Absalom after killing his brother (Amnon) because he raped Absalom’s sister

 

Absalom ran and did not live in Israel for two years

  • David finally sent for him to come back home

 

Once he got back, Absalom began to undermine his father David

  • He would go and stand at the entrance to the city and badmouth his father

  • This goes on for sometime

 

Eventually, Absalom has enough people who think he should be in charge  

2 Samuel 15

13 Then an informer came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

14 David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Get up. We have to flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! Leave quickly, or he will overtake us quickly, heap disaster on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

 

30 David was climbing the slope of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he ascended. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. All of the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they ascended.

 

If you were here last week, this would sound familiar

  • David is on the run AGAIN!

  • His life is in jeopardy again!

 

Do any of you have an AGAIN in your life?

  • How did I end up here AGAIN?

  • How did I get myself in this situation AGAIN?

  • Why am I feeling like this AGAIN?

  • Why do I let them make me feel this way AGAIN?

  • Why do I let them treat me like that AGAIN?

 

David could have said, “LORD, I DO NOT DESERVE THIS!”

  • I have been faithful to you!

     

Look at my family! It’s in shambles!

  • One son is dead, killed by his brother

  • My daughter’s life is changed forever

  • My Son now wants my throne and head

 

How did I get here AGAIN!

 

But instead, David writes a prayer that later becomes PSALMS 3

 

Psalm 3

1 Lord, how my foes increase! There are many who attack me.

2 Many say about me, “There is no help for him in God.”

3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.

4 I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.

5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.

6 I will not be afraid of thousands of people who have taken their stand against me on every side.

7 Rise up, Lord! Save me, my God! You strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; may your blessing be on your people.

 

To have unshakable faith, we must realize what David realized

 

1: God is always the answer

  • When you are in trouble

  • When you are in need

  • When you feel forgotten

  • When you feel discouraged

  • When life isn’t going well

 

Psalm 3

2 Many say about me, “There is no help for him in God.”

3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.

 

Who does David turn to?

  • He turns to GOD when his life is in turmoil

 

For many of us, God is the last solution

  • We will try 100 things before turning to God

 

We’ll GOOGLE before going to GOD

  • That shows us where our allegiance really is

 

That is what separated David from so many

  • He worships God in the good times

  • He ran to God in the bad

 

We often run to God when we are OUT OF OPTIONS

He should be our first option  

Do you know what this looks like?

  • It’s having a prayer life that allows you to be honest with God

  • It’s reading your Bible regularly enough so that you have the words of God Hidden in your heart.

     

Psalm 119

11 I have treasured Your word in my heart

so that I may not sin against you.  

Because we don’t often TREASURE God’s word

  • We don’t often seek him in prayer

  • We don’t believe he is the answer

 

When mentioning all the things we turn to earlier, they all had something in common

  • We train ourselves to turn to them without thinking

 

Now, we must RETRAIN OURSELVES to turn to God first

  • Why?

 

Because GOD IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER

  • David knew that.

 

But do YOU know that?

 

2: God Always Hears and Answers

 

Psalm 3

4 I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.

5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.

 

David recognized that when you are feeling shaken, it can feel like God is nowhere to be found

  • But David knows that God answers him

  • His past has proven that

  • God has protected him many times before

 

In each new situation, we must remind ourselves of the same thing

  • God has not changed, only our situation

 

The reason we turn to things besides God is that we get an immediate response to them

  • That’s why they become valuable to us

 

That person is ALWAYS there

  • That thing always makes me feel GOOD

 

But that PERSON and that THING are NOT GOD

  • They will run out of answers

  • That feeling will fade and no longer give comfort

The reason God is always the answer is that He HEARS and ANSWERS  

His answers are always:

  • True

  • What we need

  • Healing

  • at the right time

 

Do you want to really know why I think we don’t go to God first?

 

Because we are scared of the answers we think he will give us…

  • He may say no

  • He may say to give that think up

  • He may tell you to move on

  • He may say to stay where you are

 

So instead, we go to other things first that will give us the answer we want…

  • But those answers are lies

  • They lead to death

 

David, like us, had plenty of opportunities to go to anything or anybody else

  • To try and get answers

 

Instead, throughout his life, he went to GOD FIRST

 

When life is chaotic, stressful, and scary, where do you turn?

  • If it’s not the Lord, then you are giving control to your life to things that will never bring you life

 

Practical tips:

  • Regular Times to seek God, Study, and pray

  • Write down what you are praying for and how God has answered you so you can look back and remember

  • When your heart is troubled, read the Psalms — Memorize the ones that move you

 

When you do these things, you will train your heart and mind to go to GOD FIRST  

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