Today I want to encourage you that seasons come and go, circumstances change constantly, but “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Suddenly something may happen in the government or the world economy, but the Lord is our only constant at all times; He is the Rock on which we can stand forever; He strengthens us, gives us strength, makes us strong and steadfast, because we look to Him (see 1 Peter 5:10). This truth has been confirmed in our lives more than once. I’ll tell you about what happened to us immediately after moving to this part of the world, and you will see for yourself.
THE BEGINNING OF THE SHOCK
Twenty-five years ago, our whole family moved to the former Soviet Union. On the day of arrival, we settled into a house we had rented in advance and went to bed, as we needed rest. We woke up the next morning to hear on the news that the cost of all basic food items had increased fivefold, the very day after we arrived! But that's not all. Fifty-ruble banknotes were declared invalid; they simply turned into pieces of paper with no value. Unfortunately, on the day of arrival, we exchanged a thousand dollars for rubles so that we would have the currency of the country we arrived in, and so that we would have something to live on here for the first time. Our entire thousand dollars were exchanged for fifty-ruble bills, which suddenly became worthless. On top of this, the shops were empty, even basic goods were missing; the pharmacies were also empty; on the shelves it's like a ball. It was difficult to find a gas station that had gasoline. The entire infrastructure of the Soviet Union collapsed.
WE WISH FOR TOO MUCH
I remember I needed to find one book. I went into the bookstore and she wasn’t there; I went to another store - no, either. Meanwhile, evening came, the shops closed one after another. I began to worry and fuss: I so wanted to buy this book! Another store - but I didn’t find it there either. “I’ll try to run to the last bookstore,” I decided. “If only it didn’t close!” And suddenly on the way to the store it dawned on me: “Okay. Let's say today I manage to buy this book. So what? Will I have time to read it from cover to cover in one evening? No. In that case, what will I lose if I buy it, say, tomorrow?”
Sometimes, when we want something, we are in such a hurry, so stubborn, that if we fail, we begin to suffer.
And if you don’t be stubborn in your desires, don’t resist, then there will be no suffering or anxiety. Instead, let’s say to ourselves: “Okay, so that’s how God wants it. Let everything be according to His will." And let's calm down. Let us remember the saints who not only did not worry if they failed to acquire something, they did not worry even if they lost it. It didn't stop them from living. Nothing bothered them. Calmly, peacefully and with gratitude to God, they accepted all the good things. But even in case of loss, they remained calm, saying: “Let it be!” That’s what the Lord wanted.”
GOD IS FAITHFUL
People were afraid that they would not even be able to find bread. And when the bread was finally delivered to the store, there was a line for a whole block. Basic foodstuffs such as flour, sugar, milk and eggs could only be purchased in small quantities and only with food stamps issued by the city administration. But only citizens could receive these coupons, so our family had no right to receive them. And yet, despite the difficulties and turmoil that we faced from the very first days, God provided that we would always have everything we needed. Moreover, we were filled with perfect peace because we trusted Him.
Dream bigger and bolder
Recently, our small group leader asked us a question: “Name your wildest wish. What do you want that can only come true if the Lord Himself assists you?”
As we answered one by one, our hearts were filled with faith and joy. We talked about dreams that were always classified as unrealistic, and therefore remained silent about them. But we realized that this is exactly how we should dream - so that our dreams could come true only under the guidance of God. I have many desires that I can fully fulfill on my own, but the true realization of our capabilities and the manifestation of our faith can only happen if we boldly dream about what only God can achieve.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SPIRITUAL SENSITIVITY
At that time, there were days when we, like hunters tracking down prey, looked for gas stations that would have gasoline, looked for basic food items, we “hunted” even for toilet paper. It also happened that for many days there were no rubles at currency exchange offices. And if there are no rubles, then there is no way to buy food, even if you finally managed to find it. As soon as rubles appeared at currency exchange offices, we, remembering our loss of a thousand dollars, exchanged only a small amount of dollars so as not to incur such losses again as that time. During that period, which was quite unstable and dangerous, one had to be very sensitive to the Holy Spirit in order to know when and how to act, in order to be able to carry out even some basic, everyday tasks.
THERE IS A CAR - THERE IS A REASON FOR ALARM
What a strange life we have today! Instead of heaven, we turned it into hell. We have everything - and yet we are constantly afraid and anxious. If a person has a car, there is cause for concern.
Those who have two cars worry twice as much. Well, if, in addition to this, there is a country house, there is even more worry: after all, it can be robbed by thieves. And the person sets alarms everywhere, but at the same time continues to worry.
In no other era have there been so many insurance companies. I have friends in these companies, and they also offer me insurance. And I keep wondering how so many insurance agencies are combined with widespread uncertainty about the future. The doors have ingenious locks, the houses have alarm systems, the courtyards are illuminated by real floodlights; panic buttons, guard dogs guarding our balcony, plot, parking lot - and yet we do not know peace. There is no feeling of confidence in the future, no peace of mind: restless breathing, restless sleep.
We are in constant discomfort, and some of us even become physically ill from increased anxiety. A feeling of internal heaviness, sweating, pressure surges - all this is a physical reflection of internal problems.
And if you pull the thread, it becomes clear: “Because of my many sins, my body is weak, and my soul is also weak” (from the Canon to the Most Holy Theotokos. - Transl.). Everything is interconnected. When the soul gets sick, the body also starts to hurt. The soul is confused - and the body is confused. And if the body is in a restless state, then the restlessness is transmitted to the soul. One influences the other (see the article “Does the Church Need Psychotherapy”).
SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM
Today, living conditions are not as terrible as those we encountered once we moved to the former Soviet Union. But even today, people all over the world are experiencing great financial difficulties. Prices have risen. It is unclear in which direction the economy is heading. Perhaps you too feel the weight of financial instability. But instead of giving in to the spirit of fear, hold fast to what Jesus taught:
“Therefore do not worry and say, “What shall we eat?” or what to drink? or what to wear?.. because your Heavenly Father knows that you need all this. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:31-33
There have been many times over the years of our life and ministry that Denise and I did not know how we would pay the costs of what God told us to do. However, we have learned that if we seek God's Kingdom first, as Jesus taught, then everything else will appear to us as we need it.
We must be persistent
Once we have set out on a journey to pursue our dreams, making sure that God is leading us, the road will not always be smooth, and there will come a time when it will take a lot of perseverance and perseverance from us to continue on the path. We need to firmly believe that God sees your heart and wants you to be where He wants you to be for the redemption of the whole world.
This is not a sermon on self-empowerment or an attempt to teach you how to pull yourself out of the swamp. It’s a heavy burden when you have a lot of wonderful ideas about the future in your head, but in reality there is no certainty. But that’s how it should be: God meets us in the unknown, unexpectedly. When someone writes their first novel, or composes their first song, or applies to their first college, it seems like an impenetrable peak, too difficult to conquer. But we can rely on the Lord's strength, courage and direction to see the fullness of all that is destined to come to pass in Christ Jesus.
LEARNING TO TRUST GOD
During our first time living in this part of the world—as well as every time God told us to do something that was beyond our bank account—we especially often meditated on the words of Jesus in Matthew 6. , where He teaches to trust God in times of need:
“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat?
or what to drink? or what to wear?.. because your Heavenly Father knows that you need all this. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:31-33).
PROHIBITION OF ANXIETY AND EXCITATION
Pay special attention to the extremely important phrase “do not be anxious” for us. It is used in the prohibitive imperative mood, expressing a prohibition on performing a particular action. The Greek word merimnao - "care" - also means anxiety, worry, worry and describes a person who is very worried about something; in the context of this verse, it is a person who is concerned about meeting his basic needs. By using this phrase in a prohibitive imperative, Jesus literally said, “Do not worry, because your Heavenly Father knows that you need all of these things.”
GOD IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL
I can personally testify that God has been faithful in both our lives and ministry from the beginning, and continues to be today. Even when Denise and I had no idea how our basic needs would be met, God was faithful to supply them all in a timely manner. And by requiring us to take colossal steps of faith that were beyond our financial capabilities, He made sure that we had the necessary amounts; by His Spirit He did what we could not do on our own.
Ask Him where you should start
When trusting the Lord with your dreams, you need to remember that it is a relationship. Simply “sit and wait for an answer from the Lord” is not entirely true. We must begin to move forward, and He will come out to meet us in order to correct us along the way, if we ask Him to do so.
There is no need to be afraid of the first steps of faith; we need to take practical steps so that our dreams take at least approximate shape, be it finding a job or ministry. If God has everything in place for your dreams to become a reality, then obedience and trust are required on your part so that He can bring the work begun in you to completion.
DO YOU THINK WORRY WILL HELP?
What can you say about yourself about this? Are you anxious and worried about things you can't change? Do you know that God is well aware of your situation? How can worry help you in any way? It won't change anything for the better - that's why Jesus said:
“DO NOT WORRY because your Heavenly Father knows you need all of these things.”
. I encourage you to cast your burdens, anxieties, worries and worries on the Lord and seek Him and God's Kingdom first. You will see how He will provide you with what you have been worried and worried about. God is faithful. He will provide you with everything you need. He is Lord, and His character never changes (see Malachi 3:6). And He is no respecter of persons (see Acts 10:34). This means: what He did for others, He will do for you.
How to put everything in God's hands and learn to trust Him
We say we trust God 100%. Does this remain true in times of difficulty and challenge? How not to be disappointed and continue not only to believe in God, but also to trust Him and His Word? Read the opinions.
Rick Renner, famous preacher, pastor of the Moscow Church of the Gospel "Good News":
We have no reason to doubt God or His faithfulness . He is not a man, so he never lies (see Numbers 23:19). But if we focus on our needs, which seem too serious and even irresistible, we will lose sight of His faithfulness and absolute honesty. We may not know how God will come to our aid, but we can pray and cast our cares on Him (see 1 Peter 5:7), then rest in peace and trust that He will help us.
Valery Dukhanin, priest, vice-rector of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Theological Seminary, candidate of theology, author of books:
To learn to believe and trust God, you must learn to sincerely address Him as Father. “Lord, You know what is best for me. I commend my life into Your hands.” Openness to God with a willingness to accept His will leads to trust. A person stops trusting God when he relies only on himself, when he thinks that he can best arrange his life himself.
Trust in God strengthens as one lives one’s spiritual life. This is facilitated by the experience of answered prayers, when you earnestly asked and the Lord answered you, really gave you what you were looking for and asking for. But often we make the mistake of stubbornly demanding that God fulfill one or another of our wishes. We don't always understand what is good for us. Only the Lord God knows exactly what we need at one time or another in our lives.
We should not tell God how to save us. In prayer, it is important not to demand, but to ask God to help if He pleases
And this means that we should not tell God how to save us. In prayer, it is important not to demand recklessly: “give this and that, do this and that,” but it is important, with each prayer request, to entrust oneself into the hands of God, to ask Him to help, if it pleases His holy will, to ask to resolve a difficult situation in the ways that useful and saving for us.
Time passes, and a person begins to understand that God providentially did not fulfill some of his wishes, that the Lord led him along a more useful path for him, led him through difficulties to the spiritual and led him away from disastrous temptations and enticements. Such life experience with a clear comprehension of God’s Providence in the best way strengthens one’s trust in God.
Oren Lev Ari, pastor of the Jerusalem community “King of Great Glory”:
Trust is born in communication . By pouring out all our worries to the Lord, we emerge with His peace and confidence: “Trust in Him at all times; pour out your heart to Him” (Ps. 61:9). According to this psalm, “hope” and “pour out” are inseparable concepts.
If we want to trust in the Lord at all times, including in the darkest times, then we must pour out our hearts to Him without ceasing.
As times become more and more frightening, there will be those among God's people who will become more and more bold and firm. These are the believers who call on the name of the Lord daily, who “boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear whatever man will do to me” (Hebrews 13:6). The revelation of God's Word will sustain them in their most difficult times.
David learned to call on the Lord in all the crises of his life . Each time this pious man fled to his secret room and poured out all his fears before the Lord there: “But in my distress I called on the Lord and cried to my God, and He heard my voice from His palace, and my cry came to His ears... delivered me" (2 Samuel 22:7,18).
Later, when the most terrible storm broke out in David's life, he was ready to meet it. There was already a song in his heart that he could sing in all the dark days of uncertainty:
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. My God is my rock; in Him I trust; my shield, the horn of my salvation, my hedge and my refuge; My Savior, You delivered me from troubles! I will call upon the Lord who is worthy of worship, and I will be saved from my enemies” (2 Samuel 22:2-4).
David learned what a storm is like when it bursts into life. It was a storm that brought many troubles, flooding life with many wicked people, when “the chains of hell surrounded him, and the snares of death entangled him” (22:6). But none of this bothered David. His trust in God was established and unshakable through daily communication with Him. And David delighted his soul with the Word of God.
Likewise, today too, many believers close themselves in a secret chamber with the Lord, and their growing intimacy with Him gives rise to great trust in them. It is very important for us to remain in the Lord constantly.
Josh Squires, pastor of counseling and counseling ministry at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina:
God is always faithful to His covenants. His promises are true and sure (Isa. 25:1). God deserves absolute trust, although the fulfillment of some of His promises seems so “distant in the future.”
We can trust God because He has shown His favor to us even though it cost Him everything. He does not need us, our worship. Do not think that God lacked communication, relationships, or that He lacked glory. But He decided to make a sacrifice - and the greatest and most painful one possible. Thus, He—and He alone—is the basis of our trust and the object of our greatest hopes. When our trust is centered primarily in God, we can cry with Job: “Behold, he kills me, but I will hope” (Job 13:15).
Let your heart rest in the safe harbor of the promises of a faithful God (John 21:45). May His words give you strength in this very risky undertaking as you learn to trust again the one who betrayed you. If we are called to forgive and restore relationships—which means becoming somewhat vulnerable again—only God's promises of His comfort and presence can ultimately soothe our worries and alleviate any pain in the future.
Our hope, trust, and faith cannot derive strength and confidence from the actions of another sinner—even if it is our spouse. Our strength lies in the unfailing love of a sinless Savior. In Him - and only in Him - we will find that source of trust that will never dry up or betray.
Leonid Kudryachov, priest, teacher of classical languages and homiletics at the Orenburg Theological Seminary and secretary of the department of classical and foreign linguistics:
Rational trust arises from the study of Scripture, from an in-depth study of the truths of faith, from the affirmation in one’s consciousness that God is loving, good and wise . He leads everything to the better. He does not allow testing beyond one's strength.
Experienced trust is formed, like in children, by trial and error . Mom forbade me to touch the hot iron, but I’m curious, so I took it and touched it. The result is a finger burn. Dad demanded to keep up in the supermarket, but I didn’t take it seriously and got lost in the crowd. And so on. Gradually we understand that it is better to obey God rather than ourselves.
But deep, unshakable trust is a gift that needs to be prayed for.
Alexey Kolomiytsev, pastor-teacher of the Word of Grace Bible Church in Battle Ground, USA:
To trust God completely and completely means to give up the right (which God never gave us, but we humans have appropriated for ourselves) to manage our lives and consciously subordinate every element of our being to our Lord and Creator. This means believing God that He really has enough wisdom and strength to arrange not only the earthly, but also the heavenly life of his children. This means stopping being the “god” of your life. Many people in such situations would like to hear some recipes - do this or don’t do that and everything will be fine. In fact, the solution to this issue begins with our general attitude in life, with our correct understanding of ourselves and God.
The inability of people to practically trust God is the result of several serious flaws in spiritual development. In other words, there are several problems that most often prevent us from trusting God completely.
1) Firstly, we know God very poorly . God gave us a revelation about Himself - His Word, the Bible. But we usually have little time to read and study it. Therefore our knowledge of God is very superficial. In addition, even when we read the Bible, we often miss those places where it actually talks about God, His character and His nature. We are much more interested in reading narratives or, at least, practical commandments. So the Epistle to the Romans becomes clear to us from chapter 12, and the Epistle to the Ephesians from the fourth.
2) The second problem, which is a direct consequence of the first, is that we do not have the skill of trusting God in practice, because we don’t know Him well. Who would trust a stranger with confidential information or house keys, even if you were told that he is a good person. Trust is built as a result of good personal acquaintance.
3) The third problem is that most Christians find it difficult to even begin to know God, because they practically do not trust the truth about God, that is, God’s word, which means they practically believe in lies, trusting in their affairs anything other than the Bible. Of course, almost everyone who calls themselves Christians will say that they recognize the Bible as the most holy book, but they just don’t live by it. Instead, they are more often busy trying to find explanations for why they cannot fulfill one or another of her commands. In fact, people only believe the part of the Bible they want to live by. That's why they don't know God. This means they cannot trust Him.
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