2022-10-19 Is God Dependendable

The speaker, Chris Green, discusses the idea of dependence on God. He emphasizes that strength does not come from independence, but rather from relying on a dependable God. He shares personal experiences of relying on others during times of need and highlights the importance of community and connection. Green also talks about the unique aspect of Christianity, where believers can have an honest and personal relationship with God, expressing their anger and pain. He assures that God can handle our emotions and will always be there for us to depend on. The speaker concludes by emphasizing that God is dependable and will provide for our needs. He encourages listeners to pray honestly and seek God's guidance in determining what they truly need. Green also invites listeners to join the Next Steps Gathering and share the message with others. Hi there, this is Chris Green, the family pastor for the Next Steps gathering and I'm so honored to be your speaker for this message where I'm going to be talking about how we can depend on God. So let's start by reading some scripture from the Bible. We're going to be reading from Proverbs 3 starting in verse 7 going to verse 9. Oh God, I beg two favors from you. Let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches. Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, who is the Lord? And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name. My big idea for you tonight is strength doesn't come from independence, but dependence on a dependable God. My first point being strength doesn't come from independence. Our culture, particularly in the west, is obsessed with independence. We see it as a sign of maturity, of adulthood. Financial independence is seen as stability for a person. Educational camps are touted as being able to teach our kids to be more independent and grow leadership skills. The thing is, in reality, we all need each other and while a healthy ability to be able to know our own minds and function on our own as people is good, it's also pivotal that we have community and connection to others in our lives so we can give and receive help from each other. When I was a kid, for a period of several years, my family needed the assistance of food banks and other helps. And interestingly enough, some of those food banks were Salvation Army food banks. And I don't say that as a commercial for the Salvation Army, but to say that during those times we experienced a need and God blessed us with what we needed. I knew even as a kid that we would be considered poor, but I never felt poor because the Lord looked out for us. But nevertheless, we had a period of time where things were tight. And I remember using water in our cereal instead of milk because milk was expensive and eating a lot of canned soups for dinner because it was inexpensive. But we had to be willing during this time to fight our pride. We could have succumbed to feelings of shame and having to get help from others. But because we understood our strength wasn't in our independence, we were not only able to get the help we needed, but eventually we were able to be a blessing to others in need. And my being here talking to you today is in fact an extension of that. And it's a result, most importantly, of God watching out for me and we can depend on God. My second point is strength comes from dependence. I would go further to say that not only was independence a weakness for us during that time, but dependence was our strength and not just dependence on people, but more importantly dependence on God. You know recently Hannah and I went to see my family in Ontario for Thanksgiving and on a return flight the woman next to us on the plane was crying and Hannah knows this first. So we asked her if everything was okay. First of all, she was just grateful that someone had asked her if she was okay. You know, she'd been crying in the airport for hours, crying on the plane for a while. Nobody stopped to ask. And it turns out that her mom was about to have a life or death brain surgery, two in a row in fact. And this young woman was on her way to see her mom quite possibly for the last time. So we prayed with her and we talked about life and God for a bit and it turns out that she was raised Christian, but didn't really have a personal relationship with Christ. Well, spoiler alert, her mom did pull through the surgery. Hannah got the young woman's contact so we can keep updated, but the mom isn't fully out of the woods yet. We're still praying for her. So please keep the mom, Helen, if that's her name, in prayer if you think of her. But something I told the young woman that I'll share with you now, too, is that one of the most unique things in Christianity is that personal relationship with God. And it's so personal that he's the only God in any belief system, at least that I'm aware of, where we could get mad at him and it's okay. Open up the book of Psalms and you will see David getting angry quite often and not just angry at his enemies, but also angry at God for appearing to do nothing to save him from those enemies. And yet even in the midst of that, God can take it. He wants that honesty from us. He's not like your mom being like, hey, check that tone, you know, don't give that tone to me. He is able to handle it and he wants us to just be honest with him. He can handle your anger and your pain. So tell him how you really feel. He'll listen and no matter how confused or upset we are, he'll still be there for us to depend on. We're not going to offend him and turn him away. My last point is that as Christians we depend on a dependable God. You know, here's the thing. If we know independence doesn't make us strong by itself and dependence on God does, the question is, is God dependable? You know, God's not just someone holding us back from getting the good things in life so that it won't spoil us. He's also a loving father who wants to bless us. You know, in the prayer and Proverbs that we read earlier, the author doesn't only ask that he not become too rich and forget God, but that he's not too poor either. That he doesn't feel lack. The writer says that the reason he doesn't want to be poor or doing without is because he'd be tempted to steal. He wants his lack not to drive him from doing things he knows are wrong. And I think all of us can understand this one. None of us wants to be lacking the things we need. But we can depend on our God to come through. There may be lean times. I've experienced them myself. But as I've found my peace in Christ, I've also found that not just my needs being met, but I've also realized I could do without many of the things I thought I needed. We don't get to take anything with us. Whether our car is older than us or our car is brand new, it makes no difference in the grand scheme of eternity. You know, I've heard it put before like this, and I don't recall where I heard this analogy, but I'm just letting you know. It's not my own thing. I don't think I'm a plagiarist. But I want you to imagine for a minute that you win a one-month trip to Paris with the hotel and meals already paid for. And you get an additional amount to spend on whatever you like. But whatever you spend it on, you don't get to keep when the trip is over. That's the catch. So what would you spend the money on? I'd probably spend it on experiences like going to see a play or to an amusement park, or I'd spend it on snacks. Maybe I'd give it away to someone else while I was there. But none of us would waste our money decorating the hotel, would we? You know, buying expensive furniture and paintings to make our one-month hotel look nicer or be more comfortable, right? Because we can't bring it home with us. Well, you and I have been given a life with a limited amount of time, a limited amount of time, to spend on this earth. And the time we spend on material things is something that it doesn't make it in heaven. So why would we worry about having those things? Eternity is forever. Forever is a long time compared to this life, to this one-month hotel in Paris. Because of that, the closer we get to God, the more we realize that not only does God provide what we need, but that we don't need as much as we thought. So as we bring this message to a close, I want to remind you that strength doesn't come from independence, but dependence on a dependable God. We can rely on Him to provide for us and help us know what we really need and what we don't. And I want to encourage you to talk with God in prayer and let Him know what you're really thinking, what you're really feeling, and not being afraid of if it sounds right, He's not going to scold you. But don't stop there with just, you know, unleashing all that anger. Give your feelings over to God, but don't stop there. Let Him direct you through His Holy Spirit towards what you really need. He won't always come through on what we expect, but you'll find He always comes through on what He promises. So let's pray, and let's pray along the lines of what we read in Proverbs earlier, God. We ask you two things. First, help us to be honest and truthful to you, others, and ourselves. Second, give us neither poverty nor riches. Give us just enough to satisfy our needs. We don't want so many riches that we forget you and live as if you don't really matter. But Lord, please meet our needs so that we don't struggle to believe in you at all. Help us to know you are a dependable God and then to depend on you. I want to thank you for listening to this sermon, and we hope that you will be able to join us at the Next Steps Gathering this coming Tuesday, 5 30 p.m. for the meal, 6 30 p.m. for the message. Or if you're listening to this online, I want to encourage you to keep listening online, to subscribe on your platform of choice, be it YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, or whatever else you like to use. And if this message touched you today in some way, stood out to you today, meant something to you today, I want to encourage you to share it with someone else. Put it out on social media, send it to someone directly in a text or an email, and encourage them with it today as well. God bless.