О доверии Богу. П. В. Деркач. МСЦ ЕХБ

Greetings to you, dear brothers and sisters. The topic of my sermon today is about trusting God. I know a man who was once asked, "Do you believe in God?" He looked up and answered very seriously, "I not only believe in God, I truly trust Him." He says that all my life, before I do anything, I always check if it aligns with His word. Before undertaking any venture, I always pray that it may be His will. And so I know for sure that my destiny is in His hands. And I know for sure where I will be when my life here on earth ends. When I heard this testimony, you know, it made me reflect. Someone might say, "Well, trusting God." If a person believes at all that there is a God, then, of course, they have trust in God. But in reality, it is not like that in life. The practice of life tells a different story. There are a great many believers. We are all very religious people here, but not everyone trusts God the same way. And this can be seen by the realities of life. Someone who trusts God, their life differs from one who does not fully trust, maybe only trusts a little, or perhaps there are those who do not trust at all. You know, it happens that trust in God depends on the level of a person's faith. And we know that faith is not just something a person either has or does not have. It has different levels of faith. And faith can be weak. Faith can be strong, very steady, courageous, or it can be a wavering faith. And we know that faith is a gift from God. And when a person cares about keeping God in their mind, God blesses that person and gives them faith. But what kind of faith that is, that depends very much on the person themselves. What kind of faith is in our hearts and souls, brothers and sisters? It depends on us. Personally and individually. No one can say, "Well, I ended up in the wrong church, I grew up in the wrong church, they didn't preach that to us there." Or perhaps we didn't have the right teachers, the right pastors, or the right parents; I don't know, we are inclined to shift the blame onto others. The level of our faith depends only on us personally, brothers and sisters. Whether we trust God or not depends on our level of faith. Before I continue my reasoning, I want to read three texts from the Holy Scriptures. The first of them is Jeremiah, chapter twenty-nine, from verse eleven. One of the most famous texts in the Bible. Famous, because people love this text. It is sometimes written on walls. I have seen this text many times, written by people in their planners, so as to always keep this thought in mind. Let us read it together. Jeremiah chapter twenty-nine and verse eleven. For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Only a person who has faith and trust in God can apply this text to their life. Here the prophet writes on behalf of the Lord Himself: "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. This is a text that you and I have probably remembered many times in our lives. And especially when something is not going our way, when something is not going according to our plan, our vision, our understanding, or our human logic. If we care to keep God in our minds at all, then we probably remember this text, and it calms us, because there is Someone who knows better, who knows better what is actually best for us. And here the Lord says: "Only I know and intend to give you a future and a hope, thereby sometimes leading us through certain difficulties." Let us look at the next text. It is Matthew, chapter ten, from verse twenty-nine. Matthew 10:29. Are not two small birds sold for a copper coin? And not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father. But even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore; you are worth more than many small birds. This text provides a good example for you and me. We all know that our world was created by God, and all living things are under the authority of our Lord. And here an example is given of two small birds, which are sold very cheaply. Why? Because they are valued by people as, well, just nothing. A copper coin is some very small coin, which probably cannot buy much. Just these two small birds, maybe some sparrows or someone else. And the Lord says that not one of these birds will fall to the ground without the will of the heavenly Father. Has a thought ever crossed your mind that, does God care about me at all in general? But there are so many important things happening in this world. Somewhere there is war, somewhere people are hungry, somewhere fires are destroying plantations, somewhere something else is happening. And who am I, living relatively, perhaps, well, in some kind of comfort somewhere. And does God really care, yes, about any of, perhaps, my internal, emotional experiences? This text is written in the Bible, and this gives the highest authority to these words, which tell us today that two small birds are important to the Lord. People may not value them, but to God they are important. And the Lord says that even the hairs on your head are all numbered by God. That is how attentively God knows and sees our life. Let's look at a third text. This is Psalm 34 from the eighth verse. Psalm 34 from the eighth verse says: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them." Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him. In general, people don't know very much about angels. The Bible tells us a little about this. But we know that angels are ministering spirits whom the Lord sends for service. And there is a text, I really like it, that He sends them for service to those, who are redeemed by the Lord. That is to you and me, brothers and sisters. This is the church of the Lord. These are those who have valued the sacrifice of Christ. God sends His angels to minister to us. Most likely, none of us has seen angels, but I am sure that if we walk under God, that is, we are children of God, the influence of these angels has many times been on our destiny, because God saved us, kept us from something, delivered, helped, inspired, and strengthened us. And very often He does this through His ministering spirits, which are angels. And here it is written: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them." Further on, this text has a very important call. It says to taste and see that the Lord is good. I want to replace the word "taste" with the word "trust" God, and you will see how good God is to you. How He is good to those who rely, that is, hope in our Lord and God. Dear brothers and sisters, today I want with my sermon to call upon all of us, and myself personally too, that we trust God more. Why? Because God wants to participate in our life. He does this, but God never imposes Himself on people. And God acts in the lives of people, especially those who want, call upon, and hope in Him. Let's talk more about this. As I already said, trust in God is always based on a person's faith. And a person's faith—it actually says a lot about our lives. When our faith is very weak, well, you know, it may lack some knowledge of Scripture, so it doesn't have a strong, firm foundation, because faith can only stand on the word of our Lord. This means knowledge of the Scriptures, the Bible, and knowing God Himself. And when a person, well, is still perhaps weak—let's imagine he has only recently come to know God, maybe he only knows that the Lord indeed died for him, gave His life for him, and he hasn't yet been strengthened in faith. As a rule, such a person's life is full of many worries, anxieties, fears, and stresses. Why? Because we humans have this ability or desire to control everything in our lives. We make plans, and we are calm when everything goes according to plan. But when something starts to deviate from that plan, when something beg

" He looked up and answered very seriously, "I not only believe in God, I truly trust Him." He says that all my life, before I do anything, I always check if it aligns with His word.

Before undertaking any venture, I always pray that it may be His will. And so I know for sure that my destiny is in His hands. And I know for sure where I will be when my life here on

earth ends. When I heard this testimony , you know, it made me reflect. Someone might say, "Well, trusting God." If a person believes at all that there is a God, then, of course, they have trust in God. But in reality, it is not like

that in life. The practice of life tells a different story. There are a great many believers. We are all very religious people here, but not everyone trusts God the same way. And this can be seen by the realities of life.

Someone who trusts God, their life differs from one who does not fully trust, maybe only trusts a little, or perhaps there are those who do not trust at all. You know, it happens that trust in God depends on the level of a

person's faith. And we know that faith is not just something a person either has or does not have. It has different levels of faith. And faith can be weak.

Faith can be strong, very steady, courageous, or it can be a wavering faith. And we know that faith is a gift from God. And when a person cares about keeping God in their mind, God blesses that person and gives them faith. But

what kind of faith that is, that depends very much on the person themselves. What kind of faith is in our hearts and souls, brothers and sisters? It depends on us. Personally and individually. No one can say, "Well , I ended up in the wrong church, I

grew up in the wrong church, they didn't preach that to us there." Or perhaps we didn't have the right teachers, the right pastors, or the right parents; I don't know, we are inclined to shift the blame onto others

. The level of our faith depends only on us personally, brothers and sisters. Whether we trust God or not depends on our level of faith. Before I continue my reasoning, I want to read three texts from the Holy Scriptures. The

first of them is Jeremiah, chapter twenty-nine, from verse eleven. One of the most famous texts in the Bible.

Famous, because people love this text. It is sometimes written on walls. I have seen this text many times, written by people in their planners, so as to always keep this thought in mind. Let us read it together. Jeremiah chapter

twenty-nine and verse eleven. For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Only a person who has faith and trust in God can apply this text to their life. Here the prophet writes on behalf of the Lord Himself: "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.

This is a text that you and I have probably remembered many times in our lives. And especially when something is not going our way, when something is not going according to our plan, our vision, our understanding, or our human

logic. If we care to keep God in our minds at all, then we probably remember this text, and it calms us, because there is Someone who knows better, who knows better what is actually best for us. And here the Lord says: "Only I

know and intend to give you a future and a hope, thereby sometimes leading us through certain difficulties." Let us look at the next text. It is Matthew , chapter ten, from verse twenty-nine.

Matthew 10:29. Are not two small birds sold for a copper coin? And not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father. But even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore; you are worth more

than many small birds. This text provides a good example for you and me. We all know that our world was created by God, and all living things are under the authority of our Lord. And here an example is given of two small birds,

which are sold very cheaply. Why? Because they are valued by people as, well, just nothing. A copper coin is some very small coin, which probably cannot buy much. Just these two small birds, maybe some sparrows or someone else. And the Lord says that not one of

these birds will fall to the ground without the will of the heavenly Father . Has a thought ever crossed your mind that, does God care about me at all in general? But there are so many important things happening in this

world. Somewhere there is war, somewhere people are hungry, somewhere fires are destroying plantations, somewhere something else is happening.

And who am I, living relatively, perhaps, well, in some kind of comfort somewhere. And does God really care, yes, about any of, perhaps, my internal , emotional experiences? This text is written in the Bible, and this gives the highest authority to these words,

which tell us today that two small birds are important to the Lord. People may not value them, but to God they are important. And the Lord says that even the hairs on your head are all numbered by God. That is how attentively God

knows and sees our life. Let's look at a third text. This is Psalm 34 from the eighth verse. Psalm 34 from the eighth verse says: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them." Oh, taste and see that

the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him.

In general, people don't know very much about angels. The Bible tells us a little about this. But we know that angels are ministering spirits whom the Lord sends for service. And there is a text, I really like it, that He sends

them for service to those, who are redeemed by the Lord. That is to you and me, brothers and sisters. This is the church of the Lord. These are those who have valued the sacrifice of Christ . God sends His angels to minister to

us. Most likely, none of us has seen angels, but I am sure that if we walk under God, that is, we are children of God, the influence of these angels has many times been on our destiny, because God saved us, kept us from something,

delivered, helped, inspired, and strengthened us. And very often He does this through His ministering spirits, which are angels. And here it is written: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them." Further on, this text has a very

important call. It says to taste and see that the Lord is good. I want to replace the word "taste" with the word "trust" God, and you will see how good God is to you. How He is good to those

who rely, that is, hope in our Lord and God. Dear brothers and sisters, today I want with my sermon to call upon all of us, and myself personally too, that we trust God more. Why? Because God wants to participate in our life. He does

this, but God never imposes Himself on people. And God acts in the lives of people, especially those who want, call upon, and hope in Him. Let's talk more about this. As I already said, trust in God is always based on a person's faith

. And a person's faith—it actually says a lot about our lives. When our faith is very weak, well, you know, it may lack some knowledge of Scripture, so it doesn't have a strong, firm foundation, because faith can only

stand on the word of our Lord. This means knowledge of the Scriptures, the Bible, and knowing God Himself. And when a person, well, is still perhaps weak—let's imagine he has only recently come to know God, maybe he only knows that the Lord indeed died

for him, gave His life for him, and he hasn't yet been strengthened in faith.

As a rule, such a person's life is full of many worries, anxieties, fears, and stresses. Why? Because we humans have this ability or desire to control everything in our lives. We make plans, and we are calm when everything goes

according to plan. But when something starts to deviate from that plan, when something begins to happen outside of our control, we start to worry and fret intensely, sometimes falling into a panic. And very often, a person even falls into despair and starts asking, "

So where is God in the end? After all, where is God if this or that is happening to me?" The life of such a person is full of various fears and worries. The reason is that their faith is weak. When a person has a strong

faith, one that is established and strengthened, then such a person's life also experiences certain shocks. It's unavoidable. But in the life of such a person, there is much more calmness, peace, and stability. Why? Because such a person knows well in whose hands

their destiny lies. We have read the text written by Jeremiah, a prophet of God. A person strengthened in faith knows who has a plan for their life.

They know that this plan is always for good, always for the best, always for some kind of benefit. And so, even if they are experiencing sorrow, a loss, human anxiety, worry, or perhaps illness today, they understand that it

is for the best. And perhaps that is why true Christians are strange people in the eyes of the world. Strange. Why?

Because they give thanks for difficulties. They thank God when things are hard, when it hurts, when perhaps they have lost what they spent half their lives gathering. They thank God. And when this gratitude comes from the heart, it is always the result of a

person having a sufficiently strong and firm faith. Faith that the fate of this person is in the hands of the great Creator, God, the author, the God who knows everything and can do everything.

Therefore, dear friends, reflecting on this: each of us in our own life has examples of our spiritual weakness, and probably has examples (I really hope so ) of some kind of spiritual firmness, when perhaps it was difficult for us,

but we remained calm. And perhaps we even sometimes wonder: "Why are we so calm? After all, something truly difficult is happening in life right now. Well, maybe not a great tragedy, but perhaps you don't have the money to

make it through, maybe to pay for all your necessary needs this month. Like the example a brother shared, which happened to him, yes, on the way when they were fleeing from a country where a war had broken out. Someone, perhaps,

was in illness, and doctors said:" You know, we can't do anything, "but you have inner peace. And maybe the person didn't even receive healing from God, but he was calm because his life was in God's hands. And even when he dies,

departs from this earth, from earthly life, his fate is in the hands of God, who has prepared eternity for him. May the Lord bless us so that today we reflect on our faith, because our trust in God depends on it, and how we live

our lives depends on our trust in God. Whether we live in peace or in constant stress or worry. You know, a life in peace, which comes from trusting God, does not always mean that there won't be storms in your life. It doesn't mean

that everything will go smoothly in your life. But today there is this popular prosperity gospel, which says:" Well, give your life to God, and order will come into your life, peace will come into your life, and everything will be smooth. "But we know, and we

already see, and we have the testimony, that it is not always like that. And God, in principle, did not promise that . Jesus Christ even said more than that ; He spoke about how you will have tribulations in the world and that I am

sending you out like sheep among wolves . This means that there will be many things that will frighten us. These are things that will create complications and difficulties for us. The storm will be in a person's life. But trust in God

and peace are secured by the fact that we know who is controlling this storm.

We know the one who stands behind it all. Once in the life of the great man of God, Daniel, there happened a story that, probably, even children know today, when for his faithfulness to God he was thrown into a lions 'den. These

were hungry beasts, which were apparently kept in some kind of, perhaps, underground chamber. They were kept there specifically to carry out public executions. Executions that were intimidating and struck horror and fear into all the people who could see it.

They did this on purpose so that people would be afraid and obey the authority of that time. And we know that Daniel was thrown into such a lions' den because he did not obey the king's decree, because the king's decree

called for him to renounce his spiritual position regarding the God he believed in. And God shut the mouths of the lions. Daniel was calm, although, surely, he must have physically felt the tension. But the Lord was controlling those very wild animals.

May this example be for us, especially for those who are currently going through not the best of times in their lives. We need to trust in God, understanding that the Lord God stands behind it all. The desire to control

everything on this earth, to monitor and think that everything is going our way, as we humans want. Actually, Satan is very interested in that. You know, it can be compared to when you are driving through the city—we have a

big city, and you are probably familiar with this—and you are driving, and all the traffic lights on your path are green. It's nice to drive, isn't it?

And we know that intelligent people calculated everything there, so that if you drive at about the same speed, most of the lights on your route might be green. And when we are especially in a hurry, rushing somewhere, running late,

how nervous we get if a red light suddenly happens. But I want to say, brothers and sisters, a person sometimes has the illusion that they can control all the traffic lights to be green for them. They try to choose

the speed, they try to drive in the right lanes, perhaps they do something else and think," Look how cleverly I am managing to have all the traffic lights on my path green. "But in reality, a person does not control this process at

all. Yes, if we speak about traffic lights, there are algorithms and certain patterns there. But in our lives, I now want to give an example that we so often think that by building a plan, we are driving through green

lights. And Satan really wants us to succeed in this. He really wants us to build our lives without caring to say:" Lord, is there even Your will in what I am about to do today? "And maybe I want

to go study or go to some job, or maybe undertake some venture in my life, organize something, do something, achieve something. And you must agree, we have all fallen for this trick, when we made a decision, and only later

remembered that we didn't even ask God. We didn't ask:" Lord, is there even Your will in this or not? "And we only pray afterward as an afterthought:" Lord, please bless this. I’ve come up with something good for myself. You

bless it so that it may now come to pass in my life. "But Scripture tells us otherwise. It says that we should first of all ask for the Lord's will for our lives. But I want to talk about

the Lord's will a little further down. You know, I want to recall an example of a great man of God, whom we all love while reading the Bible. And God Himself loves him, because it is written that he was a man after God's

own heart. This is David, a man who experienced all the stages of the human condition in his life: from deep human loneliness and being forgotten out there in the fields while he was shepherding, to being a fugitive running from his king; from a victor

who defeated an incredible enemy threatening the whole country, to a king who made Israel especially precious to God. This is David. And you know, he had that stage in his life when he was running from persecution, illegal persecution, unjust persecution

. Saul hunted him alone, and with him were 3,000 troops, 3,000 soldiers, it is written, chosen men. This was a kind of special forces or special services of that time, which were tasked with catching one simple man like that. At

that moment, he was very simple. He wasn't great yet back then. And David had to run away. And you know what is interesting? In this whole situation, when all his enemies had turned against him, he speaks interesting words to God

. He says:" My times are in Your hand. "The whole life situation suggested that all of David's days were not in God's hand right then, but in the hand of that very Saul and the special forces that were hunting him. And it

seemed that, well, it was only a matter of time before they caught him. If not today, then tomorrow. Because when many people are united by one goal, you must agree, they usually succeed. But David knew, he knew that the net was in God's

hand, not his own. He knew the prophecy that had been spoken about him, but his life situation suggested this prophecy would not come to pass. Everything suggested that it was simply unrealistic, because everything was set against him. But David was a man who

relied on God, and he trusted in God. That is why he declares that my days are in Your hand. Brothers and sisters, our days are in the hand of the Lord.

And that is why we have a foundation to trust our God. I want to show three things that we must practice in our lives so that we have a high level of trust in God. First, it is impossible

to succeed in trusting God if you do not know Him well. The first is to know God. Second, I want to talk about what the levels of our faith depend on. And then I also want to talk about the will

of our Lord in our lives. I will try to speak briefly about this because these are likely familiar things, but we need to be reminded of them. Knowing God.

You know, not all of us who even read the Bible know God in the same way. We read the Scripture, which says about God that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We must always keep this thought in mind: our God never

changes. We are so used to living in a changing world, and we are so prone to change ourselves, that it is hard for us to understand that there is a certain stability. And this stability is in the person of our God. God is the

same yesterday, today, and forever. When you read about God in Scripture, from the Old Testament, the history of Israel, great men of God, or other situations described in ancient times, we must always remember that it speaks to the character of our God, who is the

same today as He was then. We know how sternly God acted when the people grumbled. We know how God punished the Egyptians. We know the God who led the people of Israel through very unusual and, humanly speaking, simply

impossible paths. Brothers and sisters, we walk today before that very same God . Today we bow before the power of that very same God. Therefore, we must always understand that God never changes. The next point is that we must

know about God: God wants us to trust Him. God is interested in us trusting Him. And so our lives and our destiny are full of signs that God is always with us. That is why in the lives of

people who have some kind of spiritual history, there are always examples of how God helped, saved, led, how He gave wisdom, how He delivered, sometimes simply taking us out of the foolish situations we had gotten ourselves into . Therefore, I want to say that we must

understand that God is acting in our lives. And sometimes even against our own wishes, but thanks to the prayers of our parents, or perhaps ministers, perhaps our church, or perhaps people who care about us, God has very often

shown His hand in our lives out of His mercy. And only an inattentive person in their own life can say:" Well, where is God, anyway? Where is God in my life ? "If we look honestly at our lives

today, we can say that yes, truly, not by my merits, but by His mercy, He has been with us. And so we can see that God wants us to trust Him. And God is always revealing Himself to us. God

reveals Himself to us through exactly those many things I have already mentioned. When we read the Scripture, the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Scripture—which fills God's word— and the Spirit of God in our hearts, primarily have the goal of revealing

God to us. And so, when we open the Bible in our lives at all, one of the primary goals is for us to see God.

That is precisely why, by reading Scripture, many people commune with God . That is precisely why it strengthens us. Sometimes we cannot even physically explain it, but reading a story, again from some moments in the Old Testament, gives us strength or some kind of

spiritual inspiration. And this works because the Spirit of God, from the pages of Scripture, speaks to our spirit—the spirit with which the Lord God has reborn us and provided us with spiritual life. Therefore, dear friends , may the Lord bless us so that we know

God, so that we come to know God, because our God is always the same, because our God always reveals Himself in our lives, and because God is always revealing Himself to us. You know, let's take a very brief look at the

situation of the people of Israel. How did the Israelites who came out of Egypt know God? They had been in slavery for many years. Yet they knew God, because even in that situation, the Israelite people tried to pass on

knowledge about God from father to children. But what did a personal knowledge of God really signify?

Extraordinary events began to unfold before their eyes, when God began to punish the Egyptians with plagues for being so unjust to the Israelite population living in Egypt. We know that a very cruel king of the Egyptian kingdom treated them harshly. When

Moses came to speak with him, he resisted Moses 'words in every way, opposed God, and issued challenges. And we know that the people saw a whole series of plagues that God unleashed upon the Egyptians. Furthermore, they see that God is leading them out of

that land. And they knew it was a prophecy, and that it had to happen in the destiny of their people. And so they go. You could say that up to this moment, they knew God as a strict God,

a punishing God, a God of vengeance. And then the first trial stood before them, when they arrived at a completely hopeless situation. In front of them was the sea. There was no way to go either to the right or to the left.

Everything was made worse by the fact that they hadn't just left the land of Egypt; they were fleeing the land of Egypt, because a large, enraged army of Pharaoh was chasing them. This army had one goal. They wanted to simply

exterminate them all on the spot. Therefore, impending death and a hopeless situation stood before them, because in front was the sea. Dear brothers and sisters, no one in their history before them had ever passed through the sea. They didn't even know

at all that God could make the waters of the sea part so that people could walk on the ground, on the seabed, as if on dry land. That had never even crossed their minds. It was impossible to even imagine such a thing, or see it

in any dream. And so, when the people stood before this sea, I think their hearts were filled with very different feelings. As we say, mixed feelings visited them. On one hand, they were glad that their God had brought them

out, but on the other hand, there was this fear and horror of the dead end they found themselves in. Brothers and sisters, let's immediately project this onto our own lives. Have you ever found yourself before such a sea in front and

an enemy behind? Perhaps you haven't faced it, but we don't know what awaits us in the future. And God performs an incredible miracle. God reveals Himself to them as a loving, merciful, saving God who performs miracles. We know that

the sea parted. We know that they crossed that seabed as if it were dry land. And we know that when the Egyptians tried to follow them, they all perished in the depths of the sea.

And did you know that this was the very first stop for the people of Israel?

Their journey ahead was still very long . They didn't even imagine how long the journey to the Promised Land would be.

It is evident that they had 11 stops along their way. And the first of these was here by the Red Sea. Dear friends, each stop revealed God to them in a special way. It is very striking that after traveling a little, when Moses

went up the mountain to speak with God, the thought came to them:" Where is your God, Israel? And who brought you out? "Yes. And so they made a golden idol and said:" This is your god, Israel, who brought you out of the land

of Egypt. "It was terrible, because people, having seen the power of God, suddenly begin to worship some idols.

Brothers and sisters, such is our human heart. There is no need to think too judgmentally about Israel right now. We need to look at our own lives instead.

How often, having seen God’s saving hand, do we sometimes start getting distracted by something else? And we start living for the sake of something else, serving someone else. Yes, maybe these are not physical idols, but they are things that do not multiply the

glory of the Lord. What I want to say is that throughout this entire journey of the Israeli people, God revealed Himself to them. One of the greatest signs that accompanied them the whole way was that God covered them with His

cloud, and there was shade over their heads. They were walking through a desert that was, well, simply one with incredible heat. The temperature was very, very high in those places. Those who have been to Israel know this, my

dear friends. But God covered them with a cloud. At night, a pillar of fire went before them, lighting their way and striking terror into anyone who might cause them any harm. We read in Scripture that their clothes did not

wear out, their shoes did not wear out, and their bread did not grow stale in their sacks, in their bags, or whatever they carried their food in. The Lord revealed Himself as a God who was caring and loving toward them. All of

these were signs meant for people to trust in God. But we know that, unfortunately, while people enjoyed the blessings of the Lord, far from everyone experienced trust in God.

Remember when the spies went to look at the Promised Land, how many of them were afraid to go there? And we know that only two men, Joshua and Caleb, remained steadfast, in whose hearts there was trust in God. My dear friends

, they did not trust God, despite all the miracles God performed for them, and they all died in the desert. Only their children were able to enter the Promised Land. Scripture says the history of the people of Israel was a

sign for us, living in a new epoch, a new era, the era of the New Covenant.

People who now know God as their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. A God who came to our earth to pay a high price for you and me. The price so that we could be with God. And we know this. We

have accepted this by faith, my dears. But in our daily lives, do we trust God ? Are we building our lives in a way that is pleasing to our God? I spoke about the levels of faith at the very

beginning, my dears. The levels of faith depend on some simple factors. The first is to always remember the price at which we were bought. We must always keep the Lord before us, as if He were crucified before our very eyes.

Why? Because when a person knows the price they were bought with, it keeps us from foolish actions and from sins that could deprive us of the salvation the Lord has provided. Dear friends, surely you agree that our lives would

be different if we always remembered that the Lord Jesus Christ died for us. We know this; it is always in your minds. But when we live our practical lives, you could say it is as if we forget it. Scripture, 1 Corinthians

6:20. For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. If we always remember what God has done for us, then our practical lives, what is seen, our bodies and our spirits, will

all glorify God. Proverbs, chapter three, verse five. It says these wonderful words:" Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in

your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. "This text speaks very clearly to us of a very simple logic: that we must hope in the Lord and not rely on our own reasoning. Everyone knows about the power of God and the

imperfection of their own mind, yet very often we live by relying precisely on our own reason, our own logic, and our own understanding. That is exactly why we take action first and only then ask:" Lord, bless this. "Therefore, may

the Lord give us wisdom so that we understand before what kind of God we walk, and that we, with our hearts and our minds, first and foremost rely on our Lord. We know that this hope never disappoints, because only He knows the

specific intentions He has for our destiny, for our heart. And this is all for our benefit. You know, in the Scriptures there is a very clear example, a text from the Scripture. And in order for us to strengthen our faith

, we must always keep God in our minds, always think about Him. And there is a text that says that God gave people over to a debased mind because they did not see fit to acknowledge God in their

minds. You know, we recalled David, a man who went through very difficult periods in his life. And it is interesting that in his life there were several times, well, very revealing moments. He is running away from Saul, Saul is chasing him, surrounded by

troops, each of whom is ready to help their king. And there were two occasions when God actually delivered Saul's life into David's hands. One time it happened in a cave that Saul entered, and David and his men were

deep inside that cave. And his faithful men say to him there:" David, listen, this is clearly a sign from God. Just say the word now, and this man's head, that's it, it won't stay on his shoulders. "Another moment was when

they snuck into their camp while they were resting. It was a truly unique situation, where it is written there was a tent in the center, Saul was resting there, and around him was this army of 3,000 men. And David, along

with his assistant, makes his way in there. I cannot imagine how 3,000 men, and not a single one even woke up. They snuck in there. He took only his spear and the jug of water to show later that

God delivered you into my hands, but I did not do it. I have a question: why didn't David kill his enemy? Twice God acted so that David could have done it.

David says:" I will not harm the Lord's anointed. "In this situation, David is not thinking about Saul; he is thinking about the fact that he is God's anointed. David always kept God in his mind. For David always thought about

God first, and only then about all these situations. And he says:" He is the anointed, God's anointed. Therefore , my hand will not be upon him. Let him die, perhaps, in some other way. Let God Himself manifest His, so to speak,

vengeance upon him, but my hand will not be there. "My dear friends, how many times have there been situations in our lives when we propose certain actions first, and only later think about God. May the Lord help us to

always keep God in our minds in our practical daily lives. This will help us strengthen our faith, so that our faith is firm and strong. It is very important to strengthen our faith. It is our attitude toward His word. We

know that the Bible, the Scripture, the holy book, is the foundation and bedrock of our faith. Everyone knows this, my dear friends. It is no secret that lately, the Bible is read by Christians much less than ever before.

In our age of technology, when you can listen to the Bible, watch it, and perhaps listen to various interpretations and talks, you would really have to be lazy not to do it.

Paradoxically, today people know the Scriptures worse and worse. Today, people sometimes apply the Scriptures only when it is convenient for them, when it doesn't have a direct impact on their souls. But they can use it as a tool. Well, to take a jab at a brother.

Or a sister, you know, to highlight some sort of shortcoming they have." Don't you know what the Bible says? " but we don't always apply it to ourselves. Our attitude toward Scripture is our direct path to strengthening our faith. So may God

help us, so that this book is always a special priority for us. We know that Joshua said," This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth. "" But you shall meditate in it day and night. "Just as in the Old Testament

times, the Book of the Law—and in our time, the Book of Scripture—has always been a source of strength, inspiration, and fortification so that God may work with us. Another thing that strengthens our faith. It is our own personal experience of communion

with our God. Personal experience of communion with God. This is actually a very interesting thing. You remember I said at the beginning that the level of faith depends only on us. It very rarely depends on the environment we

find ourselves in. Moreover, the older generation may remember that during the time of atheism, when the Soviet Union tried every way to eradicate faith from people, all spiritual literature that could be destroyed was destroyed. So that a person could not read, be

inspired, or gain any faith, because they didn't know where faith comes from . My dear friends, all these persecutions could not kill faith. All these persecutions could not turn people away from God, because people had a personal experience of communion

with God. And a personal experience of communion with God includes three simple factors. The first is hearing God. You know, not all people know how to hear God. Some say," Well, I pray to God. I’ve asked God certain questions

, but I haven't heard any answers from Him. "That doesn't mean God doesn't speak to people. It means that people don't always know how to hear God. And in general, let's each ask ourselves:" When was the last time we heard God at

all? "How long ago did that happen for us? And perhaps, if we are honest, we can realize that we don't hear God's voice that often. Yet, this is our personal experience, brothers and sisters, which strengthens our faith.

David was a spiritually strong man because he had experience communicating with God. My dear friends, he heard the Lord. Do we hear God? Do we hear God when we read the Bible? Do we hear God when we fellowship with brothers and

sisters? When we are in church, performing some ministry, or perhaps when God directs life's circumstances to speak to us? When you are perhaps alone, pondering spiritual things, do you hear the voice of God? The second thing is to speak with God. To speak.

We understand that a person speaks through prayer. Prayer can be loud, booming, or perhaps, well, a corporate one when we pray at church. There are personal prayers, which are very important, when we pray in our secret room. There are even silent prayers

that are born in our soul, within our thoughts. We don't say words, but we speak something in our spirit to God.

And this, of course, is a definite experience of communion with God, because, well, it's foolish to talk when you know no one is listening.

Would you agree? We speak when we have faith that we are being heard. Therefore, when we speak and hear the voice of God, such a person cannot be shaken in their faith because they have their own personal experience. They

don't need to be told theories. They have their own practice of speaking and God hearing. And, of course, that strengthens our faith. The third is to see the result of His leading. This is when we can say," Lord, I prayed to You

, and my life did not go according to the plan I had built, but today I see that it was Your hand in my life. "It is very important to analyze your life, brothers and sisters. This also strengthens our faith. I will briefly

repeat, this is the word of the Lord, our attitude towards the Scripture, this is our attitude towards the personal experience of communion with God through hearing God, speaking with God, and seeing His actions in our lives. Lastly, in concluding my sermon,

I want to say that it is, of course, trust in God, which will always exist when we care that our life be according to the will of God. When the disciples asked Jesus Christ," Teach us to pray, "Jesus Christ composed for them a

wonderful example of prayer, which we call The Lord's Prayer. And there are these words: that Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Brothers and sisters, when we think about our lives, is this thought always present with us:

" Lord, let Thy will be done in my life "? We know that the will of God is very often different from our own ideas, but sometimes we are so inspired or ignited by our own ideas that it is even

difficult for us to agree that something might go wrong. For a person who cares and trusts in God, their peace in life is always based on the fact that Thy will be done. This is always difficult. We know the example

of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who, before He was taken and led to suffering, prayed to the Father and said:" Lord, let this cup pass from me, but let Thy will be done. "This tells us that, being human at that moment, He

truly wanted very much to avoid this suffering, but He walked according to the will of our God. And so, in His prayer, He confessed exactly this: that , Lord, God the Father, yes, it is hard for me to agree to this, but let Thy

will be done. I agree with Thy will. Dear friends, may the Lord help us so that we may always have in our minds that the Lord's will be fulfilled in our lives. Agreement with the will of God is always equal to trust and

submission. It is beforehand, even when we make any plans, that we agree in advance that God may lead something differently, thereby saying:" Lord, we know that if it goes differently, then it will be better or for my good. "It

is very important to entrust your destiny and your life into the hands of God. We say:" Entrust your life to the Lord. "This is exactly what sounds in our appeals, when we say, if someone wants to pray a prayer of repentance

and wants to give their life into the hands of the Lord, by this we say:" Entrust your life into the hands of God . "And we already know, those of us who have experienced some spiritual growth, that when we prayed—perhaps back in

those distant years—in that prayer of repentance, we said:" Lord, take my life into your hands, lead it as it pleases you. "And you can use me however you wish. I agree today, not knowing what awaits me. That is trust

in God. Brothers and sisters, at one time there was such a prayer in my life too, and I had no idea how my destiny would unfold. I never knew where I would be, what would happen to me, and

in what ministry God would use me. But trust in God was confessed back then, when we were able to say those words. I believe that your life is full of the same examples. Therefore, dear friends, it is very important to trust, that is,

to submit yourself, your life, your desires, and your dreams to the will of our God and say:" Lord, you can take my life, and from now on I want, I want my destiny to follow your plan, which you

have in your mind. "And we have read that God’s intentions are always for good and not for evil. When we talk about the Lord’s will, it is always very important for us to seek God’s will, to test it, and to follow it.

Seeking God’s will, of course, always begins with our prayers, as we have already talked about during this sermon . Second. Seeking God’s will is when a person makes an effort. Seeking is always an effort. When we ask for

advice from people whose hearts are devoted to God, when we flip through the Bible trying to hear the voice of God from it, when we do something so that we can be sure we have received a testimony from God on how to act, to

test God’s will, to test it. You know , scripture, the sacred text, says in Ephesians 5:17, it is written:" Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is . "To understand or to test—it seems

to me that in this case, these are very close words; in this context, it means that we must always understand, investigate, delve into, and grasp what the Lord God actually wants. And most importantly, it is to live as God wants

. We once recalled in one of the sermons—it was a long time ago—I preached about Jonah. He knew the Lord’s will, but went in the completely opposite direction. Brothers and sisters, admit it, this is about us too. We very often go where God does

not want us to go. Inside, in our soul, in our heart, we understand His will.

God might want—we know that God has called me, perhaps to ministry, to do something in the church, to perhaps be of some use to God. But it seems so difficult to us at times, and I won't be able to, I won't manage, I don't

have all these given capabilities. Yet in our hearts we feel the prompting, and we remain sitting on the bench for a long, long time. Sometimes God might be calling us to something outside the church, to perform some good deed or

perhaps to do something else. It doesn't matter, God has a mass of ideas for us, but we always feel when we are heading in a direction God did not intend. Dear friends, it is therefore very important to know and seek the

Lord's will and live by it, building our lives in a way that pleases our Lord. Before we pray, I want to make a very small summary. We have talked about how a person's life and destiny depend very much on whether that person

trusts God or not. In reality, it depends very much. Very simple things. The Lord says that you can test me, for example, when you make offerings, says the Lord, I promise you that your storehouses will never be empty. More

than that, I will fill your life, as it is written there, with a good measure, shaken together. That is to say, you will have everything. And we know that there are not that many sacrificial people in this world. They believe in

God, yes, they believe in God, but by not living a sacrificial life, a person shows they do not trust the words that God has spoken. Sometimes we do not trust God in simple things when the Lord calls us to some action, but we

hold ourselves back. Sometimes with our human logic, because we do or don't understand. In truth, this happens because we do not trust God completely.

Our life is filled with fears, sometimes anxieties and worries. We are not sure of salvation, we are not sure what awaits us beyond the grave. We do not know what the Lord God thinks of us . And these are all reasons for

distrusting God. Because our salvation has already been accomplished by the Lord. And when we know that we have been bought with a great price, our trust and salvation—trusting in the hands of the Lord—brings peace, it brings comfort, a kind of stability and

tranquility into our lives. May the Lord bless us so that we do not try to control our own lives ourselves, but entrust all its processes to our Lord.

And when it seems like we are succeeding in controlling our lives, it is merely an illusion that Satan is very interested in. He fills our lives with such vivid signs, as if he is telling us:" Look, you tried, and you

succeeded. "" See, you planned it, and everything is good. "" Just copy this person's actions, and you will reach the same result. "And sometimes we do, and it seems to us that it works, dear friends. But Satan is always very

interested in us relying on ourselves, on our own intellect, and not seeking God in all of this. My dear friends, true peace and the meaning of a person's life come when that person has trust in God. Let us strengthen our

faith. Let us cherish the word of our God in a special way. Let us know God more through the Holy Scriptures and our personal experience of communing with Him, building these relationships so that we may see the finger of God

accompanying us in our lives. And if there is no trust in God in our lives today, if we live a worldly life— worldly in the sense of allowing sins and actions that God definitely does not like—then this is an obstacle to

God's work in our lives. And this, too, is an illusion. Today, Satan sometimes creates an illusion where a person lives as they please, clearly committing sin, yet thinks that God is with them. I remember these words were deeply etched in my memory when a young

guy from the youth group told me:" Pavel, look, "and he named a person we all knew well, saying," He has walked away from God. "" He does not live a life pleasing to God, yet everything is prosperous in his life. "" God has

given him, well, really everything, you could count it off on your fingers. "" And his life is just like a horn of plenty. "And it is so advantageous for Satan that young, inexperienced people in the spirit look at that and think

that it is possible to have everything in life even without God. But this is merely an illusion. An illusion that a person can control their life, that a person can do anything at all. As if it were possible to live without trusting

in God. You can live, but your life will ultimately be filled with fears and disappointments. And the most terrible thing is that at the end of life, when we stand before the great God, our deeds will judge us. Dear ones

, the word of the Lord today is addressed to all of us, that we should trust in God, because God is worthy of it. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God promised that no one will snatch us from His hand. That is,

if we take care to keep God in our minds throughout our lives, then God ensures that everything in our lives follows His plan. Yes, not everything may seem calm according to our human perceptions. We may get sick, sorrows

may happen, but our life and destiny are under the control of the great Lord , who has the goal that we should be where He is now. Dear friends, may the Lord help us to understand and shape our lives by trusting in our Lord. May

God bless us. We will now pray on our knees. If anyone has a desire to pray to God with a special prayer—a prayer of repentance, of forgiveness, to ask God for grace regarding sins, or perhaps to start life anew from this

moment in trust toward God—we invite you to come forward. You can come down here below, or come up here higher, and we will be very glad to pray with you.

All of heaven will rejoice, and so will we. May God bless us in this. Let us bow down and pray to Him. Amen.