Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: That's not God's agenda. And if you're going to trust Him with the people who have it in for you, if you're going to trust Him with the people who are out to destroy your life, I've come to tell you, you've got to let Him fight the battle.

Guest (Male): When your enemies pick a fight, do you roll with the punches or throw a few of your own? Hello and welcome to another great day here on Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. You know, as Christians, we have no trouble saying we're saved by God's grace, not our own works. That victory comes through Jesus, not ourselves.

But when it comes to our day-to-day lives, we often want to fight life's battles alone, in our own strength. Today we'll see why it's so important to let God fight our battles for us, because after all, every battle belongs to Him anyway. Online, you'll find us at pastorpaul.net, where you can listen to Destined for Victory on demand. That's pastorpaul.net. Now here's Pastor Paul's message, "Trust Him".

Paul Sheppard: David shows you some of the different ways that he responded to enemies. He and the other psalmist in Psalm 27, David says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" What you've got to understand is your enemies don't have that much juice. I'm sorry, translate, they don't have that much power over you. They don't have the ability to dictate what does and doesn't happen in your life.

Somebody can fire you off a job, but they can't keep you from working again. Somebody can walk away from you and not come back. Say you're never going to be anything. I'm sorry I ever met you. I'm sorry I ever let you put a ring on my finger. Get out of here and I'm gone. And they go off and start a new life with somebody else and remarry and think they left you in a pile of self-pity. I want to let you know, your life is not over. God can pick you up and dust you off and start you all over again.

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Then he went on to say in Psalm 27, "When the wicked, even my foes and enemies, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell." So you've got to have the attitude that your enemies are not going to be able to have the impact they want to have on you. You just have to take the attitude that if God be for me, who can be against me?

And you can take your best shot, but you're not going to get the right of the last chapter of my life. When you get through doing your best, God is just beginning. You've got to get the right attitude. Don't let your enemies see you sweat. Don't give them much power. If you can, don't even cry in their presence. Don't even let them realize that they're kind of getting to you.

And then when you get before God, say, Lord, you know what they're trying to do. You read some of the psalms, you see the psalmist saying, Lord, you see these folk? You see what they're trying to do? I'm expecting you. It goes back to trust. I'm expecting you to deal with it, God. I'm expecting you to vindicate me. I'm expecting you to bring me out in the right place.

I've come to ask somebody to give your foes to God. Now, if you're going to trust God with your foes, watch this, if you're going to trust Him with your foes, then the battle is His. See, some of us want to fight. Not you, people on your row. There's some people on your row who want to fight. There's some people on your row who say, no, no, God, you don't have to worry about this fight, I got this one.

I got this one. No, no, this one is it's all right, God, you can go and help somebody else right now. I got... no, no, see, you don't do this to me and get away with it. Do you know where I'm from? I will cut you. See, you're ready to cut somebody, hurt somebody, put somebody in the hospital, in the grave or something. No, no, that's you fighting. God, that's not God's agenda.

And if you're going to trust Him with the people who have it in for you, if you're going to trust Him with the people who are doing you wrong, if you're going to trust Him with the people who are disrespecting you, if you're going to trust Him with the people who are out to destroy your life, I've come to tell you, you've got to let Him fight the battle. The battle is the Lord's. The battle can't be yours and His.

Well, God, how about if I fight with you? No, battle can't be yours and His. The battle is yours or the battle is the Lord's. Now, who's going to fight? And if you make up your mind you're going to operate by the operating system of trust, remember the definition of the Hebrew word *batach*, it means you're going to be careless in giving it over to God. You're going to be childlike.

You're going to be, "Oh, God's got my enemies covered. God can handle them. I'm not even worrying about it. All I'm going to do is smile at them next time I see them, because God's got me covered." I'm unsuspecting of God. I trust Him fully. I know that He's got my back. And so I am going to leave this to Him. Trust Him with your foes. I'm going to climb in the back seat and sleep. Let God drive this thing.

Trust Him with your foes. Trust Him with the people who are doing you wrong. See, if you're keeping score and keeping track and trying to get everybody straight, that's a formula for misery. Have you figured that out by now? If you're the watchdog over your life, pity on you. You've got to learn to trust Him with your foes, and He will bring His will to pass.

Number three, trust Him with your frustrations. Trust Him with your frustrations. Trust Him with the things that don't make sense. Now, we all have them. Things where you say, God, this doesn't add up. Like Job, in the middle of his misery, at one point Job says, Lord, if I knew where you were, I'd ask you for a hearing. But I'm in such a spiritual wilderness, I don't even know where you are. I don't know why you've allowed all of this to come upon me, all of this calamity.

And if I knew where you were, Lord, I'd ask for a hearing because something is not right. Job said to God, I want to present my case before you, God. I know you're omnipotent and all-powerful and all that stuff, and so I don't blame it on you, God, but your assistant got my file mixed up with somebody's. It wasn't you, God. I'm not impugning your integrity, but somebody messed something up.

I am suffering some sinner's punishment, and there's some sinner somewhere enjoying the rewards of my righteousness. He said, this is not right. And if I could find you, I'd have a hearing and we could get this cleared up. But finally, Job settled in and said, well, I don't know where God is, but He knows where I am. And he said, I'm just going to wait until my change comes.

You've got to give your frustrations to the Lord. You've got to give to Him the things that don't make sense to you. You've got to give to Him the things that, like in Psalm 37, where it says, "Fret not yourself because of evildoers." Sometimes you look around at other folk and that's what really messes you up. Because you say, now I'm not the most perfect person in the world, but how with the raggedy life they live, how in the world are they living that large?

And they're fussing and cussing and in all kinds of sin and mess in their lives and they're living large. He said, "Fret not yourself because of evildoers." Over in Psalm 73, Asaph gets worse than that. He started looking at people around him. He said, I envied the arrogant when I saw their prosperity. He said, they have no struggles, their bodies are healthy and strong, they're free from the burdens common to man.

Sometimes when you look at folk, you only see what you see. And Asaph looked at the people who were living wicked lives and he said, their bodies are healthy and strong, here I am, I go from the cold to the flu. I go to the flu to breaking some bones, got to get them reset. I'm always having some sort of struggle. I'm being laid off and I've been right and righteous on my job, and folk who are lying and stealing and conniving are getting promotions.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever been there where you saw... where you said, wait, wait, wait, wait, something's wrong here. Frustrations. Your mysteries. The things where you say, God, how come you didn't answer that prayer? God, why did you take that loved one? We were praying, we were fasting, we were believing you, we were exercising faith. God, God, why?

You've got to trust Him with your frustrations. Now here's the thing, trusting Him with your frustrations means you trust Him so much it's okay if He never answers the why question. See, a lot of us will settle down with our frustrations if we like the answer. Tell me why, let me process it. But how many know God will let mysteries happen in your life and you have to trust His silence because He won't tell you why.

You have to trust Him anyhow. That's why I believe we ought to keep hymns alive. In the midst of singing the wonderful new songs, keep hymns alive because some of those old songs dealt with these kinds of issues.

Guest (Male): Don't go away, the rest of today's Destined for Victory message featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard is coming right up. In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Our mission here at Destined for Victory is to share that timeless truth, Jesus Himself, so that as many as possible can be saved.

You can help keep these messages coming your way all year round by sending a generous gift today. Stop by pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. That's pastorpaul.net. Or call 855-339-5500. When life gets tough, are you more likely to get to work or get to worrying? The second half of today's Destined for Victory message now, "Trust Him".

Paul Sheppard: I remember that old song that said, "Farther along we'll know all about it. Farther along we'll understand why. Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine. We'll understand it all by and by." See, folk say that's a boring song. Ah, but when you've been through something, you say I don't even pay attention to the music because the message is so close to my heart.

Let me tell you something, somebody, when a songwriter wrote, "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus." Let me tell you something, you've got to learn to trust Him when He gives you a word. You've got to learn to trust Him when He doesn't give you a word. Trust Him with your frustrations. Trust Him with the things that aren't making sense to you. Trust Him with your unsolved mysteries.

Be like the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4. She wanted a child like any married woman in her day, but the Lord had her womb closed. And for all through her childbearing years, nothing. And by the time we meet her in 2 Kings 4, all we're told about her is that she was a well-to-do woman, very significant. When the Bible says a woman is well-to-do, it means that she did not marry into money, it means her husband married into money.

Brother Shunammite was standing there on that wedding day, bouncing on his toes. He saw her coming down the aisle, knew all that money she had, he said, thank you Jesus. We're going to be set. She was well-to-do, but it goes on to tell you, but she was barren. First problem. And her husband's old. Second problem. Bad enough to be barren and she's now passed childbearing years, the typical childbearing years.

But even if God was going to touch her womb, in her human way of thinking there's another problem, this man is old. Oh, but don't tell God what can't happen. I dare you to give your frustrations to Him. And what that woman did, the reason why I love her case study is because what she did is she focused on her sphere of control rather than focused on her sphere of concern.

You've got two spheres in your life. You've got some things that you have certain control over, that is by your actions you can make certain things happen. You have another area I call your sphere of concern, and those are things about which you can personally do nothing. She is well-to-do. Her wealth, her material possessions, her financial resources are in the sphere of control. She can use that for the glory of God.

The fact that she is barren and her husband is old is sphere of concern. There's nothing I can do about that. I want a baby, I'm a married woman, I want a baby. They whisper when they see me, because you know in Bible days, if a married woman did not bear her husband children and especially a son who could carry on the family name and the family enterprise, she was marked as a woman cursed by God.

They said she had to be cursed. Look what God did. God won't even keep her husband's name alive because of her. And the poor woman had to bear that. Husband could have been the problem. Didn't even matter. He could have been not delivering the goods. Come on, I'm trying to preach in a general setting, don't make me get more specific. Say amen so I know you know where I am. Thank you, thank you. Hallelujah.

Could have been all on him. He's impotent. He's not producing what he needs to, to bring forth a child, but it was on her. The stigma was on her. And so Shunammite woman goes to the grocery store and folk whisper, goes down to the marketplace, folk go... "See that's her, that's the one." Sphere of concern, she can't do anything about that. That's a frustration.

She buried her frustration under her good works. She said, since I can't do anything about this, let me not live with active resentment. Some folk are so busy in the "why, why, why" and "God, I'm not going to act right till you tell me why and I'm sick of this and I'm not going to be going to church and you letting all this happen to me". And so you want to go on strike. That's not the way to handle your frustrations.

Shunammite shows you how to do it. She said, well, I want to have a child, I've always wanted to have a child, tired of being talked about, but I can't do anything about it. So I tell you what, I'm going to focus my attention on what I can do. And the man of God, Elisha, would come through their town from time to time, and she decided, you know what, this man when he comes to town, he doesn't have a Holiday Inn or Western to stay in.

And so I need to build him a room. So she had him in for a meal so her husband could meet him. I often say that this woman has remarkable wisdom. She wants her husband to have the same comfort level that she has. And then after he meets her, see, she tells him, honey, I'm thinking about when this man of God comes, I think we ought to build a room, build an extension on the home.

And in Bible days to do that, you built up on the roof. You literally added a floor to your home. And so she had the idea and she had the money, but she's a wise married person. Married people, check this out. She's wise, she didn't just come because she had the money. You know some unwise folk I know, not you but people on your row, some people unwise I know if they had the money and had the idea, they're not mentioning anything to anybody.

You'd come home and the contractors were in your house. And married people messing up their lives by acting independent of one another. She's smart. She had the money, she could have done it, but she wants to partner with her husband. So she floats the idea out to him. She says, "Honey, what do you think about us building a room? That way he can have his own place when he comes to town. Do you think that'd be a good idea?" And he'd say, "Well, yeah."

And I always love picturing them going up on the roof. Now, she knew exactly where she wanted the room and everything. But she probably worked him a little bit. She said, "Honey, now where do you think? You think we should put it over here, or should it go over here? I was thinking that maybe we want to put it over here because the sunlight would hit it at a certain time and he'd be... what do you think, honey?"

And he stands there, "Yeah, yeah, I think over here would be the best way to go." And she said, "Okay, honey, oh, that's so great. Thank you so much. Oh, I'm so glad I married a man like you." She know how to work it. See, some of y'all don't know how to work it. Some of y'all don't know how to work it. You're messing up your family in there all nasty and independent.

I just love picturing her just kind of working that man, he just feeling... and he think he built an extension on the house. It was her idea, but she let him partner. He's down at the city gates with the elders of the city. He's down at the gates, "Yeah, yeah, wife and I decided we're going to build an extension on the house." And see if she was like some of y'all, she'd have went down there correcting him, embarrassing him in front of his friends.

"What you down here bragging about now? You know good and well you didn't think of building... I'm the one." You've got to have wisdom. She buried her frustrations under her good works. She built a place for that man of God. And one day God rewarded her on the backside. While Elisha was there one day, he called, told the servant to call her and ask her, what can we do for you?

And she said, I'm fine, everything's all right. That shows you she's not living with that active regret. She's trusted God with that frustration. She says, I'm fine. But the servant said, "Well, I do know one thing, Prophet, she doesn't have a child and her husband is old." And the prophet got the word of the Lord in his mouth. God gave him an unction in that moment and he said, "All right, tell her this time next year she'll be bouncing a baby boy."

See, sometimes God blesses you only when you don't need it. If you feel like you need it, I've got to have this particular blessing. How many know sometimes that's when God will withhold it from you? Because you're too fixated on the outcome you want. But sometimes if you learn to trust Him with your trouble, trust Him with your frustration, He'll bless you on the backside. And the good thing about it is even if He doesn't, by then it doesn't matter because you've accessed a grace that is sufficient.

Finally, trust Him with your future. Trust Him with tomorrow. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6, don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow has enough concerns of its own. Don't you stand in today worrying about tomorrow. Trust Him with your future. Oh, Lord, the money's about to run out, we don't have enough for the rest of the week. Don't worry about the rest of the week.

Trust Him for your future. Oh, God, that appointment is coming up in a few days and that's the make it or break it appointment, that's the one. No, no, trust Him with your future. And what did Jesus say to do in Matthew 6? He said meanwhile, today, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Please God today. Cast your cares upon Him today. Do what He's told you to do today.

And trust Him for your future. One songwriter said, I don't know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day. And the chorus goes on to say, many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand, but I know, watch this, who holds tomorrow, and I know He holds my hand. The same one who has tomorrow in His sights and in His plans is the same one who's holding your hand.

And so I don't have to worry about tomorrow because God's got my tomorrow. But today He's got my hand. And what I need to do is to walk with Him today, to put my trust in Him today, to cast my cares on Him today, to give my concerns, my frustrations, my foes to Him today. And I will discover that God will get me through today and when tomorrow comes, He'll get me through that one also.

Trust Him with your life with all your heart. Don't lean on your own understanding. Don't second-guess God, my friend, but in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and watch and see won't He direct your path and make them straight.

Guest (Male): You know, when times get tough and decisions have to be made, it's easy to lean on our own understanding, especially if we've been around long enough to have seen this movie before. But God invites us to trust Him in all things, every single time, even if we think we already know what to do. Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory.

Remember, any of our recent messages, including the one you heard today, are available on demand at our website, pastorpaul.net. While you're there, be sure to check out our online store for some great resources to help you grow in your Christian faith, including books and video messages from Pastor Paul Sheppard. That's pastorpaul.net.

Well, I'm sure you have someone in your life, a friend, a coworker, maybe a family member, and you've just never had quite the right words to say to them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. If so, you're going to love this month's Destined for Victory resource, the booklet, "You Are So Loved". It's a short, readable gospel presentation that doesn't feel like a tract, and it just might open a door you've been praying to have opened for years.

That's "You Are So Loved", our thank you gift today for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500. Or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. And you can mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Paul Sheppard: You've got to trust God with your tomorrows. With your tomorrows. See, the Bible would teach us to have a today orientation. And what do you do with tomorrow? You trust. You trust. I walk with God today, but I trust God for tomorrow. See, a lot of us want to worry about tomorrow. And I hope you have gotten it by now that worry doesn't produce anything good.

Guest (Male): Well, that's next time in our continuing message, "Trust Him". I'm telling you ahead of time, if you can join us, you'll be glad you did. But until then, remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.