In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: God teaches us to rivet our attention upon him. He teaches us to glue our focus on him. He teaches us to set our gaze upon him in stormy times, probably in a more effective way than any other times in our life. Because listen, when the storm is so dark and the winds are so fierce and the waves are so high and the water is so deep and the boat is about to turnover, the only thing we have is God.

Guest (Male): God speaks to his followers and he impresses his instructions on our heart. But sometimes it's hard to hear him. That's especially true when we're overwhelmed by heartache and difficulty. Thanks for joining us on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Today you'll get help refocusing attention to hear God's encouraging message in the storm.

Dr. Charles Stanley: How many of you think you know how to listen to God? Sometimes it's easier to hear him when we are talking to him about something we really want to happen. Or it's easy to talk to him when everything is sort of going our way and we're just praying and blessing him and praising him and making some simple request. Sometimes it's not quite as easy to hear him. We're in when we are in the midst of a storm and being blown as it were almost off course and yet then having to listen to God. Well, what I want to talk about in this message is the message in the storm.

And I want you to turn if you will to Psalm 62. And this happens to be one of my favorite Psalms because I think it is a key to so much and to so many incidences and so many experiences in life. And I want us to read just the the first eight verses of Psalm 62. The King James version starts off my soul wait there only upon God for my expectation is from him. I love that verse in the King James. But he says my soul waits in silence for God only. From him is my salvation.

He only is my rock and my salvation. My stronghold, I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will you assail a man that you may murder him all of you? Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence. They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position. They delight in falsehood. They bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse. My soul wait in silence for God only. For my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation. My stronghold, I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation, my glory rest.

The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, oh people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Now, that is a great great Psalm. But let me give you a little bit of what may be the background. We're not sure exactly when David wrote a lot of um the Psalms. Some of them we know are pretty evident when he wrote them. But as I think about this one, I want you to remember something that David was 16 years of age when Samuel anointed him as the king.

He went from 16 to 30 years of age before he was really crowned or coronated the king in Israel. So all of these years or nearly 15 years went by and nothing happened. Even though Samuel had crowned him or had anointed him as the king, the 15 years nothing happened except this. It didn't take Saul very long to begin to be a very jealous man. 1 Samuel 19 says now Saul told Jonathan, his son, and all his servants to put David to death. And so we find the beginning of the aggressive attack upon David by Saul.

Look if you will in verse 10 of the same chapter. And Saul tried to pin David to the wall with a spear. And so what happens is for the next approximately 15 years, 15 of the stormiest years of David's life, what he's doing is running from King Saul. Because Saul is trying to kill him at every turn. And I wonder how many times David must have asked wait a minute now. Did not the prophet Samuel anoint me as the king one year, two years, five years, 10 years, 12 years? You see, think about your age tonight.

And you know what your age is. Now, go back 15 years from that. So man, that's a long time. Let me ask you something. Would you have given up if God had told you something 15 years ago and it still hadn't come to pass? More than likely most people would. Here's what they would have said. Well, I just thought it was going to be that way. I must have just thought I heard that. But certainly I must not have heard that. But God does speak to us in ways oftentimes. What causes us to doubt him is that he doesn't do it on our schedule.

Now, let me ask you a question. When you are in the midst of a storm, what do you expect God to say to you? And what we have to be careful about is that we don't decide what we want him to say and say now this is what God said. But we have to get in the position to be willing to hear whatever he says, no matter what that is. And Psalm 62 became one of my favorites many many years ago going through some difficulty because I believe this Psalm is the most accurate for me personally of what I hear 90% of the time when I'm listening to God and more than that when when it's in some midst of some kind of a storm.

Listen to what he says. My soul wait in silence for God only. Every single word in that phrase is extremely important. But I want to simply abbreviate this and bring it down to three things that I want to say about this passage of scripture under the theme of the message in the storm. Because I don't believe that God intends for us to go through any storms of life or difficulties as a child and God be silent. Now, we to be silent, but he's not silent. Now, sometimes he may be silent for a season, but remember he's a God of grace and he knows that when you and I walking through difficulty and hardships and trials and things we can't change and we feel helpless and hopeless about, he is the one to whom we're to look.

And so he's not just going to sit up in heaven and say nothing. God wants us to be encouraged. And the two many verses in the Bible of encouragement and so many in the Psalms that assure us and remind us that God is a God of wonderful loving encouragement. The first thing I want us to notice here is the simple message. What does he say? He says my soul wait. Now, what does he mean when he says wait? Usually we think the idea of waiting is just passively just sort of sitting back just waiting for something to happen.

But the word wait means to pause the further instructions. Now, listen carefully. Most people in the midst of a storm want to react quickly. They want to change things fast. They want to make something happen. But this Psalm is like an anchor. He says listen, my soul waits in silence for God only. That is remain in your present state on your present position for further instructions. So when he says my soul wait, that isn't something that's passive. That is directed. That is directed instructions. Wait. That isn't passive. It doesn't mean doing nothing. It means very specifically doing something.

Something directed by God. Don't make a move. Don't make a decision. Don't react quickly. Don't respond too fast. Wait. And he says we are to wait upon him. And sometimes because we don't know what to do and oftentimes people who not grounded in the word of God, they get confused, and they become fearful and oftentimes make decisions they wish they had not made. So in the midst of the storm, the message is to wait. It's just that simple. Just wait. The clouds may be very dark, the wind may be very strong and the waves may be very high and the force against you may be almost unbearable.

When he says wait, you can wait. Because that is God's instruction here. Waiting upon God is stillness in submission to God. And friend, that is not passive. It takes more strength, more character to be still in the midst of the storm than it does to run hither and run yonder and do this and do that and make things work. So if your friend said to you well, why aren't you upset? You lost your job. Why aren't you upset? Or why don't you react? How could you be so calm in whatever is going on in your life?

Because the scripture says that we are to wait. And waiting is stillness. Listen, stillness in submission to God. If I am being still in submission to God, I am in the safest place doing the safest thing I can possibly do in that circumstance, no matter what it is. So first of all, the message is to wait. Now, second thing here and that is what is the method? It's just that simple. How am I to wait? Well, I can tell you how I wait sometimes. Impatiently, complaining, moaning, groaning, blaming, nervously, questioning, frustrated, irritated, miserably, manipulating. That's one way to wait.

But you know what? That doesn't even begin to fit what the apostle Paul when he said don't be anxious about anything. But in supplication, prayer, in everything, let your request be made known to God and the peace which is absolutely beyond our comprehension will guard our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus in every single storm, no matter what it is. So he says now the message is I'm to wait. And the way I am to do that, I am to wait he says in silence. And I just jotted in my own Bible some long time ago without complaining.

Now, that being true, what does that require of us? When you and I in the midst of the storm, it requires if I'm going to wait in silence, it means I must be willing to wait how? Patiently. Patiently means I am willing to wait for God's timing. He may let the storms blow hard and strong and furiously for a long period of time. Or it may be something that is brief in your life. It doesn't make any difference what it is. I am to wait silently. That is I'm to wait patiently. And it is always wise to wait and it is always wise to wait as he says here in silence.

That is waiting for his timing in submission to his will, whatever that may be. Secondly, I'm to wait trusting. Because you see, I'm not going to wait patiently if I'm not trusting him. And I think in my own life as I think back over the years, the one phrase that God has spoken to my own heart so clearly over and over and over and over again in the deepest, darkest times, the most troublesome times, times when I didn't know what to do next was always the same. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me.

You know what? There is no way to go wrong following that. So he says the message is to wait. And the message is to wait silently, not complaining, not blaming, not moaning and not groaning and not being nervous and upset and trying to manipulate your way out of it. But I'm to wait patiently as he says I'm to wait trusting and I am to wait expectantly. Now, I think that's a very important thing. It's one thing to wait, but I am to wait expectantly, expecting God to do what he desires to do, what is wise in that situation, no matter what.

And so there's nothing wrong with expecting God to do something because if God has told us to wait, what he's saying is I am about to do something and I want to do it my way and I want to do it in my time and and your responsibility is to wait for me to do it my way and my time. So I'm to wait patiently, trusting him and I am to wait expecting, anticipating God to do something. And then I think as I look at these verses and and think about other verses. For example, go back to um let's see 27th Psalm.

27th Psalm and the 13th and 14th verses. Listen to what he says. He says in verse 13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. That is he says I would have despaired if I would have had no expectation. So we have to wait not only patiently, we have to wait trusting him, we have to wait expectantly, but we have to wait steadfastly. And that is to be strong in the midst of the storm. Listen, when do you demonstrate your real dependence upon him best?

When those around you look at you and think there's no way. And you see these verses are simply verses to say this is the way we do it. This is how God would have us to do it. We wait in silence before him and we are patient, trusting him, relying upon him. We're expecting him to do something. We are steadfast in that and not only steadfast, but he says we are we are to be courageous. He says we to take courage. That means that no matter what's going on, we have no reason to fear because who's in charge?

You see, once you commit to waiting, what you're saying is I'm going to trust God to do whatever he desires to do, whatever he sees is important in the situation. So two things. First of all, he says we are to wait. Secondly, he says that we are to wait in silence. And then the third thing he says for God only. So first of all, here's the message. We to wait. Here's the method we to wait in silence. And here's the motivation, what God's up to. Because look at this. He says we are to wait in silence for God only.

Look in verse five. My soul wait in silence for God only. And if you notice he says only in verse one, verse two, verse five, and again in verse six, only only only only only, God only. So what is he saying? Simply this. This means that we're waiting for God to divinely intervene in this situation, in this storm, no matter what it is. We're waiting for God to intervene. My soul wait there only upon God. My expectation is from him. I think this is a real key when you're going through a storm and that is that means that our focus must be upon whom?

My soul wait there only upon God. My soul waits in silence for God only. Not for other people, not for things, not for situations and circumstances to change. We to wait upon God. And so what does God do? God teaches us to rivet our attention upon him. He teaches us to glue our focus upon him. He teaches us to set our gaze upon him in stormy times, probably in a more effective way than any other times in our life. Because listen, when the storm is so dark and the winds are so fierce and the waves are so high and the water is so deep and the boat is about to turnover, the only thing we have is God.

And is that not the time that he best demonstrates his love and parent wisdom for us? So he says that we to wait in silence upon God only. My soul wait in silence for God only. Very clear direction he gives us in. What he's saying is this. Whatever I'm expecting in the storm, I'm to expect from him. Here's where we get in trouble. We get in trouble when we get in the storm and we're listening to everything that comes down the track. Everybody has an opinion when you get in the storm what you ought to do.

He says my soul wait there only upon God for my expectations from him. There are things that God's going to say to your heart, it's not going to say to anybody else. He 's going to say this is what I want you to do. And what you have to be sure is that you know how to listen to him. And we started off saying do you know how to listen to God? Because if you live your Christian life year after year after year and you don't understand how to listen to God, listen, you're going to make some terrible decisions in life and you going to wonder why God isn't blessing and why he's not directing.

It's not that he's not, it's just that you aren't listening. And learning to listen in absolutely demands that I be willing to wait in silence with my expectation from him and him only. If my expectations are from others, then what I am going to do is I'm going to be prone to lean toward what I hear that sounds the best to me or what sounds the easiest for me. But if I'm listening to God and I've set my focus to listen to him and him only, then my ears are open to whatever he has to say, which may be very difficult or very easy.

You see in the storm when you can't see land, you can't see the stars and you it's so dark you can't see the water and all you can do is feel the pressure of all of that. Our hope is in that which is unseen. And the believer is to live that kind of life. We're not to live by what we see. God help the believer who tries to live by what he sees. It's not by what we see, but what we don't see. And you remember that the Bible says about Moses, he endured as one seeing him who is what?

Invisible. That is Moses lived his life as a man who saw God, who had his focus upon God, who was seeing God leading him. And that's the way we to live in the storm. Sometimes we can't see our way clear. So what are we to do? He says he's our hope and again he says in verse six he's my rock and again he says he's my stronghold and again he says in verse seven on God my salvation and my glory rest, the rock of my strength, my refuge is God. So all through this passage just compacted is this tremendously simple but profound truth.

When the storm comes, here's the message. Wait in silence with expectation that God and God only is going to intervene in your storm and do what he chooses to do, which will bring him the most glory and which will do for you what God has planned in your life. And he says because this is the kind of God we have. Hey, he's my salvation. He's my stronghold. He's my refuge. He's my rock. He's my hope. He's everything I need. So what is the message of God in the midst of the storm? It's real simple. My soul wait in silence for God only.

Because God is adequate, God is faithful, God is wise, God is sufficient, God is loving, God is concerned. God is trustworthy.

Guest (Male): Thanks for listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. God has a purpose for every storm. When the turbulence hits, resist the temptation to react quickly. Remember the measured response found in Psalm 62. My soul waits in silence for God only. And to learn more about navigating through the rough seas of difficulty, please visit us at intouch.org. And to hear this message again when you click on Today on radio. And if you'd like to have a copy of today's sermon, you can order it from our bookstore page. The title is The Message in the Storm.

Again, that's intouch.org. You can also call or text 1-800 In Touch. If you prefer to write, our address is In Touch, Post Office Box 7900 Atlanta, Georgia 30357. Would you say that you easily trust God? Learn the keys to building your faith in today's moment with Charles Stanley. It's coming up.

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Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch. Have you ever looked ahead at an upcoming situation and thought I've got a bad feeling about this? With encouragement for believers, here's a moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: My friends, you can't live by faith and go by feelings. All of us have that battle. We all grow up that way. That's a part of learning to trust him and learning to build great faith. And that is the fact that just because we don't feel it does not mean it's not going to happen. And then I think another thing is this and that is we feel unworthy. Sometimes it's guilt. Sometimes we just don't believe God loves us that much. And so in our sense of unworthiness becomes a roadblock to something God wants to do in our life.

Well, if you allow those stumbling blocks to work themselves into your life to the point that they govern and guide your life, you're never going to have great faith. And there's some very basic things you and I can do to build that faith, reading and meditating upon the word of God. This is what God says. This is how we thinks. This is how he acts. This is the way he operates. So if I want to build my faith, I need to get in the word of God and not just read through the Bible, but read and meditate upon it.

And my favorite is to get into the Old Testament and see how did he work in the lives of other people. And when I think about building faith, I think about the book of Joshua, for example. Moses died and the scripture says remember now, here's Joshua. He has this awesome responsibility of taking the nation of Israel, a bunch of rebels really, over into the promised land. They're going to have to fight their way through all the way. You think about struggling with this faith and challenging his faith and a time to have a faith building situation with God, this is it.

What did God do in the life of Joshua in this very critical time? Well, he said to him simply this if you're going to succeed, it's going to take great faith. And in order for that to happen, you must meditate day and night upon what I said to Moses. How very very important that is.

Guest (Male): To learn more about the importance of knowing the word of God, visit us at intouch.org. And if you were encouraged and equipped today to boldly live out your faith in Christ, we'd like to know. Next week on In Touch, are you progressing in your faith and confidence in the Lord? If that could use some attention, be back Monday to learn more about how you can encourage your spiritual growth. That's next week on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries Atlanta, Georgia and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.