Don't Swerve, Trust God — Shane Idleman

Of the revival service, and I had a week from hell, to be honest with you. I was working on a sermon, this one that wasn't coming together, and then I just heard that I had worship on in the background, and I heard those lyrics, "'When all hope is gone, and your word is all I've got.'".

You realize how powerful that is? I have to believe you still bring water from the rock, you satisfy my thirst to love me at my worst, and even when I don't remember, you remind me of my worth. This is the cup you have for me, and even when it doesn't make sense, I'm gonna let your spirit lead.

And God just broke me again and again. This week I hit rewind on that 50 times. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I'll admit this to you, I was up on the aqueduct jogging, I said, God, don't embarrass me Sunday.

He said, you mean embarrass your pride? He said, Shane, you can't have me and you. What I meant by that is when revival hurts, it's hard to preach. The weight of God's presence, you feel like in a minute you're gonna burst into tears, the next minute you're full of boldness, and I think there's many here today, maybe that's for you, don't embarrass me.

I don't wanna get too carried away. That's why many people are bored during worship, it breaks my heart, because we're embarrassed, or we don't have that relationship. And it was as God was telling me, Shane, you can do church, you can do church like many people out there, many churches, but you will never know the manifest power and presence of my spirit unless you fully surrender.

Complete Surrender to the Manifest Presence of God

Because see, I was, and I explained this, I don't know if you were here, I explained it when I spoke at the conference, that I would consider myself for many years a closet revivalist. What I mean is I would go to conservative churches and had conservative friends, and we don't get carried away, we don't get emotional, and then I'd run back home and read books on revival, read books on God awakening His people, and I'd just begin to be broken before God and God, but you try to please man, right?

And I'm not talking about just carried away emotions, but there should be some emotion. How can we have a dead church service when the living God is here? And people kind of wonder, what do you mean by spirit?

Isn't God everywhere? He is, but throughout the Old Testament, you would see God's everywhere, but there were times when His manifest presence would hit that temple and people could not stand by the sheer magnitude of His holiness.

Throughout the New Testament, you see people being overwhelmed by the power and the presence of God. And it's been a struggle for those who are conservative and don't get emotional, but you see that God is emotional sometimes.

Jesus wept. We see the prophets weeping for their people. It was as God was saying, my power will only flow through complete brokenness. Then more prayers will be answered. And I was just reading last night a book on 24 -7 prayer and sex trafficking in Amsterdam and 12-year-old girls that they'll take and they'll get rid of their passports and they're stuck there.

And that just brought me to tears. And then this morning at 5 .30 in the morning, I see this guy going through trash cans on my way here. It's like, by the sheer grace of God, that's not me. Come on, let's not play church.

We start acting like the Pharisee. I would never. Oh, be careful. You have to feel the pain that sin causes to be really effective in prayer. You have to humble yourself. So the message this morning is about trusting God.

Trusting God Instead of Swerving Off Course

The title is Don't Swerve, Trust God. Don't swerve, trust God. We all know what a swerve is, correct? An abrupt change or direction. And that is probably one of the biggest tricks of the enemy. Because when you're on that road and you're doing God's will, what does he want to do?

Swerve, get off, get off this road that God's called you to and begins to bring in discouragement and distractions. And how do we trust God? Well, I will tell you this, not trusting God affects more than we realize.

When we don't trust God, we are pushed into things. We make impulsive decisions. We make bad decisions when there's not trust. Because I'm not trusting, I'm running on what? Fear factor mode. So I'm going to just, I'm gonna push and push.

And God says, no, stay still and trust me. And when we doubt and when we fear, it robs us of spiritual life. When we begin to doubt God and not trust him, it robs us of spiritual life. It robs us of the promises of God, the power of God.

I believe that God has promises for us and wants us to do certain things, but fear and doubt will come in and it'll rob us of what God wants to give us. How many of you know who Shemoa, Shaphat, Egal, Palti, Gadil, Gadi, Amel, Sether, Nabi, and Gal are?

Don't raise your hand if you do. But does anybody recognize those names? That's unbelievable because this is one of the most important stories in all of the Old Testament. Those are the 10 spies who said we can't go in.

Everybody knows Jacob, I mean, sorry, Joshua and Caleb. It's a mixture of their names. We've never heard of these guys. They just gloss right over it. God said, go in and possess the land. They said, no, we can't.

So don't tell me that fear and doubt doesn't change things, doesn't allow us to walk in the power and promises of God. And we've been in a series in Proverbs and we're in Proverbs 3. If you have your Bibles, you can turn to Proverbs 3 or I'll have it up on the screen.

Proverbs 3: Remembering God’s Law and Keeping His Commands

The writer says, my son, my son, do not forget my law. Do not forget my law, but let, let your heart keep my commands. For length of days and long life and peace will be added to you. Let me read that again in case you didn't get that.

My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands. For length of days and long life and peace will be added to you. The joy of the Lord, the strength of the Lord are all contingent upon obeying God.

You've heard that phrase before in real estate, haven't you? My offer is contingent upon appraisal, the appraised value. My offer is contingent upon these inspections. Well, often we forget that God's word has contingency clauses.

If you do this, if you do not forsake my law, if you let your heart keep my commandments, I will not forsake you, I will not leave you. But it's a very interesting thing I thought of this week. He said, my son, my son, and this is a good time to ask you, are you truly his son?

Are you truly his son? Even the kids here this morning, are you truly God's son or daughter? Have you repented? Have you believed in the gospel? Are you truly his son? See, it's interesting. We talk about carrying our cross.

We've heard that. We don't like to talk too much about it. If I had to preach a sermon on it, we'd leave here very convicted because it means dying to self. One thing of a man in the Old Testament, I'm sorry, in the New Testament, in Rome, about the cross, when they saw a man carrying his cross, they knew he was not returning.

They would watch through the streets of Jerusalem carrying that cross, just like Jesus. And they knew that man is not coming back. And it's that picture of the fully surrendered life, of not going back.

I'm not coming back. I'm not going back to who I used to be. And then verse three, let not, let not mercy and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. And God's word is saying, hold tight, hold tight.

Let, let, again, contingent upon, let not mercy and truth forsake you. See, we pride ourself on truth in the church, but you better pride yourself on mercy and forgiveness. You can't have one without the other.

Bind them, put them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. Mercy is basically compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone versus punishing them.

And we see that mercy that God has given us so if you want to fully trust in God, you have to, mercy has to be a part of your life. If you're a sin sniffer, repent this morning. If you're going around pointing fingers and trying to find faults, repent this morning.

Because that might be an area of your life where God is wanting to work, wanting to break you, wanting to humble you. And the truth, of course we know what truth, the desperate need for truth, the desperate need to know God.

And I talked last week, without a vision, what, the people perish. And actually, a better rendering would be without a revelation of God. Without a revelation of God, of who God is, the truth of God, without that, the people are unrestrained.

That's what you're seeing in America. You don't see the Civil War brewing. You don't see this is getting terrible. It's getting increasingly alarming. Senators being harassed, protesters, it's just, they are unrestrained.

Why? Because they don't know God. For without a revelation of God, for without the revealing of his truth, the people are unrestrained. So he reminds people, go back to truth. Go back to mercy. Marry them.

Because a lot of people are wonderful in truth, but they lack the mercy. And they have the mercy. Just forgive, brother, forgive, move on. No, you gotta go back to truth, too. Jesus didn't tell the woman caught in the act of adultery, don't worry about it.

He said, I don't forgive you, but don't continue sinning. Don't continue sinning. I'm just tired of people twisting the true nature of Christ. He loved, he forgave, but boy, oh boy, did he preach righteousness.

He will call out entire cities. Bethesda, Corzine, you should have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Sodom and Gomorrah's gonna judge you. He sent the disciples out, go out and preach love. No.

Go out and preach repentance. Because the love of Christ compels me to preach repentance. You have to have both truth and love. So a good reminder, don't swerve, trust God. And here's where that comes from, verse five.

We all know the verse, many of us, if we've been in church any length of time, trust in the Lord with what? With some of your heart. Whoops. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Now at this point, many people say, well, I can't do that.

I'm not perfect. Well, I'm with ya. I'm with ya, I can't, but I can say, God, I can't do this, but I give you everything. You do it for me. I'm broken in my sin. I can't follow you perfectly. I admit it.

I come before you broken and humble. Lord, I'm giving you all of my heart. And he goes, I see that broken vessel. I see it. We have this treasure in broken vessels and earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

So everybody looks at God, look at what God is doing. God forbid that we start to gloat and exalt ourself because God's word says no flesh will glory in my presence. No flesh. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.

Let me exalt you. Let me promote you. It comes from a humble, broken heart that's given God everything. And then lean not on your own understanding in all your ways. Boy, you can't get away from that word all.

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. Let's talk about this for just a minute. Trust. We say trust in the Lord.

Here's the interesting about scripture. We've heard it so much, it's just in one ear and out the next. Right? I dare you to put on worship for an hour and just meditate for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes will have, just meditate, just let worship.

That scripture that's in one ear and out the next will begin to resonate with your heart. It will begin to break you. You'll begin to weep for the lost. We have to go back to meditating on the word of God.

Not being in a hurry. Not being quick to get through things. And I'm at fault at this. Oh, I got through the chapters of my Bible. Right, I got through my Bible reading today. It's been interesting all week.

I might not want to admit this because the Pharisees out there won't like what I'm about to say. I don't mean you here, I mean those listening later. But it was this, every time I tried to read the Bible this week, and it's a good thing, I do it in Christian, it was like God was saying put it down in worship.

Put it down in worship. And I know because if I start reading, it's like, what's missing here? And my heart is yearning for worship. And every time I did that, God would just speak in a powerful way. But trust is a firm belief.

Listen to this. To trust God, it's a firm belief in the reality, the truth, the ability, and the strength of God. All four, all four. The reliability, God will never leave nor forsake you. The truth, He is the way, the truth, the life.

No man comes to the Father except through Christ. God's ability, He can do exceedingly and abundantly all that you ever thought or imagined. And the strength of God. Oh, the strength of God. The strength of kings would fear Assyrian armies and God would wipe them out with one angel.

Egyptian armies coming, He would just part the sea. He would send hailstorms, He would send swarms of bees. This is the God we serve. Who will stand against the Lord God Almighty? And that says lean not, which means don't lean on your human intellect the way the world thinks.

Because that's what we do. Trust in God with all your heart. Do not lean, kind of lean against for support, right? Don't lean against human reasoning. Listen, the church has got to get this more than ever before.

It's either Hollywood or the Holy Spirit. Where are you leaning? Who's trusting, who's influencing you? The world's mindset, and that's why so many people are fearful and not trusting God and not wondering what God's will is and they're running around like chicken with their head cut off in the church.

God says stop all that, just turn it off and come back to me, church. Come back to holiness and righteousness and purity. Let the love of Christ penetrate your heart. Get into the word, live in the word until that word begins to bubble out.

Then you'll trust in me with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, this is where we run into trouble. I thought of this, what about if on our wedding day I said hey, in most of my ways I'm gonna acknowledge my vows.

Well, what do you mean? Well, in most, in most. Well, what? Because that's really an excuse to indulge and not follow God. I'll trust you most of the time. You might as well just say I'm not trusting you.

And I know it's a heavy message this morning but I make no apologies because sometimes the choir needs preaching too. Do you know that repentance needs to take place in the choir too? I mean, I love that scripture.

Judgment's gonna start in Washington, D .C. No, it doesn't say that? Judgment's gonna start in San Francisco and Hollywood. Thank God. Judgment is gonna start in my house. Thus saith the Lord. And he shall direct you, he shall direct you.

You can take this promise to the bank. That's why I love those lyrics. When all hope is gone, when all hope is lost I still have your word. He shall direct, it basically means to smooth out, to open doors, to make the impossible possible.

And we all catch ourselves. I catch myself saying, that's impossible. That's impossible. We're talking about we purchased the radio stations at first week or two. I'm like, that's impossible. That's never gonna happen.

We're hurting financially. That's impossible. God, you'd be amazed at what God does with brokenness and humility and those who wait on God. Just a little secret. This is part of the little sermon here.

It's not a secret, actually. I've said it before, but it goes good here. I haven't perfected this at all. So don't call me on this later. But I'm learning to just kind of sit back and let God open the doors.

You show me. You don't think he's going, darn, I wish Shane would force that door open. Now I don't know what I'm gonna do. You'll get the phone call. You'll get the circumstance. You'll get the situation.

I was telling Chris yesterday, who helped with worship, that just out of the blue when Fox News emailed me, I thought it was a joke. And they said, are you ever coming to New York? Can I email back? No, I don't think so.

That was it. And then she said, Lauren said, can I call you? Like, oh, this might be, like, how is that gonna happen? And I can go through story after story. When you just wait on God, just wait. Now, it's hard to steer something that's not moving.

Go try to steer your car if it's not on. So you have to be moving. Here's what I think. God steers the best when we're moving in the area of serving. Lord, how can I just be here and serve you? Where can I serve today?

Today. We have these dreams of, oh, next year, if God can just open, right now, today, where do I want you serving? Where do I want you being built up? Who do I want you encouraging? And then, as we're serving in these areas, God begins to open other doors based on our movement in a certain direction.

Maybe it's me. Type A personality, I like to open the doors open. I like to force the doors open. And I'm learning just to, like it says here, he shall direct. But interesting, all of this is conditional.

Did you catch this? If you trust, if you obey, if you acknowledge God. Now, here's where we make an error mistake. We think, oh, I acknowledge God, of course. But that word means to accept and admit the existence and truth of God.

So that will change the way you live. If you're gracious and humble and you cling to the truth. So if you, we love this scripture, right? Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding and all your ways.

Acknowledge him and he will direct your path. Well, here's what's involved. I'm gonna trust you and I'm going to obey you. Uh-oh, there's a word we don't hear too much. See, any time somebody in the church doesn't like what you're saying, they call it legalism.

That's how they get out of it. Trust and obey. There's an old hymn by those words, isn't there? Trust and obey. If you acknowledge him. And acknowledge means, Lord, I want you in this decision. I'm thinking of doing this.

Lord, would you show me? I want you involved in my decision. Then I will direct you, God says. Now, it doesn't end there, though. It says, fear and depart from evil. Depart from evil. Now, why aren't many people departing from evil?

I mean, we like 2 Chronicles. If my people are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face. Praise God. No, keep reading. And depart from evil. See, we forget there are sins of the heart.

Pride and jealousy and envy and bitterness. And these things that God wants to deal with. And I believe that a lot of people, especially in America, why they are not departing, it's because they're not in the word.

We're just not in the word, being convicted. And then most of the most popular preachers today are step-toeing around difficult things. This is gonna cost me some members, so I'm gonna kind of just teeter around that topic.

But it's funny, throughout the New Testament, especially when I read about pastors, God says, you be watchmen. You do what I've called you to do, what I put in your mouth, you speak it. You speak it. God doesn't take opinion polls.

Well, don't do that if you're gonna lose people. He says, you just speak what I put in your mouth. That's actually a sign of a true spokesman of God, to speak the whole counsel of God. A false prophet would say what?

Peace, peace, peace, peace, when there's no peace. A false prophet would say, hey, God is love. He just loves everyone. Half truth, which is true. Don't worry about anything. Just continue down the path you're going.

God winks at sin. He's a doting grandfather. False prophet, false proclaimer of the truth of God's word. Because that's not true. God loves all, but he says, repent. Repent of what? Of sin. I think that's kind of the point of this.

The point of Calvary and Golgotha and Christ on the cross and being that sacrificial lamb, that propitiation, absorbing the wrath of God. We're not gonna talk about what put Christ on the cross. So he says, depart fear and depart from evil.

The Old Cross, Repentance, and the Whole Counsel of God

A .W. Tozer said something many years ago. And it's so true today. He said, there has come into modern times a new cross. It's like the old cross, but different. The likenesses are superficial, but the difference is fundamental.

The old cross slew men. The new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned. The new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh. The new cross encourages it. The old cross brought tears and blood.

The new cross brings laughter. We have to go back to the old truths, the old paths of the word of God. Yes, we have to be relevant. We have to change certain things, but not the truth. That's why our motto is times change, truth does not.

I wanna encourage you to listen to Wednesday's message. I titled it, How to Encourage Yourself in the Lord. Because with Mountaintop's experiences, you will have Valley's as well. There's probably CDs available, How to Encourage Yourself in the Lord.

And I wanna remind you that resistance, resistance, are you feeling any resistance this week? Is family coming against you, or your job, or finances? And does it ever feel like just the weight of life is resisting?

That can never harm you if you fully trust in God. Do you know the only thing that gets a jet off the, off the runway is resistance? That resistance becomes greater, and it begins to hit the wings and pulls it up, and that's what keeps that airplane flying.

God will do the same thing in your life with resistance. And I truly believe that resistance, spiritual resistance is just like physical resistance. The only way you build muscle is for resistance. You break down that muscle fiber, you break it down, you break it down, then the body begins to build it back up to be ready for the next time.

Spiritually speaking, too, that resistance, whatever's coming against you. Because see, here's what we forget. People quote this, but they don't quite understand it, I don't think. They say, brother, no weapon, no weapon formed against me shall prosper as if that means no resistance.

No, no, what it says, no weapon formed. It means the weapon's been formed. The weapon's coming at you, the weapon's trying to take you out. It's been formed, but no weapon formed against me shall prosper.

It shall not take me out. It's still coming. It's formed, it's there. The enemy has a 30 -06 scope on your heart and your soul and your children. It's formed, it's there, it's ready to come and conquer.

But the word of God says it will not prosper, meaning it will not prevail if you trust in me. You look to me. Where does my help come from? My help comes from God. You have to go to the source of nourishment to encourage yourself in the Lord.

David said, I will encourage myself in the Lord. And I don't have time, but I think he went through a lot more than most of us. Unless your wife and children have been taken from you, everything you have has been taken.

And the men want to stone David. And he said, I will strengthen myself in the Lord. Listen, you have, don't rely on the pastor. Don't rely on your friend. Don't rely on your spouse. Sometimes you have to get on your face before God and strengthen yourself in the Lord.

What did David do? He ran to the source of nourishment, God and God alone. Listen, if I'm hungry, if I'm hungry, what am I running to? The source of nourishment. If I'm thirsting, what am I running to?

The source that's going to quench that thirst. That's why Jesus said, if you drink of me, if you drink of me, you will never thirst again because I have rivers of living water. Come and drink freely. There's that thirst.

He who hungers and thirsts for righteousness shall be filled, going back and turning to God. The problem is most are not drinking at the fountain of life. They're drinking polluted water. Most are not feeding on the word.

They're dwelling on the cares of this life. Gosh, if that doesn't convince you, I don't know, I can sit up here for the next 50 minutes and pull apart scripture, but don't swerve trusting God. Where it all begins and where it all ends is you need to remind yourself who God is.

Strengthening Yourself by Remembering Who God Is

Remind yourself who God is. Let me tell you what has helped me tremendously in times of difficulty. These scriptures, you can look them up. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.

So the Old Testament, anytime the Old Testament you would see they would run. There's a tower, there's a wall, there's something. There's something of strength that I can just run into this tower and now I'm safe.

You could picture it now. Picture you're on the battlefield in the Middle East and you're by yourself and here comes the terrorist and what am I gonna do? But then you picture here comes the United States Air Force flying over.

Here comes the Marines. Oh goodness, what do you get? You just back up and take it, here you go. That's the same way you have to look at God. He who trusts in God, he runs into a strong tower and is saved.

Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I am your refuge. I am your strength. I am an ever-present help in time of trouble.

So here's our dilemma. Either all that is true or it's not and we know it's true and you have to strengthen yourself, remind yourself who God is. You take those thoughts captive. Though the armies of hell encamp around me, I will look to the hills.

That's scripture. I will look to the hills. Where does my help come from? It comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. And again, Old Testament imagery there. You're down in a valley and you're gonna be overtaken but you look and here comes the armies of heaven.

I love that passage when one of the prophets said, Lord, would you open the eyes of my servant? And his eyes were opened, spiritually speaking, he saw the armies of the Lord encamped all around him on the hills.

Do you know that angels never been defeated? On the right side, of course. If an angel's never defeated, how much more? God, I think it was Leonard Ravenhill said, you have the Father, you have the Son, you have the Holy Spirit and the majority of the angels on your side.

Who are you going to fear? Let that sink in. As believers, you have the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the majority of the angels on your side. What are you going to fear? Fear not, believer. Fear is paralyzing, is it not?

It causes us not to do anything for God. That's why God told Joshua, fear not, I am with you. Moses, fear not, I am with you. Fear not, put your trust in me. So I just want to encourage you this morning to, I don't know where you're at, but don't swerve off course.

You might be close, you might already be off course, but God says, just get back on the road. Just get back on the right path. I kneel before the one I love. We're going to sing a song about that in just a minute.

Surrender, Anointing, and the Filling of the Spirit

I'm actually going to have the worship team come up. Right now would be good. The service will go, end a little bit early. There's some feedback back here. When God's moving, so are the gremlins. There's a song, most of you know, it says I will kneel before the one I love.

God, find me grateful, find me thankful, find me on my knees. I'm going to add to that, Lord, find me trusting you. Lord, find me grateful, find me thankful, find me on my knees. Lord, find me trusting you.

I want to trust you with all of my heart. Now, unless you think I've mastered this, I haven't. That's why you say, God, I need help. It's healthy to say that, but hard. God, I need help. Because many of us come to church like we've got it all together.

Let's be honest, there's more struggles in this room. If it all came to life up on the PowerPoint, God, help us. God, help us. Listen, you have to come as a broke, undone sinner whose only hope is a justifying Savior.

That's the only hope. God says, when I find you broken, when I find you a base, when I find you empty, then my power and presence will flow in. Even with the team up here, I'll tell them, I tell worship leaders, I tell pastors, you might have ability, but do you have anointing?

You might have ability, but do you have anointing? When Leonard Ravenhill, he would talk to young pastors, he would say, young men, get unction, or get out of the pulpit. Because ability will only take you as far as your character will allow you to go.

You need the anointing of God on your life. That's when you can hear a pin drop. That's when people begin to weep before you even start preaching. That's when the presence and power of God is so heavy that anointing rests on a person who is broken and humbled and says, God, I want all of you to flow into me.

Because what is anointing? It's just, it's the presence of God on your life. I'm gonna leave with this quote, D .L. Moody said, and this applies to some of you. I was praying about saying that or not this weekend, and I just did.

So, this is for some of you. D .L. Moody said, they are good men. They are godly men. But why can't they see that the only thing they themselves are missing is the baptism of the Spirit? Now, if you don't like that word, let me change it.

Why can't they see the only thing missing in their lives is the filling, the unction, the overflowing presence and power of God in their lives? That was his complaint against Bible teachers of his day.

They're great men, they're good men, they have the truth. But the one thing they lack is the mighty, overpowering work of the Spirit in their life. And I believe the reason for many is a five-letter word, pride.

Pride. Well, at least the baby's crying, that's good. The only thing that will fix that, by the way, is tears. Genuine tears. Do worship leaders honestly think they're gonna leave without anointing? Do I honestly dare to step into this pulpit on ability alone?

Do you dare to parent? Do you wanna really know if God is resting on your life? How many people did you talk about Jesus this week? The stats aren't high in the church, folks. It should be a bubbling over.

I go into the mall, I go into the mall, and there's this girl with a lost her voice. Can I pray with you? No, I'm okay. At the gas station, it's just, oh, Shane, that's great. No, it's not Shane, uh-uh.

The Shane Idleman will be heading to the liquor store. The old Shane. But the Shane filled with the spirit of God, the anointing of God, where God wrecks your life. Oh, that reckless love. I'll leave the 99, I'll go chase the one who's broken and humble before me.