In the last chapter we saw that the unbelieving children of Israel asked
the question, "CAN GOD?" (Psalm 78:19). This is a very important
question. CAN GOD really help me? CAN GOD really handle my problems? CAN
GOD really take care of me and take care of my problems? WHO IS GOD? Is God
really qualified to help me and solve my problems?
Suppose you had a problem with your family car and you needed to take it to someone for repair. As you observe the mechanic, there might be certain questions going through your mind: "Is he really qualified?" "How much does he know about cars?" "Has he had much experience doing repair work?" "Has he ever fixed this kind of car before?" "Are other people pleased with the work he has done for them?" "Is he an honest person, or will he charge me too much money for the job?" These are important questions. Would you want to trust your car to someone who is not qualified?
Suppose you had a problem with your right lung, and you needed to have an operation. Would you want to trust any person to do this operation, or would you want to trust someone who was a qualified doctor? You would probably want to ask, "Is this doctor really qualified?" "Does he know all about lungs?" "Does he know all about the disease which I have?" "Has he had good training in medical school?" "Is he a skilled surgeon?" "Has he done this kind of operation before?" "Has he been successful?" You would want to trust your body only to someone who is qualified.
Is God really qualified to help me and to fix my problems? The more we know about God, the more we will be able to trust Him. WHO IS GOD? Can He really help me? Can He really handle my problems?
Today there are so many voices coming at me from every direction.
To whom
should I listen? Whom should I follow? Who can really help me? Who can really understand
me? Who really knows what I am going through? Who really cares about me anyway? Who can
HOLD ME and HANDLE MY PROBLEMS? In this chapter we will discover that GOD CAN!
Let’s find out how qualified God really is. Let’s find out WHO GOD REALLY IS.
The word omnipotent means that God is ALL POWERFUL. Job said, "I know that Thou _________ do _________ ___________________" (Job 42:2), and we need to know this too! Read the first part of Genesis 18:14. What is the answer to this question? ________ We must never forget that He is the A______________________ God (Genesis 17:1). All power and all might and all strength and all ability belong to Him! "With God all things are _________________________" (Matthew 19:26).
The fact that God is all powerful can be summed up in three simple words. Can you find these three words in Luke 3:8? G________ I____ A____________. Remember what we studied in the last chapter? Was God able to bring the children of Israel through the Red Sea? Was God able to make bitter water sweet? _______. Was God able to provide food in the desert? _______. Was God able to make water come out of a rock? _______. Was God able to feed thousands of people with five loaves and two fish? ________. Is God able to solve your problems? The answer to all these questions is the same: GOD CAN!
Suppose you have a difficult class in school (maybe English or math or
science). Is God able to carry you through the semester? _______. Is God able to help you to
understand the subject matter? ________. Is God able to help you to study and do the homework
assignments? Is God able to help you on the exams? _______. The Bible says, "I
________ do
all things through __________________ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians
4:13). Read Numbers 13:30 and Numbers 13:31. Which verse shows confidence in a
God who is able? ____________ Which verse shows a lack of confidence?
____________
The word omniscient means that God knows ALL THINGS. "God is greater than our heart and ___________________ _______ ________________" (1 John 3:20). God understands all things. He knows all the facts. He knows all about everything and everyone.
Sometimes we might think: "Is there anyone who can really
understand
me?" "Is there someone who really knows what I’m going through?" The
Bible declares that there is an all-knowing God who knows you better than you know
yourself! Read Psalm 139:1-6. According to these verses, what are some of the things that
God knows about you?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What else does God know about you (Matthew 10:30)? ___________________ Does God knows you even better than you know yourself? _______
Do doctors know everything about the human body? Do they know everything about disease? ________ Do scientists know everything about the universe? _________ Do historians know everything about history? _______ Does God know everything about everything? ________
God knows all about you. He knows all about your problems. In fact, God knows all about the problems which you will face 15 years from now (if you live that long). God knows the day of your death. The Lord knows about all the things that will happen to you. He knows about today, and He knows about all your tomorrows. He knows about your future school years, your future jobs, your future friends, your future marriage, your future family, your future health, your future wealth, etc. It is this OMNISCIENT CREATOR whom we are to R___________________________ in the days of our Y_____________ (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
Your friends do not have this kind of knowledge! Neither do your parents;
neither does the President, and neither does anyone else. Are you willing to trust your
life and your problems to the One who knows?
The word omnipresent means that God is everywhere present. No matter where you are, God is there! Which verses in Psalm 139 speak of God’s omnipresence? _________________________________________________
There was once a man who challenged a little boy by saying, "If you tell me where God is, I’ll give you an apple." The boy answered, "I'll give you a whole barrel of apples if you tell me where God isn't!"
There was once a foolish atheist who painted a sign with big letters that said: GOD IS NOWHERE! A little girl who happened to come by saw the sign, but she interpreted the letters somewhat differently. To her it read: GOD IS NOW HERE! She was right! No matter where you might be, you can always say: GOD IS NOW HERE!
Can you remember the times when you were younger and when you were very sick with a cold, or flu or something else? Was anyone right there to take care of you? _________ In times of trouble and difficulty it is comforting to know that someone is present and that this person is able to help you. God is a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). When you need to find God, He is RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!
Again and again we read these words in the Bible: "Fear
___________ for I
am ________________ thee" (Isaiah 43:5). Did God ever tell us that we need to face our problems
ALONE? _________ What great promise has God given to every believer (Hebrews 13:5)?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Do
we need to solve our
problems by ourselves? Every believer has a perfect H___________________ (Hebrews 13:6) who is
always present to aid us!
The word immutable means that God never changes. He is always the same. He never stops being God! "For I am the LORD, I ____________________ not!" (Malachi 3:6). "Jesus Christ the _______________ yesterday, and today and _______________________" (Hebrews 13:8).
In the last chapter we learned that the same God who brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea was the same God who could provide food and water for them in the desert! The same is true for us. The same God who saved us (solved our biggest problem) is the same God who can take care of our day by day problems. The same God who helped me with my problems last year is the same God who can help me with my problems this year. We can always count on God being God!
Can you think of a problem that God solved for Abraham? ______________________________________________________________________
Can you think of a problem that God solved for Joseph? ______________________________________________________________________
Can you think of a problem that God solved for Moses? ______________________________________________________________________
Can you think of a problem that God solved for David? ______________________________________________________________________
Can you think of a problem that God solved for Daniel? ______________________________________________________________________
Did the same God help all of these men? ________ Is the God who helped Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David and Daniel the same God who can help you today with your problems? ________
Abraham lived about 2000 B.C. (about 4000 years ago). Has God become any wiser since the days of Abraham? Has God become more powerful during these last 4000 years? ________ Does God now know more things than He did way back then? _________ Is God any greater than He used to be? ________ Concerning God, the Bible says, "Thou art the_______________" (Hebrews1:12).
In a world where everything is changing and nothing seems to stay the
same, it is wonderful to know that there is a God who is always the same!
How old is God? When was God born? These are silly questions because God has no age, and God has never had a birthday. "FROM_________________________ TO _________________________ THOU ART GOD" (Psalm 90:2). God is the eternal, everlasting God. He had no beginning, and He will have no end!
Usually when we need help, we try to find someone with experience. Whom
would you rather trust: a man who has been a doctor for one year or a man who has been a
doctor for 30 years? ____________ Whose food would you rather eat: someone who has been a
cook for three years or someone who has been a cook for 40 years? ________ How much experience
does God have? How long has He been on the job? God has been around a much longer than we
have. Job needed to realize that God had been around for a long time (see Job 38:4)!
God is very good at being God!
"For the LORD is ___________________" (Psalm 100:5). God wants to bless me, not curse me. God wants to help me, not harm me. Just as an earthly father would not want to give his son a stone sandwich or a rattlesnake sandwich (see Matthew 7:9-10), so the Heavenly Father does not want to give His children anything that would harm or hurt them (see Matthew 7:11).
Suppose you needed to go to the hospital to have an operation. If you knew
that the doctor was planning to hurt you and harm you, would you allow him to do the
surgery? If you knew that he would try to cut off your head instead of take out your
tonsils, would you trust him to operate? On the other hand, if you knew that he wanted to
help you and fix the problem, even though it might hurt and there might be some pain,
would you let him? The Great Physician (the Lord Himself) will give us only what is good for us!
If I sit in a chair and the chair collapses, I learn that the chair is not faithful (dependable). It failed to fulfill its purpose. If I put groceries into a bag and the groceries fall out through the bottom of the bag, I learn that this bag is not faithful (dependable). It failed to fulfill its purpose. If a person promises to do something that is good and right and he does not do it, I learn that he has not shown himself to be faithful. He has failed to keep his promises. If something is FAITHFUL, then I can trust it and count on it to do what it is supposed to do.
The Bible says again and again, "GOD IS _____________________"
(1 Corinthians 10:13). If you lean on God, you will not fall! If you trust in God, you will
not be disappointed! If you depend on Him, He will not let you down. In Deuteronomy 31:6,8
we read these words, "He will not F____________ thee." In all of history, God has
never been known to fail anybody at anytime! If you look to God and trust in God in the
middle of your problem, you can be sure that He will not fail you either!
The word sovereign means that God is in complete control of everything. He rules over all. He is the King of the entire universe: "Our God is in the heavens: He hath done ________________________ He hath pleased (Psalm 115:3). Does anyone else tell God what to do? No one is greater than He! He is the absolute BOSS! He is supreme!
When problems and difficulties come, it is important to realize that God is in complete control of the situation. In fact, no problem can ever come your way unless God allows it. In the last chapter, we learned that problems come our way for a reason. Often God is testing us to see if we will trust Him! Think of Joseph in the Old Testament (Genesis 37 and following). Did the sovereign God allow problems to come into Joseph’s life? Did God work these things out for good (see Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28)?
Suppose you were having open heart surgery. In the middle of the operation, the phone rings in a nearby room, and someone wants to speak to the surgeon. Would you want the surgeon to leave the operating table and let some nurse be in charge of you, or would you rather have the surgeon in control of the situation from start to finish? ________________________________________ There is Someone who is in charge of your life every hour of every day!
* * * *
Is God really qualified to support me and handle my problems? Is He strong enough? Does He have enough ability? Does He know enough? Is He with you enough? Is He experienced enough? Is He wise enough? Is He loving enough? Is He faithful enough? Is He big enough to take care of you and your problems? If the answer to these questions is YES, then we must ask one more thing: ARE YOU TRUSTING HIM ENOUGH?
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