"I Am God" - Saith the Lord - By Tim Burkholder

Faith is nothing if it has nothing to rest on. You can't have faith in faith--you must have faith in something concrete.

I have faith to cross a bridge because I have seen so many of them work. I have grown confident that a bridge can indeed safely span a river, and I drive across without thinking about it. But I never try to cross a river without a bridge, because there would be nothing to trust in.

Because faith must have confidence in what it rests on, it requires knowledge and understanding. We must know something about the object of our faith. The more we know God as God, the more confidence we will have in him.

As we go through life with its anxieties and obstacles, we tend to wonder what God is doing. Is he really real? Does he care? But we can rest our faith on the pillar of what God said about himself: "I Am God." That answers every question we have. That settles every dilemma that confronts us. That gives us peace in the storm.

Look at the faith in Psalm 46. The Psalmist will not fear "though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." All the calamities mentioned are greater than ourselves, leaving us helpless in their grip. But God is ever so much greater than the calamities, and we can know him and trust him as God.

There is a river, the Psalmist goes on to say, "the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God," and God is in the midst of her--"she shall not be moved." Everything around us can be moved--kingdoms can be moved, families can be moved, enemies and friends can be moved. But one thing not being moved is the kingdom of God. We cannot be sure about today, tomorrow, or what is going to happen in the future except for what God has said--I am God.

Psalm 46 continues: "The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted." Our world is a pretty shaky place, isn't it? Yet we are promised "the God of Jacob is our refuge." All throughout the psalm we see the contrast between the uncertainty of our world and the steadfastness of God. The chapter ends with this command: "Be still, and know that I am God."

Is there anybody reading who was not hit with some kind of anxiety this past week? No, of course not. As long as we live in this world, anxieties will come. But we are commanded to be still and know that God is God. He didn't mean so much to be quiet but to be still of all those troubling thoughts and just consider what he said: "I am God." I am God! Not our anxieties, not our problems, not our financial losses or gains. Those aren't God. "I am God." Quiet those other voices and listen to him.

Verses 10-11: "I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." We huddle in this little finite world, in this little finite span of time, with our little finite minds. Do you realize how limited we are? But God is infinite. He plans are infinitely bigger than us.

Stop and think for a minute. Could anybody stop God from creating the world? Could anybody stop him from calling Abraham? Could anybody stop him from giving Abraham and Sarah, well past child-bearing age, their son Isaac? Could anybody manage to destroy Moses, there in those bulrushes in that little basket? Could anybody stop God from bringing the plagues on Egypt? Could the Egyptians, after being forced to let Israel go, chase them and bring them back? Could anybody break the line of descendants all the way to Jesus? Could anybody destroy Jesus after his birth?

No to all of them. Nobody can stop God or thwart his purposes. God's enemies thought they had won when they crucified Jesus, but God brought forth a much greater victory. He raised Christ from the dead, poured out his Holy Spirit, and launched his everlasting church. They jailed and then killed those early apostles, and they have persecuted the church ever since, but nothing can stop God and his purposes.

You tell me, please, what can stop God. You say, "Well, my lack of faith." Brother, that won't stop God either. He is going to do what he has planned from the foundation of the world. Nothing is going to stop him. Romans 8:28 says, "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose." According to his purpose. His purpose won't stop.

There is going to come a new heaven and a new earth, and nobody is going to stop them. We will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and nothing we can do will prevent it. Some will cry out to the rocks and mountains, "Fall on us," but they won't be able to stop God's judgment either. God will perform his will whether we join in or not.

So what does that mean for us? If we join into His plan we will go on. There is hope for us. We can be saved. He will finish our salvation. That is something we can set our faith on and say, "I know it is going to be this way. It was this way, it is this way, and it will be this way. Nothing can stop it." Think about that the next time you are tempted to be anxious. Remember that whatever is happening, no one can stop God. Though the economy go up and down and presidents come and go, God is not moved and His plan is going on. It is not stopping.

In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way that God controls all things. A messenger from heaven said in verse 17 that "the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men." That verse was a shocker to me. God sets over the kingdoms of men "the basest of men." Does that tell you a little bit about what God thinks of this world?

Nebuchadnezzar was warned in a dream about the judgment to come, but he did not heed, and 12 months later he boasted: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" (verse 30). While the words were still in his mouth, a voice from heaven said the kingdom had departed from him. Nebuchadnezzar was driven from the company of men and ate grass like cattle. But the judgment softened his heart, and he began to honor the Almighty God and recognize his dominion in the affairs of men.

Pay attention to the order of events in Nebuchadnezzar's life. When he gloated about his greatness, he fell. But as soon as he lifted his eyes to heaven, his understanding returned and he blessed the Most High. Look in verse 35 at the understanding he gained: "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"

How many of us realize what Nebuchadnezzar realized? We are nothing! That's quite a statement. And God does his will both in heaven and on earth. Nobody can stay his hand.

After looking up to heaven, Nebuchadnezzar was restored. We need to do the same today: look up to heaven and be still and know that he is God. That's when our understanding comes clear. That's when we begin to know things, and things become ordered in our lives. You see, when Nebuchadnezzar walked around and looked at all the power God had given him, he attributed it to himself, and his kingdom fell into disorder and disarray. When he looked up and recognized God's rule, his kingdom became ordered again.

Is there disorder and disarray in your life? Are you looking to heaven and letting God call the shots, or are you depending on your own little self?

In America today we've elevated education and environment and and government, believing these are the things that will deliver us. But I believe strongly these are the very things that will confound us. We are like those in Romans 1:21, who, when they knew God, "neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools...." Our vanity will always lead to foolishness. Wisdom will come only when we are still and know that God is God.

Psalm 2 asks, "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed...." Can you imagine being God, knowing that you are God and that by you all things consist, watching these kings, the very kings you put in place, rising up against you? There they are, raging against the very God who gave them their power. That's like standing against a bulldozer because you think it's wrong. If you were to challenge a bulldozer, is there any question who would win? Why stand in the path of God? Though the kings of the earth rage, though the drunkards and homosexuals cry out and shake their fists and walk in parades, nothing and no one will divert God from his path.

In Isaiah 42:8, God says: "I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." God is not going to give his glory to another. We walk in God's grace, not for our own glory but for God's, not for our lifting up but for God's. When someone begins to take a tumble spiritually, it's because he starts wanting that glory that belongs to God. "I will not give it," God says. He will give us grace, blessing, strength, and refuge, but the glory is all his.

His glory is magnified all the more in Isaiah 45, where he tells the people from other lands, from lands that worship graven images, to assemble together and take counsel from one another and and decide: "Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me."

Contemplate that for a bit. Who on this earth can say, "There is no one else beside me"? No one, of course. But for God there is no peer. The graven images, the gods of the people, are as nothing to the God Almighty.

Aren't we just like the idol worshipers when we put our trust in something else--in our finances, our homes, our careers? God sits there and says, "Now wait a minute. There is nobody else around for you to put your trust in. I'm the only one." He is unchallenged. God is, and his plan will not stop. It always will go on.

I guess my imagination gets a little out of hand sometimes, but if you can imagine God watching the people of earth, he must have to laugh. Bowing down to a piece of wood, bowing down to a dollar bill. All these things he made are being worshiped, while the Creator is ignored. What are you worshiping?

Ultimately our realization of God as God leads to enormous comfort. Philippians 4:4-7 offers this encouragement: "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand." The word "moderation" means "care-freeness." You are care free. There need be nothing weighing you down and making you anxious. "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Only God is worthy of our confidence, because only he can hold all of our anxieties in his hand. No idol, no insurance policy, and no bank account can protect us from the hardships sure to come, but as we turn to him we find true refuge and peace. Nothing can hinder our God. Nothing can stop him. He is going to go on. When you put your faith and confidence in something like that, you automatically find peace. There will be no anxiety where there is faith.

"Be still and know that I am God." Still all the anxieties in your life. Quiet them down, and recognize God as God. Still the voice that says, "Yes, but...." There is nobody else besides Him. There is no other plan and no other salvation. Put your full confidence in him. To God be the glory!