I am not exactly sure why Grandpa planned for me to speak at his funeral. In reality, I had asked him to be a pallbearer at mine. Apparently he had forgotten his responsibility.

Perhaps he wanted me to speak because of his unique view of me. In a journal he filled out for me he answered the question: “What are ways you are different from your grandson?” by stating “Dumb as a box of rocks. You, not me.” What can I say?

Grandpa regularly talked with me about Gods providence. He included it in his journal. We would talk about it around their sun room dining table. We would talk about it on the phone.

Providence is God’s continuing and often unseen activity in sustaining his universe, providing for the needs of every creature, and preparing for the completion of his eternal purposes.

The story of Grandpa’s life is the calling of his God and Savior Jesus Christ. Often times behind the scenes, sometimes in visible ways, but always with the intent that Grandpa Jack would come to him.

Jesus called him into existence

1. Grandpa loved making things. I suppose he had a hand in starting the whole “reuse/recycle/repurpose” movement, or at least a more backwoods and slightly less fashionable rendition

1. 1. He made birdhouses out of scrap lumber that used to be old sheds that used to be old houses, that were probably something before that!

1. 1. He loved to create things, and that was the outworking of God’s image in him. John 1 tells us “All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made.” It was Jesus who called Grandpa Jack into existence, and it was Jesus who Grandpa Jack was mirroring when he made things.

But that wasn’t the only way that Jesus was calling Grandpa Jack.

Jesus was earnestly pursuing Grandpa Jack through visible and invisible, direct and indirect actions.

Jesus called him into his flock (John 10)

1. John 10:14-16 “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”

1. Jesus laid down his life for Grandpa Jack, and then spent 28 years calling him to himself until Grandpa Jack finally heard his voice in June of 1943.

1. Grandpa Jack was not embarrassed about that. He loved Jesus because Jesus had first loved him, and Jesus continued to love him even in his grouchy old self.

1. Grandpa Jack needed Jesus because he was a sinner. Though Jesus had called him into existence, he had rebelled and chosen his own way, just like the rest of us. But Jesus still called him, even when Grandpa Jack didn’t want to listen.

1. I remember Grandpa Jack calling me out from under the ping pong table after I had disobeyed and kicked a ball in the house, breaking some of Grandma’s tea cups. I had watched the ball hit the tea cup shelf by their sunroom door, and as if in slow motion I remember a cup falling and hitting the floor, shattering. I then remember the mad dash down the stairs and into the first hiding spot I could find. But Grandpa didn’t leave me there. Probably because of Grandma, he came looking for me and we made things right.

But Jesus didn’t give his life, and spend so many years calling Grandpa Jack just to give him something to do for his 98.5 years. No, he had a bigger purpose. He wanted Grandpa Jack to know him face to face.

 Jesus called him into his heaven (John 14)

1. That same Shepherd who gave his life for his sheep, promised to come again and call Grandpa Jack and all the other followers of Jesus to be with him.

1. John 14:1-3 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

1. This is the reason why we call this a celebration, not a mere funeral. It is because Grandpa Jack won’t just be buried, he will be planted. His new body will not be hunched over. His new hands will not need those purple gloves. Jesus has called Grandpa Jack to be with him, and now Grandpa can see his Savior face to face.

1. I remember staying with Grandma and Grandpa out at the Cabin in Montana. When I would stay with them I got the loft. It was uniquely constructed by some stroke of brilliance (that runs in the family) so during the day when you wanted to take a nap it was about 120 degrees, and then at night it normally averaged 20 degrees. You would spend the night tucked into an old musty green army sleeping bag that spent all but two weeks of the year sealed up in an old suitcase. But when morning came, you could hear Grandma getting breakfast ready and Grandpa would be starting a fire in the stove, and then he would call you down. He would call you because a new day had started. There were trout to catch, mountains to climb, driftwood to collect, and white-water rafters to pester with fishing hooks. It was a new day and Grandpa Jack was calling you down.

1. Jesus has called Grandpa Jack to his home. It is a new day.

Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life. No one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). Jesus is calling right now. The same voice that called you into existence can be heard today. Jesus stood up in the temple and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38). Do you hear his voice?

Last post we looked at David’s four fold cycle to move from Fear to Trust with the acronym “PRAY.” He 1) Prayed; 2) Rehearsed God’s Character; 3) Actively chose to trust; and 4) Yielded his “control” of the future – Boasting in his promises.

But what is the result? My thoughts immediately go to Paul’s reminder to the believers in Philippi, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

He tells them, don’t be anxious/worry/fear about anything. Pray. When you do this the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This peace is better than anything you have ever experienced!

I am so thankful that Paul didn’t say, “When you are fearing – change your circumstances” because I normally fear when I cannot change the circumstances! Fear comes when I am not in control.

Instead, he reminds me to do something that I can do no matter what is going on around me – pray. When I do that, God’s peace has a channel through which it can flow straight to my heart and mind. It is an IV drip right to my vital organs – stronger than any drug.

And then the promise – the peace of God will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is there guarding my heart and mind. No enemy, circumstance, or spirit can ever touch me when I am guarded by Jesus.

Praise God! In the midst of fear, Jesus Christ is my sentry. I need not fear what man can do to me. I trust in God.

To hear our personal testimony about Fear and Trust you can listen here.

When surrounded by enemies, and feeling fear’s strangle hold bearing down, we often do not take time to think logically. More often than not we follow our instincts – which are rarely the best solution. Pat McManus, the outdoor humorist writer, tells of how he would react when lost. The picture was of a spring tightening as he began to realize that he did not know where he was. Slowly he would wind himself up and then, with just the right noise, normally the snap of a twig caused by a hungry Sasquatch in the bushes, he would explode. His trajectory would only be redirected by trees, boulders, small cities, and gravity, until he exited the forest and could regain control. That is one way to deal with fear.

David offers a different solution for fear in Psalm 56. Here he demonstrates that you can choose trust in the midst of fear. Fear and Trust do not mix. You either have one or the other. If I am fearing, I am not (and can not) trusting. If I am trusting, I am not fearing.

David gives four steps to move from fear to trust, a cycle which I have to repeat not only daily, but often times hourly or more.

In order to remember it at 2 am when I awake and begin to fear I had to put it into an acrostic. (If you can think of a better one that I could remember at 2 am, please let me know in the comments. I could use it.)

The 4 steps that Psalm 56 explain to move from fear to trust are these: (P.R.A.Y.)

P – Pray – Take the problem to God in prayer (this entire psalm is a prayer to God). If you can remember and act on this one, you are already beginning to experience the peace of God.

R – Rehearse – God’s Character. Look at what the psalm says about God. He is: Gracious (1); Supreme over the peoples (7); All knowing (8); Remembering (8); Caring (9); Deliver (13). This is stunning placed in contrast to the limitations of humanity (5, 11)!

A – Actively choose to trust (3,11). Talking to yourself isn’t bad (it can be awkward if you do it out loud in front of people, don’t get me wrong!). We need to be preaching to ourselves, actively choosing to trust. David says, “I will trust” several times in this short prayer.

Y – Yield your “control” of the future – Boasting in his promises (4,9,10). The term translated “praise” in the ESV is הלל (hallel). You have probably heard of the Hallel Psalms, those which are focused on praising God. The idea can also be “boast.” Praising God is boasting in him. He is the true God! Here David praises/boasts in the promises God has given. His word can be the source of our boasting.

To hear our personal testimony about Fear and Trust you can listen here.

I am really good at fearing. I fear the future. I worry about what could happen with my family. I’m anxious about providing for us. I plot and plan and scheme trying to manipulate the future in my mind. I fear.

This past week only gave me more opportunities to practice.

Last night a gentleman in our church reminded me that we fear for two main reason. We fear because 1) we are ignorant and we fear because 2) we are not in control.
1. Ignorance does not mean stupidity, but merely a lack of knowledge. Everyone is ignorant of the future. We do not know what will happen. And when that reality come crashing down on us, fear takes hold.
2. Lack of control is nothing new. In reality, we are not in control of anything, but we feel as though we are in control – most of the time. When that control is taken away, fear takes hold.

David knew fear. David was ignorant. David had all vestiges of control ripped from his grasp. A particularly telling episode occurred as David fled from Saul in 1 Samuel 21:10-22:1.
“10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
22:1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.” (ESV)

David, in his flight from Saul, runs into the mouth of another lion. Verse twelve says that “David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish.” He feared.
The next verses record the embarrassing antics of the anointed king masquerading as a madman. I am sure that David was not proud of this record. The one who had killed the famous “Goliath of Gath” (1 Sam 17:4), was now spitting and scratching, and playing the fool.
David floundered.
But fear doesn’t have to control. You can trust in the face of fear.
Latter this week we will look at David’s reflections from this embarrassing episode in Psalm 56. There he highlights four action steps we can take to move from fear to trust.

To hear our personal testimony about Fear and Trust you can listen here.