Robert Houk Hitchcock

   In order to see God's power and deliverance in our lives, we must be 100% ready to trust Him.
We must be 100% prepared to see the deliverance. We must be 100% ready to let go of the sense knowledge concerning the situation, and 100% ready to act upon God's Word to us in the situation.

   We can get by with partial trust when it concerns the things of the five senses, but not with the things of God. We must be 100% sure of the promise of God, and then act upon it without hesitation or doubt. Believing is what brings to us the fulfillment of the promises of God.

Proverbs 3:5-10
   Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
   In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
   Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
   It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
   Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
   So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

   We are directed in Proverbs to trust in the Lord with all of our heart.  All, of course, would be 100%.  Being 99% sure of the promise of God is not quite there. In order to become 100% sure, we are told to do something: Lean not to our own understanding and in all our ways acknowledge Him.

   See, we must reject sense knowledge completely and accept the spiritual knowledge concerning the situation.  The promise of God is the spiritual knowledge about your situation. We are directed to "be not wise in our own eyes." That wisdom is the sense knowledge wisdom. Do not depend on that, depend on God 100%.

   This exhortation to trust God is followed by the simplest of the matters of trust: our substance.  Quite simply, we are to trust God 100% BY HONORING HIM WITH THE FIRSTFRUITS OF ALL OUR INCREASE. That's HOW you trust GOD concerning finances. That IS 100% trust. There are not a lot of whistles and bells and formulas and insights. It is simply 100% trust to tithe and to honor God with the firstfruits of our increase.

   It is interesting that God's Word not only gives us the command to trust God, but then gives us an example of how to do that in our finances.  This is something we can do in the senses realm, something simple that when we see our barns filled with plenty, it will build our trust of God in other areas of life and concerning others matters that may happen to us.

Acts 27:14-25
   But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
   And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.
   And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat:
   Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven.
   And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;
   And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.
   And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
   But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
   And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
   For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
   Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
   Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

   This was a situation that was declared to have no hope. That's 0% for us non-math majors. Paul is in a situation with a 0% chance of resolution, a 0% chance of deliverance.  In this particular situation, there was no sense knowledge to lean upon. There was no way out.  But Paul still trusted God 100%!  He had the promise of God via the angel of God.  So, not only did Paul reject the terrible sense knowledge conditions, but he embraced 100% the promise of God.  Then he told everyone on board to "be of good cheer."  I'm sure that hit everyone real well.  Here Paul wants to sings "Kumbaya" with all the ship and it's rocking so hard they can't even hold on.  However, Paul's 100% commitment and 100% trust turned the situation around and all the ship was saved.

   You can't talk about 100% trust and not mention these three men:

Daniel 3:16-23
   Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
   If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
   But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
   Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
   And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
   Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
   Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
   And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

   In this situation, these men knew ahead of time what the consequences of their actions would be sense knowledge wise. They would have a furnace to visit.  Furnaces are hot.  They are supposed to be hot.  And this one was the hottest of the hot.  And you know what?  They actually got thrown into the thing!  That is taking your believing to a new level wouldn't you say?  That is absolute 100% trust in the promise of God because they were 100% in the fire!  It wasn't just a threat or a worry: it was reality.

Daniel 3:24-27
   Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
   He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
   Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither.  Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
   And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

   The king was really surprised.  Never before had anyone been thrown into the furnace and walked around!   I'm sure he was more than a little unnerved by the events that happened.  So he tip-toed over to the mouth of the furnace, and kindly asked these gentlemen in the furnace that if after they were finished with their walk, they could come on out and have a little talk about it.

   When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out they were not burned.  They didn't have even one hair singed.  They didn't even smell like smoke (I'm sure everyone else in the area did, but they didn't).  The fire had 0% effect on them. They trusted God 100% and the fire had 0% effect on them.

   Perhaps one might think that God should have prevented them from going into the furnace.  We might think that God could have worked with the king to make an exception for them.  We might think that God could have placed an angel at the entrance of the fire so that they could not have have been thrown in.  We might think that God could have put the fire out just as they were thrown into the fire. But God still could deliver even after they went into the fire!  God's power just can't be overcome, no matter the situation.  These three wonderful believers just stood on the Word of God, and God delivered them.  How God delivers His people is His concern; Trusting God is our concern.  He will not, and can not, ever let His people down when they trust Him 100%.

Mark 3:1-5
   And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
   And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
   And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
   And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
   And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand.  And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

   Jesus Christ always (100%) did the will of His Father.  He always (100%) trusted God.  When he was ministering, he also required 100% trust.  The man with the withered hand had 0% possibility sense knowledge wise of being able to "Stretch forth" his hand.  It was withered and he couldn't.  Jesus Christ asked him to step out on his believing- he asked him to "stand forth."  The man did.  Then he asked him to "Stretch forth thine hand," and he did.  God's power is absolutely superior to the situation.  When we also get to the place of selling out 100% to the promise of God, then the power of God can overcome the situation.

Exodus 14:21-22
   And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
   And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

   Moses believed God.  We all know what happened.  The children of Israel had had no place to go.  Perhaps this was the beginning of the "between a rock and a hard place" expression.  They had the Egyptian army behind them (and they were not happy!) and they had the Red Sea in front of them.  Heretofore, I doubt if even the thought of the Red Sea parting and them walking across on DRY ground even occured to them.  But Moses  knew God and Moses believed God and the sea parted.  They walked across unharmed, and the Eqyptians took some swimming lessons.  This record of deliverance served to Israel as a reminder of God's great power and deliverance for His people.  It also serves for us, the Body of Christ, as a reminder of God's deliverance for us no matter what the odds or circumstances.

Luke 1:38
   And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.  And the angel departed from her.

   Mary trusted God 100%, and we all know what happened.  It is an obvious impossibility for a woman to become pregnant without a man being involved.  But not this time, because the power of God was in operation because someone believed God's promise.  Mary was 100% sure that God was able to do what He said He would do.  She was 100% convinced.  She said, "Be it unto me according to thy word."  That is believing based entirely on the promise of God, and without any sense knowledge support at all.  She did not lean to her own understanding; she believed God.

Matthew 4:1-10
   Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
   And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
   And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
   But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
   Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
   And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
   Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
   Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
   And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
   Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

   Jesus Christ's response to the devil's temptations was consistent: It is written.  When confronted with the temptations and 5 senses situations of life that is our proper response also: It is written.  Once you and I have the promise of God concerning our dilemma, then that's all we need to know.  We then trust in the Lord with all (100%) our hearts. We then lean not (0%) to our own understanding.  We acknowledge God in all (100%) ways, and then He shall direct our paths, He shall bring the Word of God to pass in our lives.

   Paul trusted God despite a 0% chance of change in the weather.  Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego trusted God despite a 0% chance of the fire going out.  The man with the withered hand trusted what the Lord Jesus Christ promised him despite having a 0% chance of ever using his hand.  Moses trusted God despite a 0% chance of swimming to escape the Egyptians.  Mary trusted God despite having a 0% chance of becoming pregnant without ever knowing a man.

   It is the believer's joy to trust God with all of their hearts.  When we get to the place in our hearts where we trust God 100%, then deliverance flows to us like a mighty river.  God's deliverance is readily available to us as sons of God, we just need to sell out to trusting God and seeing His mighty hand move for us.