Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW210045S
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:08 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Family Worship. 01:11 My name is Ben Lingle. 01:12 And we just want to thank you for joining us this evening 01:15 for a great study in the Word of God. 01:18 We are so thankful every week, 01:19 you come and spend the opening of the Sabbath with us 01:22 and we're just excited to get in deep. 01:24 And we hope you are as well 01:26 because we have a great topic tonight 01:28 that you're not going to want to miss. 01:29 So as I said, this is just a great time, 01:32 we can all, kind of, relax and come together as a family 01:36 and just learn more about our Lord and Savior 01:39 and dig deep into His Word and just have it change us. 01:42 So we're just so excited about that. 01:44 And tonight, of course, this is family worship, 01:46 we have the family with us. 01:48 And it's a young person version if you want to call it that. 01:51 We love doing these. 01:53 So anyway, I'm going to introduce 01:54 the family to you now. 01:56 To my right, we have a beautiful couple, 02:01 Brandon and Jamie Armstrong. 02:03 And you guys actually used to live in the area, 02:06 I think up until 2015. 02:08 Yes, right at the beginning of 2015. 02:10 Yeah. 02:11 And then we got called to go to Guam. 02:14 I wanted to spend a couple of years 02:16 where my wife lived natively for a while 02:19 and just see what the island life was like. 02:20 Yeah. 02:22 And then God called us back here 02:23 and that's a whole other story that we'll get into. 02:25 So what do you guys do? 02:27 You guys here work in production? 02:28 So what do you guys do in production? 02:30 Well, I'm the editor here, one of the editors for 3ABN 02:33 so I do all of the English channels 02:35 and then, you know, we wear many hats here as you know. 02:38 Yep. That's true. 02:40 You know, I'm running camera, editing, 02:42 you know, whatever they need me to do, I'm there. 02:44 Right. 02:46 And usually I am behind the camera as well 02:48 with our family here. 02:50 I do camera on the makeup team as well and lighting. 02:54 Yeah. 02:56 You've been trained a lot in the lighting department. 02:57 I know and that's very exciting. 02:59 It's a very enlightening job. 03:02 You were gonna say that, come on, let's admit it. 03:08 Not take that opportunity to say something so, 03:11 but anyway, I'm so thankful for you guys 03:13 to be here tonight. 03:15 Praise the Lord. 03:16 Then, of course, all the way at the end of the table 03:17 is Miss Pamela Hernandez. 03:19 And, Pamela, you also work here at 3ABN. 03:21 So what do you do? Yes. 03:23 I am also part of the makeup crew 03:24 with Jamie and also behind the camera. 03:27 Yeah. 03:28 As Brandon said, we all wear many hats at 3ABN. 03:31 Of course, if you don't know who I am, 03:34 I'm, as I said Ben Lingle, 03:35 I work in the audio department. 03:37 So that's a very fun job to say the least. 03:41 Can be a challenge, like anything else, 03:42 but we have a good time working in audio department. 03:45 So anyway, let's have prayer and then we'll intro the topic, 03:50 and then we'll go from there. 03:52 So, Jamie, actually, would you pray for us? 03:53 Sure. 03:55 Dear heavenly Lord, thank You so much 03:56 for another day that we can be here 03:59 to worship You 04:00 and we can come together as a family, 04:03 as friends, and open Your Word. 04:06 And I pray that today as we read Your Bible, 04:08 please give us Your Holy Spirit, wisdom, 04:11 understanding 04:13 and that whoever hears and watches this program, 04:17 I pray that even one person 04:19 can be touched by it today. 04:22 May they hear Your words and not ours. 04:25 We thank You so much 04:26 and we ask that You be with us now 04:29 as we open Your Word we pray in Jesus' name. 04:32 Amen. Amen. 04:34 All right, tonight we are talking about 04:37 waiting on the Lord. 04:38 Good topic. Yeah. 04:40 This one, it's a big topic 04:42 because, you know, a lot of times 04:43 we don't really know the answer to our prayers 04:46 or maybe we're looking for a sign or something. 04:48 And we're waiting on God to give us those things. 04:51 And so, this is something that I think is very practical. 04:53 I think all of us in our Christian walk 04:56 has had to wait on the Lord at some capacity. 04:59 And so, this is gonna be a great topic 05:01 so you're gonna want to stay with us. 05:03 Yeah. So go ahead. 05:05 What like triggered you to look into this topic? 05:08 I'm curious, you know, 05:10 because we were talking about this, like, 05:11 what inspired you to do this topic? 05:13 You know, there's a lot of things 05:14 in my personal life, 05:16 that I feel like 05:17 I've had to wait on God to show me, 05:19 and it's not just always something that's materialistic, 05:24 like, you know, waiting on something 05:26 to arrive from Amazon. 05:28 You know what I mean, something like that, right? 05:29 Sometimes it's more of just like, 05:31 I'm spiritually, 05:33 you know, God to show me something in scripture 05:36 or something to help me understand better, 05:38 or something that I've been waiting on God to help me 05:41 so I can apply 05:42 whatever He's going to show me to my life 05:43 or something along those lines. 05:45 So that's why I wanted to study this topic today. 05:48 And in our talking together before we did the program, 05:52 all of you have had some stories about 05:54 how you've had to wait on God in different ways 05:56 and so I'm excited to see 05:57 what God does tonight through this, 05:59 through the study. 06:00 So let's start with a verse. 06:04 We'll, kind of, call it 06:05 the verse for the topic tonight. 06:07 And, Pamela, will you read Isaiah 40:31? 06:12 Yes. 06:13 So it says, "But those who wait on the Lord 06:15 shall renew their strength, 06:17 they shall mount up with wings like eagles, 06:19 they shall run and not be weary, 06:21 they shall walk and not faint." 06:23 Yeah. 06:24 Sounds like some endurance to me. 06:26 Yeah. 06:27 It's interesting because I was actually 06:30 looking up Strong's Concordance on this, 06:33 the word renew their strength 06:35 because those who wait on the Lord. 06:36 So we always talk about 06:38 what happens when we wait on the Lord. 06:40 It says they shall renew their strength. 06:42 And it says in Strong's Concordance 06:44 there are many different ways 06:45 you could bring it, but one of the words 06:47 that you could translate this to in Hebrew was to grow, 06:52 to change, you know. 06:54 And it's interesting, those who wait on the Lord 06:56 shall continue to grow their strength 06:58 or, you know, especially with their belief in God 07:01 and I find that so true, 07:02 especially in the stories we're going to tell later. 07:05 It was mind-boggling just how much, 07:09 you know, we had to trust in God 07:12 and believe on Him and because of that, 07:14 our faith in God 07:16 and our relationship in God grew. 07:17 Yes, yes. 07:19 It's almost like God knew that while waiting sometimes 07:23 we can grow weary, you know? 07:26 We could be waiting for a long time 07:28 and He knew that we would need the strength, 07:31 His strength. 07:34 Just like it says in this promise, 07:35 so that's why I really like this verse. 07:36 Yeah. 07:38 It's a great verse. That's true. 07:39 And we're gonna see a little bit later 07:41 what can happen when we grow weary 07:43 and waiting on God? 07:45 And we're going to give some examples of that, 07:46 but let's, let's do something a little bit encouraging first. 07:50 Okay, okay, okay. All right. 07:53 Let's go to Judges 6, Chapter 6, 07:56 and we're going to read specifically 07:57 verses 36 through 40. 07:59 Okay. 08:00 But to give just kind of a backstory, in Judges 6, 08:02 we see the story of Gideon. 08:04 And what we can see is that because of Israel's wickedness, 08:09 the Lord had allowed the Midianites 08:12 to kind of dominate them. 08:14 The Bible says, "For seven years, 08:15 they were at the hand of the Midianites 08:17 for seven years." 08:18 And Gideon was... 08:22 Essentially, as we've been talking about 08:24 waiting on God to show him a sign 08:26 whether He would save Israel or not. 08:28 And so verses 36 through 40, 08:31 actually kind of highlight 08:32 an interesting sign that Gideon asked 08:35 and it's called Gideon and the fleece. 08:37 We talk about sometimes, 08:39 metaphorically laying out our fleece 08:41 before the Lord, right? 08:42 Yeah. 08:43 And this is where it comes from. 08:45 And this is exactly where that comes from. 08:46 So if you've ever heard anyone say, 08:48 you know, lay out your fleece. 08:49 This is exactly where they pulled that from. 08:52 All right. So let's look at this. 08:53 So, Brandon, maybe you can read the first two verses and then, 08:57 Jamie, maybe the second two verses, 08:59 and then, Pamela, you want to read verse 40. 09:01 All right. 09:02 So I'm going to read from the ESV. 09:04 So it says, "Then Gideon said to God, 09:06 'If you will save Israel by my hand, 09:09 as you have said, behold, 09:11 I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. 09:14 If there is no dew on the fleece alone, 09:17 and it is dry on the ground, 09:18 then I shall know 09:20 that you will save Israel by my hand, 09:22 as you have said.'" 09:23 Verse 38, "And it was so. 09:27 When he rose early the next morning 09:29 and squeezed the fleece together, 09:31 he wrung the dew out of the fleece, 09:34 a bowlful of water." 09:36 That's a lot of dew. 09:40 "Then Gideon said to God, 'Do not be angry with me, 09:44 but let me speak just once more: 09:47 Let me test, I pray, 09:49 just once more with the fleece... 09:56 Let it now be dry only on the fleece, 09:59 but on all the ground let there be dew.'" 10:04 Verse 40 says, "And God did so that night. 10:07 It was dry on the fleece only, 10:09 but there was dew on all the ground." 10:12 There's a lot to unpack here. 10:14 In four verses, we see there's so much like 10:16 Brandon said compact. 10:18 Oh, man, it's crazy. 10:20 You know, what I find interesting about 10:21 this specific passage in scripture 10:24 is that it really is relatable as us today 10:28 because a lot of times as humans, 10:30 we doubt whether something is God or not. 10:33 Yeah. 10:34 Oh, it happens all the time. It does. 10:36 And Gideon right here kind of showed that. 10:37 He was like, all right, Lord, you know, clearly, 10:40 the first sign was true, 10:41 but I just want to make sure it's You. 10:43 Can you do the opposite this time, you know? 10:46 And I think that's really like fitting for us like sometimes, 10:48 you know, if we're waiting on God 10:50 to show us something, 10:51 we're waiting for a sign. 10:52 Yeah. We tend to like, okay, Lord. 10:54 All right, You did that. All right. 10:55 Now, I want another one. Oh, you did that. 10:57 Now, just one more to make sure it's You. 10:59 You know what I mean, 11:01 I find that really interesting so. 11:02 I find it funny because we were just, 11:04 we just had this experience. 11:05 We're in the process of buying a house right now. 11:07 But before we even got this, because we're like, 11:10 oh, man, we love this house 11:11 but is it God's will and we're like, 11:13 Lord if it's not Your will, you know, shut the door. 11:15 We're laying out our fleece, 11:17 you know, show us the sign just like Gideon's asking. 11:20 And it's funny 11:21 because when we sent our offering, 11:23 our realtor called in and said, 11:25 Oh, I'm sorry, they went with another offer. 11:28 But, you know, you can always counteroffer 11:31 in case you're second 11:32 because you will be the next person in line. 11:34 Right. 11:35 And, you know, me and Jamie are like, 11:36 okay, I guess God shut the door. 11:38 But, you know, it wasn't like, exactly like closure. 11:41 They said, there's still a chance but, 11:43 you know, generally most of the case, 11:45 it's like when somebody makes an offer, 11:47 and they go with that offer. 11:48 It's like, it's almost like that's the deal. 11:50 Yeah, exactly. 11:51 So we're like, okay, well, Lord, 11:53 you know, we just make sure you really shut the door. 11:56 So we laid out our second fleece. 11:59 Praying about it. 12:00 Please show us. 12:02 It's just Your will or not. Exactly. 12:04 And so, we went ahead and just made the counteroffer. 12:08 And then it was just crazy. 12:09 One day later, she calls in and says, 12:11 the first deal didn't work. 12:13 You're up next. 12:15 I was like, are you serious? 12:16 So we're still doing all the paperwork and everything. 12:18 But it's just funny 12:20 because this is just what we went through. 12:22 So we were like, don't be mad, 12:24 we put down another place, you know? 12:25 We weren't sure if that was a sign or not. 12:27 So, yeah. 12:28 You know, it's always good just to make sure, 12:31 you know, to get that sign. 12:33 I don't think God's angry 12:35 if we ask again for something like that. 12:38 He says come, let us reason. 12:40 He wants us to ask Him. 12:41 He wants us because He's ready and willing to give us 12:45 all these gifts that He's promised. 12:47 Yeah. Yeah. 12:50 He tells us to ask, He wants us to ask. 12:52 You know, He doesn't want us to assume things and all that, 12:55 He wants us to come to Him specifically. 12:57 And that's what we see here with Gideon 12:59 and the sign of the fleece. 13:00 I mean, Gideon could have prayed anything. 13:01 Yeah. God, let it rain tomorrow. 13:03 God, let it do this. God, let it do that. 13:05 But no, he prayed specifically. 13:07 And really, if you think about this, 13:09 this has to be a sign from God. 13:11 And we know it is obviously 13:12 because the Bible says it is 13:14 but also, because why would the fleece be damp 13:19 and then the ground wouldn't be and vice versa? 13:22 I mean, that doesn't make any sense from the, 13:23 if you want to call it 13:25 the logical physical mind, right? 13:27 So we know this was a sign from God. 13:29 And you know, I can kind of relate to this 13:31 as far as asking for signs, 13:33 because I was honored to go to Sunnydale Adventist Academy 13:38 for my senior year of high school. 13:40 I remember this. Yeah. 13:41 And it's a wild story, 13:42 I'm not going to tell the whole story 13:44 because it'll take probably the whole program for story, 13:46 and we got to get to other things here, 13:48 obviously. 13:49 But, essentially what happened for me was, 13:52 I had the opportunity, I had a friend, 13:54 actually, of this network, E.T. Everett encouraged me 13:56 to reach out to the Financial Officer 13:59 at Sunnydale, 14:00 and just ask him say, hey, 14:02 you know, I can't really do much financially. 14:05 But if it's, you know, God's will, 14:07 and you guys are willing to work with me, 14:09 I would love to attend Sunnydale. 14:10 So I'd waited a while, waited a while 14:12 and I prayed for sign. 14:14 I actually found out that 14:16 he was going to be 14:17 at our local eighth-grade graduation 14:20 and dean scholarships to the new kids 14:23 going into freshman year 14:25 which is so funny because that was one of the first times 14:27 he had been in our area. 14:29 And I thought that's interesting. 14:31 So I prayed to God and I said, "God, 14:35 if You want me to go to Sunnydale, 14:37 then please allow him to come to me 14:40 and not me have to go to him." 14:41 Okay. 14:42 So after the graduation 14:44 or whatever, he came straight to me, 14:45 and he said here's what you need to do 14:47 all the logistical stuff and I said, 14:48 "Okay, there's a sign." 14:50 I thank You Lord, You answered my prayer there. 14:52 And then I said, "Okay, God, I need another sign." 14:54 You know, my doubtful heart if you want to call it that. 14:57 And I said, God, you know, I'm a musician. 15:00 I play different instruments. I love music. 15:03 So I said, obviously I need to be involved in music 15:05 at Sunnydale. 15:06 So if you want me to go, 15:08 then please provide an instrument, 15:09 specifically a trombone, 15:11 because that's what I played in like 15:12 a band setting was trombone. 15:14 So I'm getting baptized and my teacher, 15:18 Miss Haney is there. 15:20 And what you have to understand about 15:22 Miss Haney is Miss Haney had invested so much into me 15:25 as a musician and all the kids that went through 15:28 the local Thompsonville School here, 15:29 she invested so much, 15:31 she would spend her own money 15:32 on purchasing instruments for us to learn 15:34 and try and she was always. 15:36 Wonderful lady. Yeah. 15:37 She's awesome. 15:38 She is, always so helpful. 15:40 And so she went to the pawnshop a lot of times 15:42 because you could get good instruments for cheap. 15:45 You know, a lot of college kids come in, 15:46 and they sell their instruments to the pawnshop and all that. 15:49 So she went to the pawnshop, 15:52 and there was the lady at the front desk had said, 15:55 hey, we got this trombone in the back. 15:58 She said, we're probably not going to sell it, 16:01 you know, go ahead, and I know you do music at your school, 16:04 why don't you take it 16:05 and she said, Okay, I'll take it. 16:06 So anyway, going back to the baptism, 16:08 I'm at my baptism Miss Haney is there 16:10 and we finished the baptism, 16:12 everything's great and whatever, 16:14 we're about to go eat and Miss Haney is like, 16:15 hey, can you come to my car real quick, 16:17 I want to show you something. 16:18 I was like, okay, 16:19 I wasn't really thinking anything of it. 16:21 Yeah. 16:22 I just thought okay, Miss Haney likes to show me 16:24 different things musically. 16:25 At the time let me say this. 16:27 Miss Haney had no idea 16:29 that I had started my enrollment, 16:32 you know, phase if you want to call it that 16:34 into Sunnydale. 16:35 Right. 16:37 So she opens her trunk, and there's a trombone. 16:40 A trombone case. 16:42 And I'm thinking to myself, oh, my God. 16:46 I was like, this is crazy. 16:47 Because like I said, with the Gideon story, 16:49 it wasn't just like a general or whatever. 16:52 It was a specific prayer that I had prayed. 16:54 And I was waiting on God to answer. 16:56 And He answered that prayer. 16:58 And Miss Haney goes, well, she's like, 16:59 you know, the lady at the pawnshop 17:01 had this old trombone, 17:02 she just gave it to me to use at the school, 17:04 would you like to use it? 17:06 Because she had thought I would come back 17:08 and teach at the school 17:10 because at the time I was teaching at the school 17:11 in Thompsonville. 17:12 Right. And I said, yeah, I want it. 17:18 So that was, you know, that's kind of my sign 17:22 waiting on a sign from God's glory. 17:24 And I just think that's really beautiful 17:26 that God allows us 17:28 to witness His miracles in action in our lives 17:32 and I think that's really neat. 17:33 You know, it's interesting, 17:35 because we could share examples 17:37 of waiting on the Lord, like, over and over and over again. 17:40 And, you know, I was kind of studying a little bit about 17:44 different verses of waiting on the Lord 17:45 and I realized that none of the verses 17:50 is God telling us to wait on Him. 17:53 It's everyone else that says, hey, guys, wait on the Lord. 17:57 There was David, there was, there's like many others. 17:59 I was like, I was looking at. Yeah. 18:01 It was a lot in Psalms 18:02 and then there was a lot in others 18:03 like Hosea and Isaiah, 18:06 and they were just all like, 18:07 just wait on the Lord. 18:09 And I was just like, that's really interesting. 18:11 It's not God telling us, hey, wait on me 18:14 it's everyone's saying guys wait on Lord 18:16 because I'll tell you what, 18:17 we have many experiences to share because of that. 18:19 And I think when we wait on God, 18:21 there's, you know, there are so many stories 18:23 that we could tell about that. 18:24 There is. Yeah. 18:26 And like, Pamela, I know like your family 18:28 was waiting on God 18:30 to like provide an opportunity to come here even, 18:32 because you guys were in Georgia, 18:34 you know, and you guys are praying for God 18:37 to provide an opportunity 18:38 to maybe come work here at 3ABN. 18:40 Yep. That was a long time at 3ABN. 18:43 Yeah, that was a long time. 18:45 I think that's like for all of us. 18:47 Yeah, we all share the similar story. 18:49 What was your experience like, 18:50 you know, just the whole coming here 18:53 and everything? 18:54 It was unexpected. 19:00 It's a long story 19:01 that can probably also take the whole time 19:03 but we were just waiting and praying 19:06 and I think the prayers would keep us going. 19:09 So it just took a while, but... 19:11 Was there like a specific sign you guys were? 19:14 That's a parent's question. 19:17 Okay, in fact, they're right over here. 19:20 There's actually on camera right now. 19:23 Yeah. 19:25 Well, sometimes we just pray, Lord, please open the door. 19:28 That's what I do a lot of times. 19:29 I might not say specifically, 19:31 God, I want this and this and this done 19:34 but I may say God, 19:35 can you please just close the door 19:37 if it's not Your will? 19:39 I don't want to do anything 19:40 that's not in accordance with His will. 19:42 And, you know, when you pray, 19:45 God answers your prayer 19:46 and He even answers 19:48 even before we even think to pray about it, you know. 19:53 So like probably the same thing with you guys. 19:56 We just pray God, 19:57 can You please just open the door wide? 19:58 Yeah. 20:00 Let me know it's Your will 20:01 and if it's not, close the door, 20:02 and I know that He will provide something else, 20:05 that's even better for us. 20:06 Yeah. 20:07 And I like something Pamela said 20:09 when we were discussing, like, 20:10 you know, this topic specifically 20:12 before the program is, 20:13 sometimes the answer is no. 20:15 Sometimes we assume that 20:17 God's answers are always yes or whatever, 20:20 but sometimes it's no 20:22 and that can be something hard to deal with, 20:24 especially if it's something we really want, 20:26 or we feel like we really need, you know? 20:28 Exactly, we start making excuses. 20:31 But God, you know, did you really say no? 20:34 Or you try to like force it, 20:35 you know, like, oh, He may have said no here, 20:37 but let's just like work around this. 20:42 Get my way, you know what I mean? 20:45 Yeah, exactly. 20:46 We get caught up in that 20:48 and so it's just a matter 20:49 of a lot of times also trusting God, 20:52 and trusting that He knows what's best for us 20:55 regardless of how we may feel in that moment, 20:56 just because we feel a certain way, 20:58 that doesn't change God's will for us. 21:00 Yeah. You know what I mean. 21:01 God, God wants the best for us. 21:03 And sometimes we don't know what that is, but He does. 21:06 And so trusting in that 21:07 is something we have to do, I believe. 21:10 Let's talk about another story 21:13 in Scripture about waiting on the Lord. 21:14 Now this one is... 21:17 Look at, let me say it. 21:19 No, no, there's a lot there, so. 21:21 I can't imagine having to wait on God 21:23 to provide something or an opportunity for 40 years. 21:26 Oh, man. 21:27 Oh, we're, so we're going back to Exodus. 21:29 Okay, okay. 21:32 Oh, man, like, I'm just like, 21:34 I'm always anxious just waiting like a week for an answer. 21:38 Yeah, and it's so difficult for us 21:40 because we live 21:41 in such an instant world, right? 21:42 You know, like instant messages, 21:44 phone calls, instant packages like 21:47 we live instant food, you know. 21:49 It's like, we live in this fast-paced world 21:52 and it desensitizes us to, 21:54 to God's timing so to speak, 21:55 when we think it should be our time 21:57 and a lot of times it's not. 21:58 Yeah, yeah. 21:59 You know, on a previous program we did with a friend, 22:01 she said, something along the lines of that, 22:06 when we wait on God, sometimes for us, 22:09 it's the last second, 22:11 in our minds it's the last second. 22:15 Sometimes it's the last second for us, 22:17 but it's right on time for God. 22:18 You know what I mean? That is true. 22:20 So let's talk about the children of Israel 22:22 traveling to the Promised Land. 22:26 In Exodus Chapter 12, 22:27 it's kind of where it starts them, 22:29 you know, leaving Egypt and all of that. 22:31 And we see through Exodus 22:34 and through them traveling through the desert, 22:36 that there are various signs from God all around them, 22:39 you know, obviously them traveling from the sea. 22:42 The sea separating 22:43 and then being able to escape from the Egyptians 22:46 and other examples, the manna and all that type of stuff. 22:50 All those signs that God was providing for them. 22:52 He was saying, even though it was a long time for them 22:55 to be wandering in the wilderness. 22:57 Yeah. 22:58 He was still telling them, I'm still here. 23:00 I still got you, but here's the issue. 23:06 Sometimes, there are situations in our lives 23:09 where we feel like, 23:11 we wait too long on God. 23:13 And a lot of times, if we feel that way, 23:16 we take things into our own hands. 23:19 And we can see what happens in this story of Exodus, 23:23 we can see what happens 23:25 when we take things into our own hands 23:27 and stop waiting on the Lord. 23:30 There's a specific passage in scripture, 23:34 talking about the wilderness, 23:36 them traveling through the wilderness. 23:38 And something that's really interesting about it is, 23:41 we've seen Moses, 23:42 he's up in the mountains talking to God. 23:44 Getting the message, getting the Ten Commandments 23:47 from God on the stone tablets. 23:50 And basically, 23:51 when Moses comes back from the mountains, 23:55 he comes down from the mountains, 23:56 he finds the Israelites have taken all the jewelry 24:00 that they came with from Egypt 24:04 and they made it into an image, an idol. 24:08 And what they were doing 24:10 was they were worshiping that idol. 24:14 And, yeah... 24:17 Took things into their own hands. 24:18 They took things into their own hands. 24:24 What's so interesting about that, in particular, 24:27 is that during, you know, one of the laws 24:31 in the Ten Commandments is no idols, right? 24:33 God doesn't want any other idols in front of Him. 24:35 He's God and God alone. 24:36 Don't worship anybody else. 24:38 Exodus 20. 24:40 So, it's really interesting that one of those commands 24:46 was on the Ten Commandments. 24:47 And when Moses comes down, 24:48 they're breaking one of the command 24:51 that God was providing, was going to provide to them. 24:55 He was only up there for like two or three days or something. 24:57 Yeah, you know, it wasn't that long. 25:01 And here's what's so amazing to me about that. 25:06 Even if it was a week, a month 25:08 that Moses was up there talking to God, 25:11 they had traveled in the wilderness for 40 years. 25:14 They've been waiting already for 40 years 25:17 to make it into the Promised Land. 25:19 They were in the desert. 25:20 They were provided food, they were provided water, 25:22 they were provided all the essentials 25:24 from nothing. 25:26 You know, because they're out in the desert, 25:27 they saw the Red Sea split, they seen miracles from God, 25:30 they've seen Him, you know, in the tabernacle. 25:32 A cloud led them by day, a fire by night. 25:34 And just like two or three days of Moses not being there. 25:39 They're like, I miss the old ways. 25:42 Do you know what I mean? 25:44 They took matters into their own hands. 25:45 Yeah, in many ways, it's really sad, 25:49 and it can kind of speak to the condition 25:50 we can get in if we get complacent 25:53 and we get into this space of I'm tired of waiting on God. 25:59 I think the biggest example is, you know, parents, 26:01 and I've heard this many, many times 26:04 where their children rebels, 26:06 and they go into the world, 26:07 and they start praying for their kid 26:08 and God's not answering their prayer for them 26:10 after like, you know, so many years. 26:12 So they start being like, hey, you know, you should repent. 26:16 They call him up, 26:17 you should repent and follow God, 26:19 and it just turns the kid away, even more, 26:21 you know, because they started taking matters 26:22 into their own hands. 26:25 It can be as simple as that 26:27 or, you know, even just praying for like 26:28 health conditions for somebody, 26:30 you know, some people start getting complacent about that 26:33 and they start doing, 26:34 you know, who knows what they'll start doing 26:36 to try to heal somebody 26:37 because they're, they're not waiting on God. 26:39 That's true. 26:41 And sometimes God has provided the answer, 26:46 but we don't like the answer. 26:48 So we still try to take it into our own hands. 26:50 Yeah, exactly. 26:51 You know, and so there's various examples of that, 26:53 I believe in the story of the children of Israel 26:56 trying to travel to the Promised Land. 26:58 And so, I think that's so interesting. 27:01 So something we have to be careful about is 27:03 when we're waiting on God waited out, 27:05 and if He's given us the answer, 27:07 we need to trust 27:08 that's gonna be the right answer. 27:10 Exactly. 27:12 All right. 27:13 Let's talk about 27:14 something going back to the children of Israel, 27:18 that happened to them? 27:19 And should we be anxious when we're waiting on the Lord? 27:23 Well, I think that's just a given, 27:25 you know, some people are just like a little anxious 27:27 whenever they're making a big decision, 27:30 you know, it's like, oh, man, 27:32 you know, like buying a house, for example, 27:35 or going off to a distant land, 27:37 or, you know, who knows what, 27:39 and you're always anxious to know like 27:41 what's your answer. 27:42 And some people are just anxious 27:44 because they wanted the answer right away, 27:46 you know, but should we be anxious? 27:48 And that's a very important question. 27:51 And I think a lot of people when they really rely on God, 27:56 and they really trust in Him 27:57 that He's going to provide the answer, then, 28:00 I think the anxiousness would go away 28:02 most of the time. 28:04 But it's this that step of, 28:05 you know, waiting and everything that 28:07 you'd kind of do get anxious, but I think 28:09 I think, you know, in the end, no, 28:11 I think we shouldn't be anxious. 28:12 Yeah. I don't know. 28:14 What do you guys think? 28:16 It reminded me of the words of Jesus, 28:18 how He said in Matthew 6, 28:21 this is one of my favorite passages, verse 25. 28:24 And it goes onwards. 28:25 He says specifically, "Therefore, I say to you, 28:29 do not worry about your life, 28:31 what you'll eat, or what you'll drink, 28:33 nor about your body. 28:34 What will you put on? 28:38 Is life not more than food and clothing and the body, 28:42 the life more than food, 28:43 and the body more than clothing?" 28:45 You know, he even goes on to say 28:48 that your Heavenly Father knows everything that you need. 28:52 And it's, kind of, like a parent 28:55 like we need to trust 28:56 that God loves us and that He knows 29:00 what we need before we even ask. 29:03 I mean, even here in Psalm 37:7 it says, 29:06 "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. 29:08 Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, 29:12 over the man who carries out evil devices." 29:14 In other words, 29:15 you know, wait patiently on Him and don't, 29:17 you know, don't be afraid, don't be anxious, 29:19 you know, just rely on Him 29:21 and He'll provide you what's good for you. 29:25 There's a great verse in Philippians 4, or 4:6. 29:30 Pamela, can you read for us Philippians 4:6? 29:32 Sure. 29:33 It says, "Be anxious for nothing, 29:35 but in everything by prayer and supplication 29:37 with thanksgiving, 29:39 let your requests be made known to God. 29:42 And the peace of God 29:43 which surpasses all understanding will guard 29:45 your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." 29:47 It's a beautiful verse. 29:49 So we can see like God's gonna give us peace 29:52 as long as we trust in Him, He'll give us that peace. 29:55 You know, and don't get me wrong. 29:57 There's obviously situations in our lives 29:59 where we may feel distant from God 30:03 and we may feel like it's hard to trust in Him. 30:06 Because even though He's been so good to us through our life, 30:09 sometimes as humans, we still get in that, 30:12 that feeling that mindset of, oh, man, this is scarier. 30:16 I don't know how to step out, or I don't know how to do this. 30:19 Sometimes that can be in stuff like witnessing, 30:22 you know, maybe you're a shy person. 30:24 Yeah. 30:31 You know, and sometimes you're like, 30:33 are they gonna think I'm weird 30:34 that I'm telling them about Jesus, 30:35 or they're gonna think, 30:37 you know, all that kind of stuff. 30:38 So there's like various situations 30:40 where we need that peace. 30:42 And same thing with waiting on God. 30:45 Our anxiousness can sometimes eat us up. 30:48 And like, God, I've been waiting a year. 30:50 God, I've been waiting a few months. 30:51 God, I need an answer. 30:53 God, I'm gonna be evicted out of my house. 30:55 God, I need an answer, 30:57 you know, and it's scary 30:58 but as we begin to grow in Christ, 31:00 and begin to trust Him even more, 31:02 what we realize is like it says in Jeremiah, 31:05 that He has His plans for us, you know? 31:08 He wants us to be in good health, 31:11 He wants us to have, 31:12 you know, a nice life to live, 31:15 it doesn't mean it's going to be luxurious. 31:16 It doesn't mean we're going to have a lot of money 31:18 or anything like that, 31:19 but He wants us to live great lives, 31:22 abundant life. 31:23 So, you know, it's really interesting 31:26 when it comes to, should we be anxious? 31:29 I think the Bible is very clear 31:30 that we should just trust in God. 31:32 Definitely. 31:35 You gotta know, God created you from His hands, 31:38 and He has a whole life plan for you. 31:40 So the person that planned out your life and made you, 31:43 do you not think that He would know 31:45 what's best for you? 31:46 Exactly. 31:47 You know, one of my favorite verses in scripture 31:49 is Philippians 1:6. 31:51 Oh, good verse. 31:52 And I love this one because it's a promise from God. 31:54 It says, "Being confident of this very thing, 31:56 that He who has begun a good work 31:58 in you will complete it 32:00 until the day of Jesus Christ." 32:02 So we know that when we're in God's hands, 32:04 He's got us. 32:06 If He's starting to work in us, He's got us. 32:08 And so, that's just really, really exciting for me. 32:11 I love that verse. It's very encouraging. 32:13 Sometimes when I think I don't have purpose 32:15 or something along those lines, 32:17 I just know that like, regardless, I know, 32:19 God's started to get working me 32:20 and I know He's not going to let me down in that. 32:22 Pamela, I think you were gonna say something. 32:24 Yeah, I was just gonna say 32:25 if we go back to Philippians 3:6, 32:31 there's a part that says, 32:32 let your requests be made known to God. 32:34 And I just wanted to piggyback on. 32:35 You mean 4:6? 32:37 Oh, I'm sorry, 4:6? 32:38 Yes, I was looking at, 4:6 32:41 to let your requests be made known to God. 32:44 And just going back 32:45 on how you were talking about trust 32:47 and just that we should always... 32:49 He wants us to ask, 32:52 He knows our lives already. 32:55 And so us waiting just shows our faith 32:58 and like our trust in Him. 32:59 Yeah, because some people probably don't feel, 33:02 you know, they don't feel worthy 33:03 to ask God sometimes, 33:05 you know, especially 33:06 if they haven't been going to church 33:07 and studying the Bible or something along those lines. 33:10 And a big decision comes up and they're afraid 33:13 or, you know, they don't feel worthy. 33:14 But God's like, hey, I want you to ask Me, 33:17 I want you to know what I have planned for you. 33:21 And it's always encouraging to know that 33:23 like no matter where you are in life, 33:25 God wants you to ask Him what He wants. 33:29 And it's crazy, 33:30 and it just brings so much encouragement, 33:32 and it just makes me feel so much better, 33:34 you know, about coming to God. 33:36 Yes. 33:38 In fact, I was actually just having a Bible study 33:39 with Pastor James Rafferty, 33:42 you may have heard of him. 33:43 Yeah. 33:44 I think we know him certainly. 33:46 Yeah. 33:48 I was talking to him because we're doing some, 33:50 like Bible studies on, you know, like, 33:53 somebody's just coming to get to know God 33:55 for the first time 33:56 and, you know, like, what happens 33:59 when you sin like, or when you feel bad? 34:01 He goes, you know, no matter what in life, 34:04 God wants you to come to Him. 34:06 In fact, it's actually Satan that makes you feel like 34:09 you're not worthy to go to Him in any form, or any way. 34:13 So, when God asked you, like, come to him, 34:16 no matter what you've done, 34:17 no matter where you are in life, 34:18 it just makes me feel so much better. 34:20 Yeah. 34:22 And, you know, going back 34:25 to what everyone has been saying here is that, 34:28 you know, God knows the very number of hairs 34:29 on our head. 34:31 Yeah, exactly. 34:32 You know, He talks about us being wonderfully made, 34:35 you know, so it's like, we can trust God. 34:37 Yeah. 34:38 Because we know He created us. 34:40 We know He wants the best for us 34:41 and that's just like you said, that's an amazing thing. 34:44 It's a great, great thing. 34:46 We were also talking, you know, waiting on the Lord 34:48 has a lot of different meanings too 34:51 because we were talking like 34:52 waiting on the Lord has, 34:54 you know, that's also trusting in the Lord. 34:57 Yeah, having faith in God, 34:58 what was some of the other ones we were talking about? 35:00 I know that we were up in the lunchroom 35:03 just discussing some of these. 35:04 So, yeah, yeah. 35:06 So what were some of the other ones? 35:07 So there's trust, faith... Patience was one. 35:10 Patience, that was... Yeah. 35:12 And, you know, it just goes, 35:14 this topic of waiting on the Lord it's just, 35:16 it's a huge scope of many different aspects 35:20 of Christianity, you know? 35:23 Have that relationship with God. 35:24 Exactly. 35:27 You know, because we do have to trust, 35:28 we do have to be patient and we do need to have faith 35:32 and that all is like a recipe for waiting. 35:35 It is. 35:37 That's a good way to put it, recipe. 35:41 Brandon has some of the best analogies. 35:46 He was making us laugh up in the conference room up there 35:50 when we were studying this out. 35:52 I'll tell you what, 35:53 his analogies are awesome, but anyway. 35:55 All right. 35:56 So let's talk about something that we can all fall, 35:59 you know, into this trap is that presumption... 36:03 That's a big one. 36:04 And how our assumptions or presumptions 36:07 can fall into how we think 36:10 when we're waiting on God, 36:11 how maybe something is answered from God. 36:14 Yeah, like, how do we react when we get the answer 36:17 or if we kind of know the answer, 36:19 does that kind of change how, 36:21 you know, how we wait on Him? 36:25 You know, are we going to be like, 36:27 Oh, I really want to go to this concert 36:29 but maybe God doesn't want me to, you know? 36:33 Sometimes people don't even want to ask God, 36:34 you know, should I go to the concert, 36:36 because they already know the answer. 36:38 So it kind of puts us this, you know, presumption of dread, 36:43 you know, waiting on God for that answer. 36:45 It's like, I already know the answer. 36:47 But the biggest one is, 36:48 how do we react when we get that answer? 36:52 You know, especially, I think the biggest one people 36:54 struggle with is loved ones in the hospital. 36:58 Especially, you know, what's going on these days, 37:01 you know, with all the sickness going around, 37:03 and people are just really needing to trust in God, 37:07 and when their prayers feel like they're not heard, 37:11 you know, how do you deal with that? 37:13 And I think that's one of the biggest things. 37:15 I mean, how would you guys deal with that? 37:17 Do we still trust in God 37:18 even if we didn't get our answers? 37:21 You may never know the answer until heaven. 37:25 And that's where it comes to trusting God 37:28 with your relationship with Him, 37:29 knowing that He knows what's best. 37:33 I can think of an example, like, 37:36 there was a time when you were in the hospital, 37:38 and I'm sure many people have had this experience 37:41 with the family loved one 37:43 and you waiting a lot of times for test results. 37:47 It's like, what do you do? 37:49 All you can do at least just pray at that time? 37:51 Yeah. 37:52 Pray and have faith that God knows what's best. 37:55 There are so many scripture verses 37:57 that I love that, 38:00 like, for example, Psalm 27:14, "Wait on the Lord, 38:03 be of good courage, He will strengthen your heart, 38:07 wait, I say, on the Lord." 38:08 And that's sometimes all we can do. 38:11 Yeah, and, you know, it's crazy, 38:13 because there's a story that my dad told me, 38:17 some of his friends, 38:19 they had a child that was going through cancer, 38:23 you know, like a special type of cancer. 38:25 And, you know, it's crazy 38:27 because they weren't very Christian 38:30 during this time and it wasn't until, 38:34 you know, 'cause they were praying. 38:35 Oh, Lord, you know, we really want our son to live, 38:39 but it never, it never happened, 38:41 you know, and he ended up dying. 38:43 But, you know, it's craziest through the whole experience, 38:46 they split up. 38:48 The parents split up, 38:49 and it was a really hard experience 38:51 but the father actually started bringing his life back together 38:56 and, you know, started going to church again, 38:59 after a while. 39:01 It's been a couple of years, but he started going to church, 39:03 and he put his faith into God entirely. 39:06 And it's crazy to think 'cause he says, 39:08 you know, Brandon, if... 39:10 Sorry, to my father, pardon me, 39:13 'cause you know, if he hadn't died, 39:17 I don't think I would have ever come to God. 39:20 And, you know, it's a crazy experience. 39:23 So you never know 39:25 how something is going to affect it in another way 39:29 and we may not even see it. 39:31 So always, you know, always trust in God, 39:33 even if it's not the answer that you're looking for. 39:38 No, I was gonna say sometimes on, 39:40 like the hardships and things we go through, 39:43 the blessing comes after. 39:44 Yes. 39:45 Sometimes the waiting really is for our sake. 39:47 Yeah. Right. 39:48 It is. Yeah. 39:50 It is. 39:51 You know, there was a story, our brother-in-law, Elijah, 39:54 or my brother-in-law, sorry your brother. 39:57 He was wanting to go to Tennessee. 39:59 And we were trying to get a car rental 40:04 and all these car rentals 40:06 we just could not get a car to give out to, 40:08 so he could drive to Illinois because we only got one car. 40:11 So if he took our car, we would have been carless 40:13 for the whole weekend. 40:14 And he was like, he was really trying to get a car 40:16 and so I prayed with him, 40:18 I was like, you know, Lord 40:19 if you don't want him to have a car, 40:21 make it really known. 40:22 And he did like, nothing was available. 40:23 It was so weird, like 40:25 we're going to all these different car rentals 40:27 and it was just some little thing 40:28 like little something. 40:30 What? Yeah, exactly. 40:32 Yeah, and so, he ended up flying out 40:35 but it was that weekend 40:37 that the big tornado hit in Kentucky. 40:39 And that was on his way. 40:41 He was going through Kentucky to Tennessee. 40:44 And it's just like, wow, you know, God really. 40:47 And we were discouraged. 40:48 We were like, come on God, just give us a car, please. 40:51 We were waiting for like hours this to happen. 40:54 It was crazy and, you know, He kept him safe. 40:57 I couldn't believe it. 40:58 So always, always know that God has... 41:02 He's got your back. 41:04 That is like, wow, 41:05 that's a powerful testimony right there. 41:07 I bet he was happy, God didn't listen. 41:09 It's amazing. 41:10 Wow. 41:12 You know, when I think about that, Brandon, 41:14 you were talking about sickness, 41:15 and my grandma had recently passed away. 41:17 Oh, I'm sorry. 41:18 My grandma always said that 41:20 she would live to 100 years old. 41:21 Said I'm gonna live to 100. 41:23 You know, my grandma had a lot of health issues, 41:25 you know, and I think something that 41:28 when we wait on God, 41:30 you know, of course, we prayed for healing 41:31 and we pray for God to help her 41:33 but sometimes, like, if that's not God's answer, 41:36 just trusting in His will. 41:37 There's a reason for that. 41:39 You know, I think of the story of Lazarus. 41:43 You know, Mary and Martha were waiting on Jesus. 41:48 Jesus, please, he's gonna die. 41:50 You gotta come and heal him. Yeah. 41:51 Especially, since they've seen all the people getting healed 41:53 of their sickness. 41:55 And they're like, come quickly or he's going to die. 41:57 And it's so interesting. 41:58 I'm going to start here. It's in John Chapter 11. 42:00 If you guys want to turn your Bibles there. 42:02 John Chapter 11 is where the story of Lazarus 42:05 is talked about. 42:06 And I'm going to start in verse 17. 42:09 It says, "So when Jesus came, 42:11 He found that he had already been in the tomb 42:12 for four days." 42:14 So Lazarus had been dead 42:15 for four days already. 42:17 He was already decaying and all kinds of things 42:19 are happening obviously, 42:20 when your body dies. 42:23 Verse 18, "Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, 42:25 about two miles away. 42:26 And many of the Jews had joined the women 42:28 around Martha and Mary to comfort them 42:29 concerning their brother, 42:31 then Martha, as soon as she heard 42:32 that Jesus was coming, 42:34 went and met Him, 42:35 but Mary was sitting in the house. 42:36 Sounds like Mary didn't want to talk to Jesus. 42:38 Yeah. 42:39 Been there. 42:41 "Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, 42:43 my brother would not have died." 42:45 Yeah. 42:46 And then it says, "But even now, 42:48 I know that whatever you ask of God, 42:50 God will give you. 42:52 So right here, we can see that 42:54 Martha seems to have a little ounce of faith. 42:57 She's believing in something, right? 43:01 And then it says, Jesus said to her, 43:02 "Your brother will rise again." 43:04 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again 43:06 in the resurrection at the last day." 43:09 So Martha, whether it was now 43:12 or at the resurrection, 43:13 she knew he was gonna rise at some point, 43:15 so she had that faith regardless. 43:17 "And Jesus said to her, 43:18 'I am the resurrection and the life, 43:20 he who believes in Me, though he may die shall live. 43:23 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. 43:25 Do you believe this?' 43:27 She said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, 43:28 I believe that You are the Christ, 43:29 the Son of God, 43:31 who is to come into the world.'" 43:32 Verse 28, 43:33 "And when she had said these things, 43:35 she went her way and secretly called Mary, 43:37 her sister saying, 43:39 'The Teacher has come and is calling for you.' 43:40 As soon as she heard that, 43:41 she arose quickly and came to Him. 43:43 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, 43:46 but was in the place where Martha met Him. 43:48 Verse 31, "Then the Jews who were with her in the house, 43:51 and comforting her, when they saw that 43:53 Mary rose up quickly and went out, 43:55 followed her, saying, 43:56 'She is going to the tomb to weep there.' 43:58 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, 44:00 and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, 44:02 saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here, 44:04 my brother would not have died.'" 44:06 You could just feel the resentment. 44:07 Yeah, and I don't think, I mean, 44:09 there was obviously that mourning 44:11 but I almost get a sense of maybe a little bit of anger. 44:15 Oh, definitely. A little bit here. 44:17 I know that people get angry 44:18 if they don't get their answers right away. 44:21 That's true. 44:22 You know, like, going back to people 44:25 being in the hospital and somebody passes away. 44:28 I know so many people that actually turn away from God 44:31 because they're so angry that they let them die. 44:33 And I'm feeling that resentment right here. 44:36 Yeah, exactly. 44:38 And it is easy like even for Christians 44:41 sometimes to get angry or upset at God for, 44:44 you know, oh, Lord, you know, I needed this 44:47 or, Lord, you know, whatever this is. 44:49 In some ways, how dare we tell God? 44:52 You know this and you know that, 44:54 why didn't you do this 44:55 as if we know any better than he does. 44:57 You know what I mean? 44:58 But it's really interesting but continuing the story here. 45:02 It says, "Therefore, when Jesus saw her," 45:04 in verse 33, 45:06 "weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, 45:08 He groaned in the spirit and was troubled." 45:10 So Jesus was troubled here. 45:12 "And He said, 'Where have you laid him?' 45:14 They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.' 45:16 Jesus wept." 45:17 The shortest verse in the Bible. 45:19 Jesus wept, there it is, folks. 45:21 "Then the Jew said, 'See how He loved him!' 45:24 And some of them said, 'Could not this Man, 45:27 who opened the eyes of the blind, 45:28 also have kept this man from dying?'" 45:30 So clearly, they knew some of the miracles 45:32 that Jesus had already performed. 45:35 Then it says, "Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, 45:37 came to the tomb. 45:39 It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 45:41 Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' 45:42 Martha, the sister of him who was dead, 45:44 said to Him, 'Lord, by this time there is a stench, 45:48 for he has been dead for four days.'" 45:49 I mean, you look at the crime investigations on TV, 45:52 you know, or any, like doctors, 45:55 if they're just like, one day of somebody dead in the house, 45:58 you already get that smell. 45:59 I mean, just imagine four whole days in a place 46:02 where the sun's beating down on this cave. 46:05 There's no ventilation in there. 46:07 It's hot, it's humid. 46:09 It's probably maggots, 46:10 or who knows what's in there, you know? 46:12 And on top of that, they would wrap the bodies 46:15 in linen and all that type of stuff, 46:17 different clothes to allow that 46:20 natural process of decaying. 46:23 So it says, "Jesus said to her, 'Did I not say to you 46:25 that if you would believe 46:27 you would see the glory of God?'" 46:29 So this is interesting. 46:31 Jesus keeps emphasizing here, belief. 46:34 And how hard is it sometimes for us 46:36 when we're waiting on God to believe? 46:38 Right? Yeah. 46:39 It can be difficult. Definitely. 46:41 I know, sometimes, because we see only in our vision 46:46 so to speak in front of us, right? 46:47 We only see what we can see in front of us. 46:50 And so it can be very difficult to really take that in 46:54 and believe when seemingly everything 46:57 is falling apart around us. 46:59 I mean, he's already dead. He's already dead, yeah. 47:01 Exactly. 47:02 I mean, in that moment, if I was Mary or Martha, 47:05 or anybody for that matter, who was standing, 47:07 you know, at the tomb, I'd be like, believe he's dead. 47:11 What am I believing? Yeah, exactly. 47:13 You know what I mean, to be really honest with you. 47:15 Yeah, yeah. 47:16 So it continues in verse 41, it says, 47:19 "Then they took away the stone from the place 47:21 where the dead man was lying. 47:23 And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, 'Father, 47:24 I thank You that You have heard Me. 47:26 And I know that You always hear Me, 47:28 but because of the people 47:29 who are standing by I said this, 47:32 that they may believe that You sent Me.' 47:34 Now when He had said these things, 47:36 He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!' 47:39 And he who had died came out bound hand 47:42 and foot with grave clothes, 47:43 and his face was wrapped with a cloth. 47:45 Jesus said to them, 'Loose him, and let him go.'" 47:49 It's interesting. 47:51 You know, even Jesus is saying, 47:53 I knew that you always hear me. 47:55 But I said this something kind of people, 47:56 like even Jesus prayed and asked, Father, 47:59 Thy will be done, 48:01 even though even before He died, 48:02 He was like, even if I don't want to die, 48:05 but Lord, you know, Thy will be done. 48:06 Yes, exactly. 48:08 And even here, you know, you always hear me. 48:10 And Jesus prayed. 48:12 You know, people think like, oh, 48:14 you know, Jesus is Jesus, you know? 48:15 He's already God, but even He prayed 48:18 when times were rough, 48:19 and a time was definitely rough here during Lazarus' time. 48:23 And, yeah, it's just an incredible story 48:26 of believing in God 48:27 and just waiting on Him. 48:29 Because God has the right timing 48:31 and it was probably more impactful 48:35 during this time for the people believing in Jesus. 48:38 Exactly. 48:40 That's what Jesus is saying here. 48:41 That's what He says in 41. 48:44 Yeah, starting in 41, "He says, 48:45 'Father, I thank You that You've heard Me. 48:47 And I know that You always hear Me, 48:48 but because of the people 48:50 who are standing by I said this, 48:51 that they may believe that You sent Me.'" 48:54 In other words, Jesus was trying to show the people, 48:56 listen, I am God's Son, like I am the Messiah. 49:02 And what's so interesting on a kind of a side note 49:04 of this is that 49:06 after this happened, it says, here... 49:09 In the Bible, it says, the plot to kill Jesus, 49:11 that's the subtitle of the next verse, 49:13 after Jesus raises Lazarus from dead. 49:16 So, it's like, 49:18 you know, this miraculous thing just happened. 49:21 Jesus just brought Lazarus back from the dead in hopes 49:24 that people would have stronger faith 49:26 and belief in God 49:27 and then their reaction is I'm going to try to kill Jesus. 49:34 It's so interesting. 49:36 And a lot of times how often do we have a reaction? 49:40 We were talking about reaction a little bit, 49:42 how we react to waiting on the Lord. 49:45 It's like, oftentimes, how do we react to, 49:50 you know, say it's something we've been waiting for 49:52 or the answer was no, or something. 49:54 How do we react to God in that? 49:55 Do we bless God's name or do we curse it? 49:59 It's like, it happens to the best of us, 50:03 we're humans, things happen. 50:05 We all get in these moods 50:07 where we don't want to believe in God 50:09 or we don't want to trust God 50:10 or we don't want to wait on God. 50:11 And really this whole story right here is a great example 50:16 that regardless, Jesus is never late. 50:20 Yeah. 50:21 He is never late. Yeah. 50:23 And I think that's something to really take away 50:25 from this story is that 50:26 sometimes we feel in our time, 50:28 He may be late or He's last second, 50:30 but He never is. 50:32 In His timing, He's not. 50:33 You know, you brought up an interesting point. 50:36 Do you think it's wrong? 50:37 And I want to ask you guys this, too. 50:40 Is it wrong to get angry at God? 50:46 Obviously, we can still trust and believe in Him 50:49 but do you think when we get that answer, 50:50 do you think it's wrong to be angry? 50:55 I don't know if I want to answer this. 50:58 Honestly, I think it's okay. 51:03 As long as you know, and you continue to trust God, 51:05 I think it's okay to be angry sometimes. 51:08 You know, like me and my wife. 51:10 Sometimes I don't like the answer, 51:11 like, Honey, can I buy this game? 51:12 No, we don't have it in the budget. 51:14 I'm like, come on. 51:16 You know what I mean? 51:19 I get a little angry sometimes. 51:20 And so, I don't think it's wrong 51:23 to get angry at God, 51:24 as long as you keep trusting and believing 51:27 that something else better is going to happen 51:29 and we just may not see it, 51:31 but in that initial reaction, 51:32 I don't think it's wrong to get angry. 51:34 Well, and I think, you know, the Bible doesn't say 51:37 that anger is a sin. 51:39 No. 51:40 It actually says be angry and sin not. 51:41 Yeah. 51:43 And so, there are situations. 51:44 I mean, look at Jesus in the temple, 51:48 where they were basically making it a place to sell items 51:52 and trade items and all that. 51:54 I think Jesus flipping the table. 51:56 I think He was a little frustrated about that. 51:59 So anger is something that I think is a natural emotion. 52:02 God gave us anger 52:04 that doesn't mean we're sinning though. 52:06 No, no. 52:08 And sometimes I think I would say for me, 52:10 it's not that I'm angry at God, 52:11 but maybe I'm angry at the answer. 52:14 You know, because I know 52:16 even I may be angry at the answer, 52:17 but I can still be aware like, okay, God, 52:20 this must be Your plan, 52:22 this must be what's best for me, 52:24 but I don't like it. 52:25 Right, exactly. 52:27 Yeah. 52:29 That's definitely a good difference. 52:30 Because being angry and then just like leaving the church, 52:33 leaving God altogether and be like that. 52:35 I think that's the wrong answer but being mad at the answer, 52:40 but still saying, God, I still trust in You. 52:42 That's the key. 52:43 And we see that with Mary and Martha. 52:45 Yes. 52:46 They were upset at Jesus for being late. 52:48 You know, they were like, Lord, like they still, 52:51 you know, believed in God and all that, 52:52 but they were angry at the outcome. 52:54 They were like, Lord, he's dead. 52:55 Yeah. You were late, why? 52:57 You know what happened? 52:58 So I think, you know, sometimes, 53:00 you know, I think it can be dangerous 53:04 to get angry at God, 53:05 just because that may lead us down some paths 53:06 we don't want to go down. 53:08 Whether that's leaving the church or even, 53:09 you know, not believing in God anymore, 53:11 or things like that, 53:13 you know, it can be kind of dangerous, 53:16 but I think it's perfectly okay 53:18 if we want to say that to be angry at the outcome, 53:21 but still be aware and trust God, like, okay, God, 53:24 I don't like this. 53:25 I don't like how it turned out but I know 53:27 You're working things for my good. 53:28 Yeah, yeah. 53:30 I feel like sometimes, like how you said, 53:32 she says, no, you're like, but it's, kind of, like 53:36 with a parent, like a kid. 53:37 They're like, mom, can I have this? 53:38 And they're like, No. 53:41 And they're still like, upset, but it doesn't mean 53:43 you stop loving them. 53:44 Yeah. 53:46 So it's like when you feel angry, 53:47 it's like your son might be, 53:49 what happened or the answer, 53:51 but it doesn't mean that you don't, 53:52 you shouldn't stop loving him 53:54 and that's where you draw that boundary and like, 53:56 continuation of love, 53:58 rather than leaving altogether, 53:59 like, I don't want this anymore. 54:01 If you're not gonna give me what I want, 54:02 then I'm gonna leave you and go. 54:05 No, that's a good point. 54:06 I know, we only got a few minutes 54:08 but I also want to bring up one point 54:09 that we were talking about 54:10 because I think this is also a really important point, 54:13 you know, for people waiting on the Lord. 54:17 There are prayers sometimes that we expect God to answer, 54:20 but we're not letting go. 54:22 For example, you know, we were talking like, 54:24 you know, Lord, help me not to smoke 54:26 or help me not to drink. 54:28 But we're still putting ourselves in situations 54:30 where it's way easier to do those things 54:33 or we continue to do it 54:35 and we're waiting on God to fix our problems for us. 54:38 You know, Jamie's bringing up a point 54:40 when we brought this up, 54:41 but sometimes God's waiting for us too. 54:43 Exactly. That's true. 54:45 You know, He's waiting for us to have that open heart, 54:47 that open mind ready to be changed, 54:49 ready to have us trust in Him 54:51 before He can start giving us answers and blessing us. 54:53 Yeah. 54:55 That reminds me of a verse in Revelation 3:21, 54:57 one of my favorite verses. 54:59 It says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." 55:03 God is knocking at our heart's door. 55:06 "If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, 55:09 I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me." 55:13 God is waiting for us 55:15 and sometimes we don't realize that He is. 55:18 I mean, He's obviously standing at the door, 55:20 and He says He's calling out to us. 55:23 So that means it's taken a while 55:25 for someone to get to the door. 55:26 Yeah. 55:28 That's true. 55:29 Yeah. Yeah. 55:31 Surrender is important. Yeah. 55:32 And I believe that the more we grow in Christ, 55:36 and get to know Christ 55:38 and our relationship grow strong with Him 55:39 that it's easier to surrender, but our nature is, 55:42 kind of, to do things ourselves. 55:44 We're focused on ourselves all the time. 55:46 Oh, I need to stop smoking. 55:47 Oh, I can do that. 55:49 A lot of times we, kind of, 55:51 push God to the sides, oh, it's fine. 55:53 I'll just not go to the gas station 55:55 and buy cigarettes, you know, whatever. 55:56 And so, it's like, 55:58 and, you know, I'm not picking on people 55:59 who smoke but I mean, these various, 56:01 you know, things can be that way. 56:03 And so, you know, it is really a beautiful thing. 56:07 I think when we get to let Christ into our hearts, 56:10 we open that door as we say. 56:13 And that what happens is we begin to, 56:16 our hearts begin to soften 56:18 and we begin to surrender those things in our lives. 56:20 Closing verse, 56:21 "We shall mount up with wings like eagles, 56:23 they shall run and be weary, 56:24 they shall walk and not be faint." 56:27 That ties right into our opening verse. 56:29 Yeah. 56:30 We could talk for hours on this topic. 56:32 I know. 56:34 Actually, I may read this one more time. 56:36 Isaiah 40:31, 56:38 it says, "But those who wait on the Lord 56:40 shall renew their strength." 56:42 You said renew could also be grow. 56:43 So we could say grow their strength. 56:46 "They shall mount up with wings like eagles, 56:47 they shall run and not be weary, 56:49 they shall walk and not faint." 56:51 So we know that if we trust in God, 56:55 we wait on God, 56:57 that the outcome typically 56:59 is we're going to be stronger in God. 57:00 We're going to be stronger in believing 57:02 and having faith and all of that. 57:03 So we just implore you today 57:06 to wait on the Lord, trust in the Lord 57:08 and everything will work out for our good, I believe that. 57:12 Well, friends, thank you all for joining us today. 57:13 Thank you for having us, Ben. 57:15 I greatly appreciate it. All right. 57:16 And we'll see you next time. God bless you. |
Revised 2022-02-14