God Can Speak to Us Even In Our Doubts

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This is not an 0:00:57.520 --> 0:00:58.920 offer to buy your self securities sn or is it 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:00.000 investment legal or tax fives. 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:02.240 He'll forget about the video game you gave him on 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:02.840 his birthday. 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:05.039 Wow, thanks Grandpa. 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.280 But He'll never forget how you invested in his future 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:08.280 with the units stapp. 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:10.480 Wow. Thanks Grandpa. 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:13.600 The units stap makes it easy for grandparents and family 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.319 friends to give funds to a child's investment account for 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:18.760 a limited time. Download the uns stap and use the 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:20.840 code I heeart fifty at sign up to receive a 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.400 fifty dollars bonus when you fund your account. That's code 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:26.400 iHeart fifty when you sign up at unest dot co 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.319 for a fifty dollars bonus. See terms and conditions at 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:30.120 UNEs dot co. 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:34.880 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for downloading our podcast. 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:37.959 We enjoy spending this time with you. I hope you'll 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:41.360 leave Inspire. Make sure you subscribe to get new messages 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:44.440 every week. We appreciate your support. It helps keep the 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:45.280 ministry going. 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:57.600 Enjoy the message. 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:01.520 Well, God bless you. It's always a joy to come 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:04.480 into your homes. We love you. We know God has 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:07.280 great things in store. And if you're ever in our area, 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:09.640 I hope you'll stop by and be a part of 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.120 one of our services. I promise you we'll make you 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.200 feel right at home. But thank you so much for 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.480 tuning in. Thanks again for coming out today. I like 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.800 to start with something funny, and I heard about this 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:23.480 man that was very stingy with his money. Just before 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.880 his death, he made his wife promise that she would 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:30.280 have him buried with the fifty thousand dollars he had saved. 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:34.480 The wife reluctantly agreed. At the funeral, just before they 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:37.720 closed the casket, she slipped in a small wooden box. 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:41.320 Her friend said, surely you didn't just bury the money, 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:44.000 did you. The wife said, of course I did. I'm 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:47.239 a Christian. I can't lie. I promised him I would 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:49.400 do it, So I did it. She said, you mean 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:52.959 you just buried fifty thousand dollars. The wife said, yes, 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:54.480 I did. I wrote a check. 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.840 Hold up your Bible, say it like you mean it. This, 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.799 this says my Bible. I am what it says I am. 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:05.800 I have what it says I have. I can do 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:08.480 what it says I can do. Today I will be 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:12.560 taught the word of God. I boldly confess. My mind 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.080 is alert, my heart is receptive. I will never be 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:19.440 the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:23.280 I want to talk to you today about how God 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:27.840 can speak to us even in our doubts. Sometimes we 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:31.360 think we're supposed to have a perfect faith, where we 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:35.480 never doubt, we never have a question, we never get discouraged, 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:38.920 we never wonder why something has happened. If we waver 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.760 at all, something must be wrong with us. Surely God 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.320 couldn't do anything. I talked to a gentleman that had 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:49.080 worked for a company for thirty six years. He was 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.520 in the banking industry, just a few months from retirement, 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:57.440 and the bank soul. The new owners restructured everything to 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:00.880 where they didn't need his position anymore. He not only 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.160 lost his job, but he lost all of his retirement 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:08.600 all of his benefits. He's in his late fifties. He said, Joel, 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:13.040 I just don't understand how God could let this happen 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:15.840 to me. Of course, I went into my two minute 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:18.720 pep talk about how God is in control and he's 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:21.839 going to open up another door. Then he said something 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:25.120 that stuck with me. He said, I want to believe. 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:29.520 I just wish I didn't have all these doubts. He 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:33.000 said it almost like he was apologizing, like he felt 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.320 so badly for thinking that way. Here's what I want 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:40.520 to tell you. It's okay to have questions. It's okay 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:45.240 to wonder why something has happened. God doesn't expect us 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:49.320 to be mister and missus super believer that never has 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:53.599 a doubt, never gets discouraged, never has a question that's 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:58.520 not reality. I heard somebody say the presence of faith 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:03.160 doesn't mean the absence of doubt. In other words, we 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.680 may have doubt up here in our head, in our thinking, 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:10.680 but down here in our hearts, where it counts, we 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.719 know God is still in control. We know God is 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:17.600 good even though something bad may have happened. Now I 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:21.520 want to take the pressure off. God understands what it's 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.800 like to be wronged. He knows what it's like to 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.280 have someone walk out of a relationship. He knows how 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:31.520 it feels to pray and pray, but your loved one 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:35.279 didn't make it. And God doesn't right us off and say, 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:38.760 look at them, they're down, they're doubting. I thought they 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:42.719 trusted me. See if I ever do anything for them. No, 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:46.280 it's just the opposite. God is moved by our faith, 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:51.000 but sometimes it's our doubt that will actually draw God 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:54.839 to us. When Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:57.919 to Mary and Martha at the garden tomb. He said 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:02.159 go tell my disciples. Quickly got out that Jesus was alive. 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:07.080 Everyone was so excited. There was great joy among all 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:12.239 the disciples. All that is, except one person. Thomas said, 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:16.520 Wait a minute, guys, I'm a believer. I love Jesus. 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.240 I know he promised that he would come back to life. Yes, 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.560 I understand those women said that they've seen him. But 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:27.719 unless I see him with my own eyes, unless I 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:31.119 feel the nail prints in his hands, unless I touched 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.919 the scars in his side, that I'm not going to 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:38.120 believe here. Thomas had spent just as much time with 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.760 Jesus as the other believers. You might say. He grew 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:45.120 up in church, he went to vacation Bible school, he 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.839 knew all the scriptures. Deep down, he wanted to believe, 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.479 but in his mind it was filled with doubts. A 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:56.000 few days later, the disciples were in a room together. 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:00.279 All of a sudden, Jesus came walking through the door. 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.479 They thought it was a ghost, and soon they recognized 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:08.360 it was Jesus. What's interesting is Jesus didn't go over 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.600 to Peter and say hello. He didn't go over to 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:14.600 Matthew and give him a big hug. He didn't go 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:17.000 over to John and say, hey, I'm back. It's great 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:21.960 to see you. Know, Jesus headed straight toward Thomas. He 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:25.240 didn't go to the people that had faith. He went 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.800 to the one disciple that had doubt. He looked him 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:31.720 in the eyes and said, Thomas, I've heard what you've 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:36.000 said about me. I've heard you don't believe, you have questions, 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.880 you have doubts, and you know what, Thomas, that's okay. 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.920 That's why I've come to you first. Now feel the 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.840 nail prints in my hands, touch the scars on my side. 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:51.480 Be assured of this, Thomas. I'm a faithful God, and 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.440 I will do what I've promised. What am I say? 0:07:56.280 --> 0:08:01.560 Our doubts don't drive God away. He doesn't write us 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:05.880 off and close the door. God is so merciful. Those 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:10.240 doubts can actually draw God to us. When we go 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:15.080 through things we don't understand. Somebody does us wrong. We prayed, 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.000 and our loved one didn't make it. Our child is 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.400 born with special needs. So often we think we're supposed 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:26.880 to be superman, superwoman and never shed a tear, never 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:31.520 get discouraged, never have a doubt. That's not true. It's okay. 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:35.680 To say, God, I prayed and it didn't work out. God, 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:39.600 I don't understand it. I'm hurting. I have these doubts. 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:44.600 I'm wondering where you are. The scripture says God is 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:49.920 touched by the feelings of our infirmities. That means when 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:54.679 you hurt, God hurts. When you're disappointed, God feels your 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:59.319 pain when you're discouraged. God knows what it's like. He's 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:03.040 been there. When Jesus was in the garden of Gsimone 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:07.199 about to be crucified, he was so depressed that he 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:11.680 swept great drops of blood on the cross. He cried out, 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:17.640 my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Even Jesus, 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.520 the son of God, a man that never sinned, a 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:25.600 man that had perfect faith, he even got so discouraged 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:30.840 and so despondent that he questioned his father. God didn't say, Jesus, 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:33.480 you know I haven't forsaken you. You know I'm still 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:35.880 on the throne. You know you're going to rise again. 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.280 Now you need to quit thinking like that. No. God 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.800 knew that he was human. God knew that he had feelings, 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:46.600 he had emotions. In the same way, it's okay to 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:50.720 feel disappointed it's okay to say, God, I feel like 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:54.080 you forsaken me. I don't know where you are. I 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.080 want to believe, but God, I have all these doubts. 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.720 God is more pleased when we we are open and honest, 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:06.320 and we come before him even with our doubts, our questions, 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:10.240 the things we don't understand. He'll respond to that quicker 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:13.280 than when we try to hide all these things that 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.120 he already knows, and we try to act like we're 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:20.000 this perfect display of faith that's never been discouraged, never 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:23.440 had a doubt, never had a question. When Jesus was 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:26.559 on his way to be crucified, they made him carry 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:29.920 his own cross. He had been so beaten down and 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:34.080 so mistreated he couldn't carry it the whole way. He 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:37.960 fell down under the weight of his cross. Don't you 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:41.640 know God could have strengthened him to finish the journey. 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:45.160 God could have given him a second wind, so he 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:48.920 wouldn't have fallen down and looked weak and defeated. Now 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:52.640 God was sending this message, you don't have to be 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:56.800 strong one hundred percent of the time. It's okay to 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:00.240 fall down. It's okay to have a doubt, it's to 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:04.400 say God, I can't take this anymore. Sometimes the cross 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:08.240 we're carrying can get heavy. We think I can't raise 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.800 this child, I can't stay in this marriage, I can't 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:16.319 deal with this legal situation another day, And those accusing 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:20.160 voices will come and try to convince us that if 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:23.359 we've ever had a doubt, if we've ever gotten discouraged, 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:26.600 if we've ever fallen, then God's not going to do 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:29.959 anything for you. Man. Look, you're weak, you're on the ground. 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.640 You're letting life get the best of you. No. Always remember, 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.959 even Jesus couldn't carry the weight of his own cross. 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:42.480 Notice what happened when he fell down. God didn't leave 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:45.640 him there. God didn't say too bad, Jesus, you should 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.400 have had more faith. I told you not to doubt me. No, 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:52.800 God immediately sent another man across his path by the 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.319 name of Simon, and Simon carried the cross for him. 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:00.240 Here's the point. When you're down, when you have doubt, 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:05.240 when you're discouraged, God will always send somebody to help 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:08.800 you back up, somebody to encourage you, somebody to tell 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.840 you that you're going to make it. It may be 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:16.280 my voice today letting you know that it's okay to fall, 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:21.760 just get back up again. It's okay to have doubts, 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:25.800 just don't stay there. It's ok to be disappointed. Just 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:30.880 realize that disappointment is not the end. It's a new beginning. 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:35.760 God still has something great in your future. Several years ago, 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:39.360 some friends called from another state and they were expecting 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:42.840 their second child and so excited about it. But when 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:46.280 the baby was born, they discovered that she had special 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:49.520 needs and was going to require a lot of extra care. 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:53.760 This couple were strong believers. They had grown up in church, 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:57.520 they knew all the scriptures, but this baby being born 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.960 like that really rocked their faith. They begin to have 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:05.280 these questions and things that they didn't understand, things like 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:08.560 if God loved us so much, how could he let 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.600 this happen. We're good people. Why didn't we have a 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:15.880 healthy baby? They said, Joel, we want to believe, we 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.600 know the right thing, but we're so disappointed. We're hurting 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:24.520 so badly. We're wondering where God is. They were expecting 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:27.880 some great explanation from me, but I told them just 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:31.320 what I'm telling you. It's okay to feel disappointed. It's 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:36.120 okay to have questions. Faith is not about hiding everything 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:40.480 and trying to act like we're superhuman. Faith is about 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:44.439 being real, like Jesus on the cross. There's nothing wrong 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:48.480 with saying, God, why have you forsaken me? God? I'm heartbroken, 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:52.480 I'm lonely. God, I don't understand why this has happened. 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.880 When you are real with God and you're honest enough 0:13:56.920 --> 0:14:01.079 to even express your doubts, those doubts will not drive 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.400 God away. It'll do just the opposite. It'll draw God 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:05.199 closer to you. 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:06.120 Now. 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:09.000 I went on to tell this couple that baby being 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:12.360 born to your family is not a mistake. It's not 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:16.840 an accident. God chose you because He trusted you to 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:21.000 raise this child. She has special needs, but God knows 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.920 you have special gifts. She's going to take extraordinary care, 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:28.520 but God knows both of you are extraordinary people. You're 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:32.080 not being punished. God is not telling you you've done 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:35.680 something wrong. No, this is just another chapter in your 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:40.200 life that God has already equipped you for. And sometimes 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:44.360 on the way to our divine destiny, the weight of 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.760 the cross gets so heavy that we fall down. We 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:51.680 don't know why somebody walked out of a relationship for 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.120 like a man I mentioned why he got laid off 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:58.880 so close to retirement, or why we prayed and prayed 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:01.760 but our loved one didn't make it. You may have 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:06.000 questions things you don't understand. You wonder where God is. 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.760 But the good news is God is not just with 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.520 us in our times of faith, but He is with 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:16.040 us even in our times of doubt. He is not 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.840 a fair, weathered God there for us when we're perfect, 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.280 and gone when we're not. He doesn't just speak to 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:26.600 us when we're on the mountaintop singing you are good, 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:31.480 reading your best life Now. No, God says, I'll speak 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.160 to you just as much when you're alone and discouraged. 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:38.600 I'll talk to you when you're upset and you feel 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:42.640 like I've left you. I'll show up not just because 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:46.480 of your faith, but I'm so merciful, I'll even show 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:49.400 up because of your doubt. I want us to take 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:52.960 the pressure off. We don't have to go around acting 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:55.680 like we've got it all figured out. We never have 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.640 a doubt, we never think a wrong thought, we never 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:04.240 get discouraged. No, even Jesus fell down. Even Jesus said, God, 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:06.560 I don't want to go this route. Let me go 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:10.240 another way. God, why have you forsaken me? What am 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:13.280 I doing up here on the cross? In other words, God, 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:16.720 why did this situation not work out? God? Why did 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:20.240 these people treat me wrong? It's okay to be human 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:23.640 because that doubt is not in your heart. It's up 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:27.480 here in your head. And God has the amazing ability 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.640 to look past the doubt and to see the faith 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:34.520 that's on the inside. For some people, that doubt is 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:38.440 a mile high. They've had things happen. They don't understand 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:42.120 things that were not fair. Maybe they weren't raised in 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.160 a believing environment. But I love this. It says that 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:49.560 God has put a measure of faith on the inside 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:53.560 of every person. That means people that don't give God 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:57.800 the time of day, they don't believe, they're cynical. They 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.480 look like they're full of doubt. But what they don't 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:04.919 realize is on the inside, deep down, the creator of 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:09.280 the universe has placed a mustard seed of faith. This 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.840 is why it's so important to never write anybody off. 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:17.800 That person at the office that's sarcastic, makes fun of 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.440 you for going to church, gives you a hard time 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:23.280 for staying on the high road. It may seem like 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:26.679 they are full of doubt. Surely God wouldn't have anything 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:30.720 to do with them. Now, God says, there's another Thomas. 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.040 I'll get to you people full of faith in just 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:36.399 a moment. Right now, I'm going after them. It doesn't 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:40.640 always make sense to our theology, but sometimes God will 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:43.760 bypass the people of faith so he can go after 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:47.320 one person that's filled with doubt. I had a lady 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.440 tell me how her whole life she had been an atheist. 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:54.640 She didn't believe in God, wasn't raised in a religious environment, 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.800 really didn't even give God the time of day. But 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:01.600 one morning, her daughter, she was in her early twenties, 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:05.879 was involved in a serious car accident. This mother rushed 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:10.160 to the hospital. So stressed and so worried she got 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:12.919 the news that her daughter probably would not make it. 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:16.160 She stayed by her side day after day, wouldn't leave 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:20.640 the hospital. Unfortunately, the doctors told her that the injuries 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:24.320 were too great and her daughter had died. She drove home, 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.280 pulled in the garage. While she was still sitting in 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:31.840 her car, she screamed out to the top of her lungs. God, 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:36.680 I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. She said. 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:40.840 She heard a voice. It was the kindest, most gentle 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:44.919 voice you could ever imagine. It said, that was the 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:48.040 first time you've ever spoken to me, and I want 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:51.720 to tell you how much I loved you. She said, 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.520 I never believed in God before, but at that moment, 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.800 there was no doubt in my mind that God was real. 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:02.760 I felt a that I never felt before. I knew 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:06.000 it was the presence of the creator of the universe. 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:11.600 That was God looking beyond years and years of doubt 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.600 to that one small seed of faith. We all know 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:18.480 that God is moved by our faith. That's the best 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:22.040 place to live. But what I'm saying today is God 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:25.720 can even be moved by our doubt. In those times 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:29.639 that we don't understand it, we have questions, we feel 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:33.159 alone and abandoned. That's when God has a way of 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:37.200 showing up and doing something amazing in our life. That's 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:39.880 just what happened to Thomas in the midst of all 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:44.959 those believers. Jesus went to Thomas first, the one doubter, 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.560 and said, Thomas, take a look at my nailed, scarred hands. 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:53.000 The reason Jesus shows up in those times of doubt 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:57.040 is so that our faith will be restored. He could 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.080 have said to that lady. Too bad. That's what you 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:01.880 you get for not giving me the time of day. 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:05.560 Scream all you want to. It's payback time. No, God 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:09.040 is full of mercy. He knows what it's like to 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:13.240 lose a child. He lost his only son. And God 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:16.840 is not in the business of giving us what we deserve. 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:20.480 If that was the case, Thomas wouldn't have had a chance, 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:23.160 or he wouldn't have let this lady feel his love. 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:27.680 God is in the business of restoring our faith. He's 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:30.800 in the business of getting us back on track so 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:35.920 we can live as a believer and experience his abundant life. 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:39.080 And some of you today you have questions, things that 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:42.159 you don't understand, and you feel badly because you're not 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:45.120 in faith one hundred percent of the time. But God 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:49.439 is saying that's okay. You're a human. You don't have 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:53.280 to have a perfect faith. There's nothing wrong with saying God, 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:58.520 I just don't understand it. Like Thomas, those questions that 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:02.600 seemingly doubt is not going to keep God away. It's 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.480 going to draw God to you. He is not going 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:10.480 to leave you wondering, confused, discouraged. He's going to show 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:14.520 up so that your faith will be restored. I heard 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:17.800 Jensen Franklin tell something that happened to him. Jensen is 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:21.040 a good friend and a great minister. He's the pastor 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:25.280 of Free Chapel in Atlanta. When his daughters were much younger, 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:28.280 he and his wife Charise decided to go to Sea 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:31.960 World in Florida. He had already made arrangements to leave 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:35.040 on Monday and they would be at the park on Tuesday, 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:38.920 but for some reason, Cherise really wanted to leave Sunday 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:42.520 after church. Jensen said, well, I've already made the flight 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:46.199 reservations and the hotel reservations. I'd have to change everything. 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:49.760 She felt so strongly about it. He made the changes. 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:52.960 They left Sunday and went to the park on Monday 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:56.520 instead of Tuesday, and at one point they were at 0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:59.760 this outdoor arena waiting for the dolphins show to begin. 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:03.520 It's a perfectly beautiful sunny day. All of a sudden, 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:07.160 out of nowhere, there was this huge clap of thunder. 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:11.400 It was so loud everyone practically jumped out of their seats, 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:14.119 and a few moments before they knew it, it was 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:18.040 pouring down rain and lightning like nothing they'd ever imagined 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:21.639 of course, everyone ran for cover. While they were underneath 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:26.160 the bleachers, there was another very loud clap of thunder. 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:30.600 Jensen and Cherisa's little three year old daughter got very scared, 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:34.159 and instead of turning to their parents, she ran to 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:37.040 a twenty five year old girl that they had never 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:40.199 seen before about fifteen feet away, and gave her a 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:43.480 big hug and held on to her and wouldn't let 0:22:43.480 --> 0:22:46.800 her go. Jensen and Cherise looked at each other. It 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:49.680 was the strangest thing. They didn't know who the young 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:54.160 lady was and why their daughter would be drawn to her. Normally, 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:56.960 their daughter would never go to a stranger like that. 0:22:57.600 --> 0:23:00.439 They went over very politely and tried to get the 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:03.880 daughter away, but she just wouldn't let go. The young 0:23:03.960 --> 0:23:08.240 lady begin weeping. Her parents were there. They started weeping 0:23:08.320 --> 0:23:12.240 as well. Come to find out that young lady had 0:23:12.280 --> 0:23:15.240 a three year old daughter that was born with congestive 0:23:15.320 --> 0:23:19.639 heart failure, and just six weeks earlier her daughter had died. 0:23:20.359 --> 0:23:22.160 She had not been out of the house in those 0:23:22.200 --> 0:23:26.400 six weeks because she was so depressed. That day, her 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:30.040 parents talked her into going to the park. She said, later, 0:23:30.320 --> 0:23:33.440 when your little daughter was hugging me. The whole time, 0:23:33.760 --> 0:23:37.439 I could feel healing being poured into me. God was 0:23:37.520 --> 0:23:39.920 letting me know that my little girl is up there 0:23:39.920 --> 0:23:42.560 in heaven and I can move forward with my life. 0:23:44.600 --> 0:23:48.520 That was God speaking to her, not in her faith, 0:23:49.040 --> 0:23:52.040 but in her doubts. You know what Jensen's little three 0:23:52.119 --> 0:23:55.440 year old daughter was. She was a simon helping her 0:23:55.480 --> 0:23:59.520 to carry her cross. Sometimes God knows we go through 0:23:59.560 --> 0:24:03.520 things we don't understand in our mind. In our head, 0:24:03.600 --> 0:24:06.600 we think, God, how could this happen? God, where are you? 0:24:07.359 --> 0:24:10.720 But in our hearts, God can see those seeds of 0:24:10.800 --> 0:24:14.520 faith that he's planted on the inside. Like this young lady. 0:24:14.880 --> 0:24:19.240 God will never abandon us. He'll never say we're too bad. 0:24:19.320 --> 0:24:22.000 You should be stronger, you should have more faith. No, 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:26.000 God will always show up and help to restore our faith. 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:30.560 In those difficult times we're like Jesus, the cross is 0:24:30.640 --> 0:24:34.720 so heavy that we fall down, Or like Thomas, we 0:24:34.760 --> 0:24:37.320 want to believe, we just can't until we see it 0:24:37.359 --> 0:24:40.480 with our own eyes, or like this young lady, we're 0:24:40.520 --> 0:24:42.760 so discouraged we don't even want to leave the house. 0:24:43.520 --> 0:24:47.040 You can rest assured you are not alone. The God 0:24:47.119 --> 0:24:50.520 we serve doesn't just show up in our times of faith. 0:24:51.040 --> 0:24:54.520 He even shows up in our times of doubt. I 0:24:54.600 --> 0:24:58.800 remember my father for more than forty years, he preached 0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:02.120 to people about how God could heal you. He saw 0:25:02.160 --> 0:25:06.000 my sister Lisa healed of something like cerebral palsy, a 0:25:06.000 --> 0:25:08.960 birth injury, and of course he saw my mother healed 0:25:09.000 --> 0:25:12.000 in nineteen eighty one of terminal cancer. And he prayed 0:25:12.000 --> 0:25:15.720 for many other people and saw God do amazing things. 0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:20.160 But one thing my father never fully understood. In spite 0:25:20.200 --> 0:25:24.160 of all those other people being healed, his whole life, 0:25:24.560 --> 0:25:28.119 he struggled with high blood pressure. In fact, that's what 0:25:28.280 --> 0:25:31.040 caused his kidneys eventually to fail, where he had to 0:25:31.080 --> 0:25:34.520 go on dialysis. And there were times he thought, God, 0:25:34.600 --> 0:25:37.359 you're doing it for everybody else, why don't you do 0:25:37.400 --> 0:25:40.680 it for me? God, this doesn't seem fair. Where are 0:25:40.720 --> 0:25:44.399 you when I need you? There were times those thoughts 0:25:44.400 --> 0:25:47.480 of doubt came and tried to keep him from moving forward. 0:25:48.119 --> 0:25:51.240 My father was very open and honest. He never tried 0:25:51.240 --> 0:25:53.880 to hide anything. Now I love the way he finished 0:25:53.880 --> 0:25:57.040 his life. He was seventy seven years old and he 0:25:57.080 --> 0:25:59.720 couldn't sleep. One night, he was sitting up in his 0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:03.600 rooks around midnight, he called my brother in law Gary 0:26:03.720 --> 0:26:05.560 to see if he'd come over and visit with him, 0:26:05.600 --> 0:26:08.520 and they talked for a couple of hours, and at 0:26:08.520 --> 0:26:11.960 one point Gary asked about suffering and what he was 0:26:12.000 --> 0:26:14.440 going through and where is God and all of this. 0:26:15.080 --> 0:26:18.439 My father said, Gary, I don't understand it all. I 0:26:18.520 --> 0:26:22.159 have plenty of questions, but one thing I know is 0:26:22.240 --> 0:26:27.560 God's mercy enders forever. He took one more breath, laid 0:26:27.600 --> 0:26:30.000 back his head, and went to be with the Lord. 0:26:30.520 --> 0:26:34.000 The last words he ever spoke were his mercy endoers forever. 0:26:34.600 --> 0:26:38.000 But my father could have thought, I've been a pastor 0:26:38.160 --> 0:26:42.200 all these years. I can't admit that I have questions, 0:26:42.400 --> 0:26:44.280 that I have doubts, that I have things that I 0:26:44.280 --> 0:26:48.720 don't understand. Nor my father was real. God is not 0:26:48.880 --> 0:26:52.600 looking for mister super believer that has an answer to 0:26:52.640 --> 0:26:55.960 every question and that never wonders why something has happened. 0:26:56.480 --> 0:26:59.640 He's not looking for missus super believer that never gets 0:26:59.640 --> 0:27:03.680 to discos, always acts like everything's okay, tries to hide 0:27:03.680 --> 0:27:07.879 every doubt, every question. Now, God is looking for people 0:27:07.920 --> 0:27:11.199 that are open and honest enough to say God, I 0:27:11.320 --> 0:27:15.000 don't understand this, Lord, I want to believe, but I 0:27:15.080 --> 0:27:17.320 have these doubts. God, I'm asking you to help me. 0:27:18.119 --> 0:27:21.680 If we will have that kind of attitude, then like Thomas, 0:27:22.040 --> 0:27:25.520 God will search you out and come restore your faith. 0:27:26.280 --> 0:27:29.000 Why don't you take the pressure off. Some of you 0:27:29.040 --> 0:27:32.040 are beating yourself up because you had a down week. 0:27:32.400 --> 0:27:35.879 You got discouraged. You said, God, I can't take it anymore. Listen, 0:27:36.119 --> 0:27:39.119 God knows what you're going through. He can feel the 0:27:39.160 --> 0:27:43.040 weight of what you're carrying. He's saying today, I'm right 0:27:43.080 --> 0:27:46.000 there with you. You're going to make it. You're not 0:27:46.080 --> 0:27:48.680 only gonna come out, you're gonna come out better off 0:27:48.720 --> 0:27:53.960 than you were before. Be encouraged today. The God we 0:27:54.080 --> 0:27:57.959 serve is not just with us in our times of faith, 0:27:58.480 --> 0:28:02.080 but he's even with us are times of doubt. Some 0:28:02.160 --> 0:28:04.359 of you need to come back to that place of peace. 0:28:04.800 --> 0:28:08.560 You're so down on yourself, thinking that you're not strong enough, 0:28:09.000 --> 0:28:13.160 wondering why you have these questions. No, remember, the presence 0:28:13.200 --> 0:28:17.000 of faith doesn't mean the absence of doubt. You don't 0:28:17.000 --> 0:28:19.680 have to have a perfect faith in order for God 0:28:19.720 --> 0:28:23.560 to do something great in your life. Besides, that doubt 0:28:23.640 --> 0:28:26.480 is not in your heart, it's in your head. And 0:28:26.560 --> 0:28:28.919 God is looking down here at your heart. And what 0:28:28.960 --> 0:28:32.560 I'm saying today is it's okay to have questions. It's 0:28:32.600 --> 0:28:35.800 okay to say God, I don't understand it. It's okay 0:28:35.920 --> 0:28:38.800 to not be strong one hundred percent of the time. 0:28:39.200 --> 0:28:42.640 If you'll give yourself permission to not have a perfect 0:28:42.640 --> 0:28:46.680 faith and not feel bad if you have questions, some doubts, 0:28:46.760 --> 0:28:49.680 some things you don't understand, then you will feel a 0:28:49.720 --> 0:28:53.240 freedom that you haven't felt before, that weight of feeling 0:28:53.280 --> 0:28:55.480 like God is not pleased with me. I'm just not 0:28:55.600 --> 0:28:58.600 strong enough. I'm not measuring up. That'll lift off of you. 0:28:59.000 --> 0:29:01.360 And what God did for Thomas, he'll do for you 0:29:01.720 --> 0:29:04.840 in those times of doubt. Instead of running from you, 0:29:05.240 --> 0:29:08.680 God will come running to you. He's promised he will 0:29:08.720 --> 0:29:12.000 restore your faith so that you can move forward and 0:29:12.080 --> 0:29:15.240 become everything He's created you to be and have everything 0:29:15.320 --> 0:29:17.520 He's intended for you to have. Amen. Do you receive 0:29:17.600 --> 0:29:22.440 that today? Well? We never like to close our broadcast 0:29:22.640 --> 0:29:25.520 without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the lord 0:29:25.560 --> 0:29:29.520 of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord, Jesus, 0:29:30.480 --> 0:29:35.280 I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I 0:29:35.440 --> 0:29:38.960 make you my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed 0:29:38.960 --> 0:29:41.960 that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get 0:29:41.960 --> 0:29:45.120 in a good Bible based church. Keep God first place. 0:29:45.360 --> 0:29:47.920 He's going to take your places that you've never dreamed of. 0:29:48.640 --> 0:29:52.080 Thank you for listening to the Jolus Deine podcast. Help 0:29:52.160 --> 0:29:54.920 us continue to share the message of hope with those 0:29:55.000 --> 0:29:58.600 all over the world. Visit Jolus dein dot com slash 0:29:58.680 --> 0:30:00.680 give Hope to give a GA today. 0:30:01.960 --> 0:30:04.880 Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope 0:30:04.880 --> 0:30:08.240 you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast to 0:30:08.320 --> 0:30:11.520 keep you inspired all through the week. We're praying for you. 0:30:11.720 --> 0:30:14.160 I know God's best is still ahead. We'll see you 0:30:14.240 --> 0:30:14.800 next time. 0:30:23.280 --> 0:30:25.800 More than ever before, people are turning to the church 0:30:25.840 --> 0:30:29.400 for their mental health struggles. 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