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Waiting On My Miracle (Holly Furtick)
Steven FurtickAbout this sermon
He is with you in the waiting. In “Waiting On My Miracle,” Holly Furtick reveals how to find God’s grace, even in the face of unanswered prayers. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfr See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Source: Steven Furtick
Transcript
0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:06.640 Mark chapter five, verse twenty one. When Jesus had again 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.280 crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:12.520 A large crowd gathered around him while he was by 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.960 the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders named Jyrus came, 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:19.440 and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:23.720 He pleaded earnestly with him. My little girl is dying. 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:28.639 Please come put your hands on her so that she 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:36.600 will be healed and live. Let's pray. Lord, we come 0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:39.519 to you this morning. We come here just want to 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:43.600 say you're worthy. God, if you never do another thing 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:48.760 in our lives. Lord, you're worthy. You're holy, and we 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:53.040 worship you. And we come together today and we ask 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:57.640 that you would speak to us. We're gathered here in 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:03.400 many rooms, in many homes, expecting to hear from you. 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:07.880 We want to touch fr
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0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:06.640 Mark chapter five, verse twenty one. When Jesus had again 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.280 crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:12.520 A large crowd gathered around him while he was by 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.960 the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders named Jyrus came, 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:19.440 and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:23.720 He pleaded earnestly with him. My little girl is dying. 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:28.639 Please come put your hands on her so that she 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:36.600 will be healed and live. Let's pray. Lord, we come 0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:39.519 to you this morning. We come here just want to 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:43.600 say you're worthy. God, if you never do another thing 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:48.760 in our lives. Lord, you're worthy. You're holy, and we 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:53.040 worship you. And we come together today and we ask 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:57.640 that you would speak to us. We're gathered here in 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:03.400 many rooms, in many homes, expecting to hear from you. 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:07.880 We want to touch from you today. God. Would you 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:13.000 protect us from any distractions now as we focus our 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:18.039 minds and our hearts and our attention on you. We 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:22.440 love you, Lord and Jesus name. I pray Amen, you 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:30.640 may be seated. Does anyone remember a time when you 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:36.360 wanted something really bad and someone else got it. I 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:39.800 remember the Christmas that I was twelve and my neighbor 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.000 Tricia got the thing that I wanted most in the world. 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:48.040 She got her own telephone line in her bedroom, complete 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:51.040 with an answering machine. Now I know half of you 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:53.400 here today don't know even what that would look like, 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.480 but I knew exactly. I can remember exactly what it 0:01:56.520 --> 0:02:02.640 looked like. And it's hard to watch someone else get 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:07.760 the thing that you want. I wish I could say 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:09.880 that that was the last time that I felt like 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:14.080 someone got what I wanted. One time, Stephen and I 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.880 were trying to sell our house during a buyer's market. 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.480 It was two thousand and nine and pretty much no 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:24.280 one's houses were selling, and so I was really nervous 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:27.040 about it, and I just prayed constantly, God, would you 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:30.880 sell our house? But what I did was I was 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:37.880 praying mature, unselfish prayers, like God, you know exactly who 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:42.160 needs this house, would you send them this way in 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:49.840 your perfect timing this weekend. Well months went by, we 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:52.359 didn't have an offer or a bite or anything. And 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:54.920 one morning I was at my women's Bible study and 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:56.800 one of the ladies, a friend of mine, she had 0:02:56.840 --> 0:03:01.000 a prayer request and she said, y'all, we're putting our 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:04.320 house on the market this weekend and we're going out 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:06.919 of town and I've got it all stage perfectly, So 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:12.720 would y'all just pray that it sells this weekend? And 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:17.720 I thought to myself, well, good luck with that. You 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:22.360 know my opinion, God doesn't hear prayers about houses. I've 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:26.440 tried that one. And so we come back to group 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:33.200 the following week. Guess who had a praise report? Her 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:36.800 house sold in one weekend and I went home and 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:41.320 I had some words to say with God. I was like, Lord, 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:48.280 I am a pastor's wife, and now I do know 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:51.280 that her house is in a better location than mine, 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:54.080 But don't I get bonus points for being in the ministry? 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:58.600 And for that matter, I have been waiting longer than her. God, 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.800 do we even care about the people who need our house. 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:07.280 It's hard to watch someone else get the very thing 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:10.720 that you have been asking God for. And that's what 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:12.440 I want to talk to you about today. The title 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:18.400 of my message is Waiting on My Miracle, and I 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.680 want to talk to you about when you are believing 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:25.720 God for something in your life and it seems like 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:30.120 God isn't hearing your prayer, or that maybe he's even 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:35.599 just pressed pause on your situation. And in our scripture, 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:39.520 we have this father named Gyris, and he has a 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:45.560 lot bigger problem than his house selling. His little daughter 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:51.600 is dying. He is a father in desperation and he's 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:55.520 running out of time. It's funny what a dad will 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:58.560 do for his kids. I always found that Stephen was 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:03.040 way more sympathetic to are kids then. I was like, 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.600 you know, whenever they would have some kind of injury, 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:08.920 they'd bump their head or whatever, and they'd come to me. 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.359 I would always downplay it. I feel like, you're fine, 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:15.520 go play it's all right. Very quickly, my children learn 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:20.080 who to go to for sympathy, their father, because he 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:23.800 made up this thing. Every time they would come to him, 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:28.640 he would say, Oh, you hate your head? Did you 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:32.800 know I went to head school? Oh you hurt your finger? 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:37.000 Let me see, did you know I went to finger school? 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.680 Back me up. This man went to paper cut school, 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:45.800 stub toe school, skin me school. And I used to 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:48.920 think they really believed him too. And I used to think, 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:51.760 God help this man if his kids ever really get hurt. 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.719 You know, dads have this tough exterior, but when their 0:05:55.880 --> 0:06:01.000 child is hurting, they want to alleviate their pain. So 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:03.760 in our story we have Gyros. He's a synagogue leader, 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:08.000 he's a man of means, and yet his daughter is dying. 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:10.919 And we can assume that he has tried every doctor, 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:15.480 that he has tried, every concoction that every neighbor has suggested, 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:19.800 and nothing is working, and he is running out of time. 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:24.200 And so he comes in. He finds Jesus and he 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:27.120 falls at his feet and he begs. He says, please 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:30.000 come put your hands on her, so that she will 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.240 be healed and lived. And you know what Jesus says 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:36.120 to him, He says, let's go. It's interesting to me 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:41.880 how specific Gyros was with his request. He says, please 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:45.400 come put your hands on her, so that she will 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:50.560 be healed and live. And as I was preparing this message, 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:55.560 I was thinking, it's not necessarily a bad thing to 0:06:55.800 --> 0:07:00.159 be specific with God. Philippians four tells us that we 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:05.280 can present our requests to God. He wants you to 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:10.280 pray about everything, even the dumb stuff like the houses 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:13.200 and the little things. He wants you to come to him. 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:15.720 He wants to have a relationship with you. But I 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:18.920 think sometimes, at least in my life, I don't know 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:22.520 about yours. But in my life, I let the list 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:27.720 my expectation of the how I want God to work 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.880 in my situation and the when I think He needs 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.200 to work in my situation. I let that become front 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:38.559 and center, and I miss out on the more important part, 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:46.720 which is that Jesus is with me. Jesus went with Jyris. 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.600 And God is not this magic fairy in the sky 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:55.320 who waves his wand and grants our wishes. But you 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:59.640 know what, he is a very present help in times 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:04.720 of trouble. And if we pray believing that God is 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:08.000 working all things for our good, we have to realize 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.960 that He is doing so much more than just sitting 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:16.120 up in heaven deciding if and when he's gonna grant 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:19.240 our request. Yes, he is healer, but you know what 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:23.120 else he is. He's the Prince of peace, He's the comforter, 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:28.520 he's our guide, he's faithful, and he's so much more. 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:31.880 He is a God who is with us in our 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:42.200 very darkest hour Verse twenty four. So Jesus went with him. 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.760 A large crowd followed and pressed around him, And a 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:51.120 woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:54.080 twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.920 care of many doctors and had spent all she had. 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:00.480 Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.600 heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:06.320 crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, if I 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:10.679 just touch his clothes, I will be healed. Immediately, her 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.679 bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:17.679 was freed from her suffering. And at once Jesus realized 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:19.600 that the power had gone out from him, and he 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.079 turned around in the crowd and he asked, who touched 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.680 my clothes? You see all the people crowding against you. 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.600 His disciples answered, and yet you asked who touched me? 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:32.600 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:35.560 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.360 and fell at his feet, and, trembling with fear, told 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:42.480 him the whole truth. He said to her, daughter, your 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:46.200 faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:51.000 from your suffering. Okay, so there are so many things 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:54.520 happening in this part of the story. And if you 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:56.680 have never I have to put paws on this and 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:58.840 just say, if you have never heard Stephen's message on 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:02.360 this woman where he tells us that this is the 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:06.160 only person in the entire Bible that Jesus called daughter. 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:09.560 I just have to say, put that on your to 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:11.880 do list for this week. Go and find that sermon 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:13.920 and listen to it. It It is like a shot of 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.040 encouragement straight to your heart. I promise you you got 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:18.280 to go find it and listen to it. I'm not 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:20.160 going to really talk about the woman because I'm not 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:22.959 going to be able to even remotely touch that the 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:24.520 way that he did. So I'm gonna let you go 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:28.320 listen to that, and we're gonna focus on Gyros. Where 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:32.040 is he in this moment and what is he thinking? 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:35.800 So go with me here. This man is desperate. He's 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:39.760 found Jesus, He's gotten the attention of the Christ, the 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:43.360 Son of God, and Jesus is going with him to 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:46.800 heal his dying daughter and she doesn't have much time left, 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:50.920 and all of a sudden, Jesus stops to heal someone else. 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:55.240 Isn't it funny how there's no line to wait on God, 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:59.000 Like God doesn't use a take a number system. And 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:02.240 this can be really frustrating because often it feels like 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:07.440 God's answering some people's prayers immediately, but mine are going unheard. 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.560 And here we have Gyros and he's making progress. He's 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:15.840 taking the healer to his daughter, and then Jesus stops, 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:22.880 and for ten verses, Gyrus isn't even mentioned. Where did 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:26.960 he go? What is he doing while he's waiting for 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:31.880 his miracle? The Bible doesn't say. Now, I can tell 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:36.520 you what I would have done. I would have had 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:38.480 some words to say with God. I would have said, 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:43.360 excuse me, Jesus, please, we don't have time. My daughter 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:46.480 is dying. You said you would put your hands on 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.559 her and heal her and she would live. Even though 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:52.120 that's what Gyros said, that's not what Jesus said. But sometimes, 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.440 you know, we mix things up, and I would say, please, Jesus, 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.520 we gotta keep moving. You can come back to this woman. 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:04.199 This isn't fair. It's not fair. In my house, there 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:06.400 are a couple of phrases that my children are not 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.720 allowed to say. They're forbidden phrases. Off the top of 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:11.640 my head, there are two. I'm sure there is more. 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:16.199 The first one is I hate you, not allowed to 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:20.520 say that. The second one is that's not fair. First 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:22.679 of all, you're not allowed to say that's not fair, 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:25.320 because life isn't fair, and the sooner you find that out, 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:31.120 the better. Second of all, I am trying my absolute 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:34.480 hardest to do my best for everyone here, So don't 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:39.320 tell me it's not fair. When we come to God 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:44.480 with our it's not fair. We have to remember that 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:50.960 he is our heavenly father, and he is perfect. He's 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:55.600 not doing his best. He knows what is best for us. 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:01.440 And if he doesn't answer my pray when I want 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.800 him to in the time that I think that he should, 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:10.040 I have to trust that he is a good father 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:14.760 and he is with me, and he will not fail me. 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:21.079 Let me show you where Gyrus was, because sometimes when 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.440 you read the Bible, you have to look at the 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:27.280 clues and draw some conclusions. So let me show you 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:29.600 some of the clues. Look back at verse twenty four. 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:35.400 It says, so Jesus went with him, A large crowd 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:39.120 followed and pressed around him. Now skipt of verse thirty. 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:42.600 At once Jesus realized that the power had gone out 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:46.200 from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:50.200 who touched my clothes? You see the people crowding against you. 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:53.520 His disciples answered, and yet you ask who touched me? 0:13:54.200 --> 0:14:00.760 So imagine this situation. This is a legit crowd. Okay, 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:03.640 this is like Disney World on the fourth of July. 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:08.679 Have you In some translations it actually uses the describes 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:12.480 the crowd as crushing. Have you ever been in a 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:17.679 crushing crowd? It's scary. For my birthday, which was just 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:23.720 a couple days ago, Stephen took me to see Sir 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:29.400 Paul McCartney. It was an amazing night nineteen seventy two. 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:33.160 You know, we just like it. It was amazing, except 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.520 the only problem was we weren't the only people who 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.760 wanted to hear Paul sing. And when I tell you, 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:44.640 the crowd was crushing. We were shuffling to our seats 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.280 and just people were everywhere. It was like the hold 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:52.120 your purse kind of crowded. And I turn around to 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:57.520 say something to Stephen, and there was another man, and 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:01.520 I panicked for a second, and I had to look 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:06.560 around and push through and reach back and grab his hand, 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.280 because the only way to get through a crowd like 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:17.720 that is to stay close. So picture Gyrous moving through 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:23.200 this pressing, crushing crowd with Jesus. And when you are 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:28.200 waiting on a miracle. You have two choices. You can 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:33.040 stay close or you can be carried away. And the 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:41.280 interesting thing here Gyrus wasn't following Jesus. Mark tells us 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:47.120 Jesus went with Gyros. And when you're desperate, the number 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:50.600 one tool that the enemy is going to use in 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:53.160 your life is he's going to try and get you 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:58.920 away from Jesus. Jesus is still with you. And the 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:02.160 easy thing Gyros to do would be to drift away 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:06.880 from the crowd, to go home. Maybe he could get 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:10.480 a few last moments to tell his daughter that he 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:16.360 loves her before she passes. But something in him fought 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:22.760 to stay close. People were pressing to touch Jesus, and 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:27.520 Gyros had to fight with everything that was in his 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:31.720 power to help his daughter, and that meant that his 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:35.960 only hope was to stay close to the one that 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:40.960 he had faith in, the one that he believed could 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:45.040 heal his daughter. How do you stay close to Jesus 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:50.360 when your mind becomes so crowded with fear and anxiety? 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.840 I know, I know it's like some days to just 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:57.080 feel like the farthest thing from your mind is Jesus. 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.440 And obviously there's practical things that we can do. I 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.320 know that I'm biased, but I believe that we sit 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:07.639 under a once in a generation preacher every single week, 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:11.439 and the things that God speaks through this man, I 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:15.200 promise you you lean in every single week. It will 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:18.760 encourage your faith faith faster than anything else. And so 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:21.879 I know the things that I need to prioritize every 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.159 week in my life. I know what I need to 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:27.040 be playing in my car and in my home, and 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:31.119 I know I need to be journaling and fighting to 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:34.760 keep my mind focused on Jesus. We know what we 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:38.480 need to do, but do we do it? You have 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:42.760 to push through the crowd. You have to fight through 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:48.280 the crowd to stay close to Jesus. You also have 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.879 to make a conscious effort to build your faith on 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:58.280 other people's answered prayers. Jyrus had another choice when Jesus 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:01.320 stopped to heal that woman. Choice was he could stay closer. 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.640 He could drift away. The second choice was he could 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:12.359 get angry and jealous and turn away. He could say, Jesus, 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:17.880 you're gonna heal her. God, You're gonna do that for them. God, 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.280 I got I've been praying for a baby. You gave 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:22.200 her one. She doesn't take a care of her dog. 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:31.720 The other option that he had was to tell himself, well, 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:35.240 if he can do it for her, then he can 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:41.439 do it for me. Stephen and I were talking the 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:43.480 other day about a situation that we went through a 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:47.120 couple of years ago, and it was a really hard season, 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.159 particularly for me. And without going into detail because it 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:53.280 involves other people, you should just know that I was 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:56.560 praying and I was pleading with God, and I was 0:18:56.680 --> 0:19:01.000 frustrated that our situation wasn't improving. And I just got 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:04.320 to tell you, I wasn't handling it that well. And 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:07.159 I actually used my very own forbidden phrase and I 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:11.439 told God, this isn't fair. And I would have days 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:15.720 where I would feel so frustrated because I felt like 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:21.399 other people were living in the things that I was 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.479 praying for. And I know you've been there before. You 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.879 just wonder, like, God, are you even listening to me? 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:33.520 And when I look back on that season, the thing 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:38.800 that I remember the most is I can remember the 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:43.000 feeling of the presence of God. It's what got me 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:47.520 through in those times of me staying close and crying 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:53.360 out to Him and expressing my frustration. I felt his presence. 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:56.280 And if you've ever experienced what it feels like to 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.520 cling to God during a season like that. It's almost 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:02.960 impossib to describe, except to say I was trying to 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:07.480 think it's it's like it's like putting on an oxygen 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:13.840 mask when you can't breathe. And the situation it lasted 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:16.719 for about a year, And now that I'm on the 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:21.720 other side of it, I realize that even though God 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:25.200 didn't answer my prayers the way I thought he would, 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:29.880 he did a work in me, and he did work 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:34.000 in my family that was better than I could have 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:38.920 ever imagined or even asked for. And sometimes the things 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:41.800 that God uses the most in our lives to draw 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:45.160 us closer to Him are the things that we wouldn't choose. 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:53.880 But what I said to Stephen was looking back, if 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:56.840 I had known it would be that short, and a 0:20:56.920 --> 0:21:00.240 year is not short, but the place is my mind 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:02.879 had gone, I just gotta tell you it wasn't. It 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:04.840 was longer than me. I don't know how long this 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:07.240 is gonna last. But if I had known he was 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:09.400 gonna be that short, I wouldn't have been so anxious 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:13.520 and afraid. And sometimes I just wonder, why doesn't God 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:16.720 just give us a timeline. Like when I'm on my 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:20.520 peloton bike. The only thing that keeps me on that 0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:24.840 bike is knowing exactly what time down to the second 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:27.919 that I have left to be on this bike. And 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:31.560 every time I literally will tell myself I have twelve 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:35.000 minutes left. I can do anything for twelve minutes. If 0:21:35.040 --> 0:21:37.040 I were on my phone, twelve minutes would fly by. 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.760 I can do twelve more minutes. But God doesn't tell 0:21:40.840 --> 0:21:43.520 us how long it's gonna last, and he doesn't give 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:46.520 us any indication if the end is in sight. That's 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:53.080 why you have to just stay close. I love DoorDash 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:56.640 because anybody love DoorDash. Wouldn't it be nice if God 0:21:56.760 --> 0:22:00.640 was like DoorDash? Like anytime I'm too busy to cook dinner, 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:03.520 I just go on this life changing app and I 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:05.720 decide what my family's gonna eat, And I could pick 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:09.240 anything from McDonald's to Morton's, depending on how I'm feeling. 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:12.160 And then the best part is you get to track 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:17.600 your food. Does anyone else do this? I obsessively check it. 0:22:17.680 --> 0:22:21.080 After I've placed my order, you say, oh, you're preparing 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:27.280 my order. My door dasher has picked it up, and 0:22:27.320 --> 0:22:31.040 he's headed my way and then the guy's The best 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:34.160 part is the little map and you can see can 0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:37.119 see the little car. Oh, they just turned it to 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:40.040 my neighborhood. I'm so hungry this is Wouldn't it be 0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:44.000 awesome if there was a heaven app and you could 0:22:44.040 --> 0:22:48.280 just go on and select the things that you need, Like, 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:52.400 let's see, I need a new job, and while I'm 0:22:52.400 --> 0:22:54.760 doing this, I might add on that my child behaves 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:57.960 in school today. And then how amazing would it be 0:22:57.960 --> 0:23:01.320 if you could see your order is being and will 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:06.800 arrive in approximately thirty seven minutes. Are there any single 0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:11.320 women here today? Every campus? Raise your hand online, let 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:14.440 yourself be known. Don't be shy. This is a good 0:23:14.480 --> 0:23:20.960 place to find a Christian guy. Wouldn't it be amazing 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:24.960 if you were asking God for a man and you 0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:32.840 could track his progress, if you could see that God 0:23:33.000 --> 0:23:38.000 has heard your prayer and he's preparing your man. He 0:23:38.080 --> 0:23:42.240 lives in Columbus, but he just got a job transfer 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:46.560 and he's coming to Charlotte next month and he's gonna 0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:49.520 attend uptown campus, So I better switch my volunteer role 0:23:49.520 --> 0:23:56.359 over there. Wouldn't it be nice? That's not how God works. 0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:03.800 He doesn't give us a timeframe, and imagine Gyros standing there, 0:24:04.400 --> 0:24:08.840 not knowing how long Jesus was going to be stopped. 0:24:09.400 --> 0:24:12.600 What if he stops again. This is a crowd of people. 0:24:12.840 --> 0:24:16.040 They're pressing in. They want to get to Jesus, and 0:24:16.200 --> 0:24:20.000 every second counted for his daughter. Look what happens in 0:24:20.080 --> 0:24:27.240 verse thirty four. He Jesus said to her daughter, your 0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:29.920 faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed 0:24:29.960 --> 0:24:34.000 from your suffering. While Jesus was still speaking, some people 0:24:34.119 --> 0:24:37.120 came from the house of Gyros, the synagogue leader. Your 0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:41.520 daughter is dead. They said, why bother the teacher anymore? 0:24:43.119 --> 0:24:47.400 Overhearing what they said, that's how close he was to Jesus. 0:24:48.280 --> 0:24:54.879 Jesus told him, don't be afraid. Just believe. Now we 0:24:55.000 --> 0:24:58.800 know the end to this story. But pretend that you don't. 0:24:59.520 --> 0:25:04.040 Why did you, Jesus? Why didn't Jesus say, don't worry, 0:25:04.080 --> 0:25:08.960 I'm going to heal your daughter too. He was doing 0:25:09.000 --> 0:25:15.239 a work in Jyrus's heart. God doesn't give us a 0:25:15.280 --> 0:25:22.119 timeline because he's doing something so much bigger. Jesus wasn't 0:25:22.160 --> 0:25:25.280 messing with him when he stopped to speak to the 0:25:25.320 --> 0:25:28.919 woman that he had just healed. He wasn't being passive aggressive. 0:25:29.440 --> 0:25:32.800 He was doing something bigger. There were lots of people watching. 0:25:32.840 --> 0:25:35.080 He had Peter, James and John. He was teaching them, 0:25:35.359 --> 0:25:38.920 He was showing them. And if God gave us everything 0:25:39.040 --> 0:25:42.920 that we asked for, we would become spoiled brats who 0:25:43.040 --> 0:25:46.080 only went to him when we needed something from him 0:25:46.200 --> 0:25:50.359 that we couldn't do on our own. And God is 0:25:50.600 --> 0:25:55.080 so much more concerned about our hearts than he is 0:25:55.400 --> 0:26:00.480 about our situation. One word from Jesus and the the little 0:26:00.520 --> 0:26:02.479 girl could have been healed. He didn't have to go 0:26:02.520 --> 0:26:05.840 to Jyrus's house. In Luke seven, there was a centurion 0:26:05.880 --> 0:26:10.000 whose servant was dying, and he wanted Jesus to heal 0:26:10.080 --> 0:26:12.080 his servant because the servant meant a lot to him, 0:26:12.560 --> 0:26:14.880 But he didn't feel worthy of Jesus to come into 0:26:14.920 --> 0:26:18.520 his home. So the man comes to Jesus and he says, Lord, 0:26:18.640 --> 0:26:21.320 just say the word, and I know that my servant 0:26:21.320 --> 0:26:24.960 will be healed. And Jesus, the Bible says, was amazed 0:26:25.000 --> 0:26:27.760 at the man's faith, and he healed the servant right 0:26:27.800 --> 0:26:34.040 there on the spot. God can do anything, but he's 0:26:34.200 --> 0:26:39.840 doing something bigger in your life. He's working something in 0:26:39.880 --> 0:26:45.080 your heart, and he says to you, don't be afraid, 0:26:45.720 --> 0:26:50.240 just believe, Just hang on, just stay close, don't give up, 0:26:50.480 --> 0:26:55.720 don't walk away. How do we do that? How do 0:26:55.800 --> 0:26:59.000 we not be afraid? This is a scary situation. When 0:26:59.040 --> 0:27:01.080 you don't know if you're Mayria is gonna make it. 0:27:01.080 --> 0:27:04.080 It's scary. Well, you don't know if your teenager is 0:27:04.119 --> 0:27:08.000 gonna make the right choices. It's scary. When you get 0:27:08.040 --> 0:27:10.040 diagnosed with cancer and you don't know if you're gonna 0:27:10.040 --> 0:27:14.159 live or die. That's scary. And when we're faced with 0:27:14.280 --> 0:27:18.960 these situations, we can either focus on our fear, where 0:27:19.000 --> 0:27:22.840 we can focus on the one who is with us. 0:27:25.080 --> 0:27:29.440 Fear will cause you to flee and we can get 0:27:29.480 --> 0:27:32.200 all caught up in all the things that could happen 0:27:32.359 --> 0:27:34.800 if God doesn't come through. Or we could choose to 0:27:34.840 --> 0:27:38.000 stay close and fix our focus on the God that 0:27:38.080 --> 0:27:43.560 we believe in, the God that we serve. Don't be afraid, 0:27:44.000 --> 0:27:47.280 just believe. You gotta look up when your mind gets crowded, 0:27:47.400 --> 0:27:50.440 you gotta look up. The Psalma says in Psalm one, 0:27:50.480 --> 0:27:53.560 it says, I will lift up my eyes to the hills. 0:27:53.840 --> 0:27:57.320 Where does my help come from? My help comes from 0:27:57.359 --> 0:28:00.720 the Lord the maker of heaven and on earth. I 0:28:00.800 --> 0:28:03.399 have placed my faith in a God who is so 0:28:03.680 --> 0:28:08.200 big he created the heavens and the earth. He goes 0:28:08.320 --> 0:28:12.000 before me, he comes behind me, and he is with 0:28:12.200 --> 0:28:15.879 me in the middle of the greatest moment of my fear. 0:28:16.000 --> 0:28:19.960 Don't walk away now, don't lose hope. Now you gotta 0:28:20.040 --> 0:28:25.720 stay close and watch what Jesus does for thirty six 0:28:25.960 --> 0:28:29.000 overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, don't be afraid, 0:28:29.680 --> 0:28:34.920 just believe. He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, 0:28:35.280 --> 0:28:37.679 James and John, the brother of James. I don't have 0:28:37.720 --> 0:28:39.680 time to tell you what he was trying to show 0:28:40.080 --> 0:28:42.680 James and John. You have to go find a sermon 0:28:42.720 --> 0:28:45.640 from Pastor Stephen on that. It's in the Book of Acts. 0:28:45.720 --> 0:28:48.840 But when they came to the home of the synagogue 0:28:48.840 --> 0:28:53.320 of the leader Gyrus, Jesus saw commotion with people crying 0:28:53.360 --> 0:28:56.200 and wailing loudly, and he went in and he said 0:28:56.200 --> 0:28:59.560 to them, why all this commotion and willing The child 0:28:59.640 --> 0:29:03.440 is not dead but asleep. But they laughed at him, 0:29:03.720 --> 0:29:07.160 and he put them all out. He took the child's 0:29:07.160 --> 0:29:11.880 father and mother and the disciples who were with him, 0:29:12.360 --> 0:29:16.200 and he went in where the child was. When you 0:29:16.280 --> 0:29:19.680 are waiting on God for a miracle, you got to 0:29:19.720 --> 0:29:23.760 stay close, you got to look up, and you got 0:29:23.800 --> 0:29:28.600 to watch out. Because who you allow in your life 0:29:29.200 --> 0:29:35.840 will make or break your faith. And even Jesus knew 0:29:35.880 --> 0:29:40.600 that this situation was not for everyone. And I want 0:29:40.600 --> 0:29:42.080 to hear you say I want you to hear me 0:29:42.120 --> 0:29:47.880 say this today. You do need people in your life. 0:29:48.040 --> 0:29:50.640 You're not meant to go through this life alone. But 0:29:50.680 --> 0:29:56.040 they have to be the right people. And here's a 0:29:56.120 --> 0:30:01.040 little pro tip. The people that you will into your 0:30:01.280 --> 0:30:06.600 darkest moments, they need to be people of faith, of course, 0:30:07.560 --> 0:30:10.800 but they also need to be someone who has been 0:30:11.600 --> 0:30:18.000 here before. What's the number one rule of sobriety. Go 0:30:18.040 --> 0:30:21.120 to meetings and find a sponsor who has been in 0:30:21.160 --> 0:30:26.120 your place. So if you get diagnosed with cancer, you 0:30:26.160 --> 0:30:30.560 need to find someone of faith who's also been through chemo. 0:30:32.040 --> 0:30:36.040 If you're dealing with an infidelity in your marriage, find 0:30:36.040 --> 0:30:39.680 a couple who has struggled with that as well and 0:30:39.760 --> 0:30:42.520 come out on the other side, not a couple that 0:30:42.880 --> 0:30:47.280 seemingly has the perfect marriage. Those people are great, but 0:30:47.280 --> 0:30:49.480 they may not be for this situation. If you have 0:30:49.480 --> 0:30:52.360 a child who struggles in school. Find someone who is 0:30:52.480 --> 0:30:56.479 also walking that path, who can pray with you and 0:30:56.640 --> 0:31:00.840 believe with you and empathize with you. I know it's hard, 0:31:01.040 --> 0:31:05.440 you can do it. Stay close, watch out because well 0:31:05.520 --> 0:31:10.000 meaning people who have not been through your situation can 0:31:10.080 --> 0:31:14.680 hinder your faith. And not everything in your life is 0:31:14.760 --> 0:31:22.000 for Facebook. Amen, You're not under look your pastor's wife 0:31:22.040 --> 0:31:24.600 is giving you permission. You are not under any obligation 0:31:24.960 --> 0:31:27.360 to let the world know what you are going through. 0:31:28.280 --> 0:31:30.640 But you do need to find a few people who 0:31:30.720 --> 0:31:33.880 can empathize with you and who can encourage you through 0:31:33.920 --> 0:31:36.800 your situation. I know it's hard to show up to 0:31:36.880 --> 0:31:39.600 your E group because you don't want everybody asking you 0:31:39.720 --> 0:31:43.680 how you're doing, But sometimes that's part of staying close, 0:31:44.120 --> 0:31:47.440 is pushing in and leaning in to the people that 0:31:47.520 --> 0:31:50.239 God has placed in your life, who love you, who 0:31:50.320 --> 0:31:53.200 are praying for you, who've been there before, and they 0:31:53.280 --> 0:31:55.479 want to help you when they want to walk this 0:31:55.600 --> 0:32:00.360 road with you. Let's read the rest of the story. 0:32:01.280 --> 0:32:03.560 So after he put them all out, he took the 0:32:03.640 --> 0:32:06.400 child's father and mother and the disciples who were with them, 0:32:06.440 --> 0:32:08.880 and they went in where the child was. He took 0:32:08.920 --> 0:32:12.880 her by the hand and said to her talitha coomb, 0:32:13.400 --> 0:32:18.080 which means little girl, I say to you, get up. Immediately, 0:32:18.160 --> 0:32:20.360 the little girl stood up and began to walk around. 0:32:20.800 --> 0:32:24.720 She was twelve years old. At this they were astonished. 0:32:25.480 --> 0:32:27.840 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, 0:32:28.320 --> 0:32:33.840 and then he told them to give her something to eat. 0:32:34.480 --> 0:32:37.440 Gyros didn't get what he originally asked Jesus for, did he. 0:32:39.480 --> 0:32:44.520 What he asked for was healing. What he got was resurrection. 0:32:46.720 --> 0:32:51.480 I stole that from my husband. It's too powerful not 0:32:51.560 --> 0:32:55.160 to say. One of the greatest things that I'm learning 0:32:55.200 --> 0:33:00.000 about prayer is that I have to hold my lift 0:33:01.240 --> 0:33:03.080 the things I want God to do how I want 0:33:03.120 --> 0:33:05.440 him to do it, when I want him to do it. 0:33:05.920 --> 0:33:10.680 I hold my list with a light grip because sometimes 0:33:10.680 --> 0:33:14.040 God's gonna ask me to let go of my list, 0:33:15.240 --> 0:33:20.440 but hold firm to my faith. May not happen the 0:33:20.440 --> 0:33:23.840 way you thought it would, But my faith is not 0:33:24.000 --> 0:33:29.520 in the list. My faith is in my God, who 0:33:29.680 --> 0:33:34.280 I believe is working all things for my good. My 0:33:34.480 --> 0:33:38.520 faith is in the God who knows the number of 0:33:38.720 --> 0:33:43.880 hairs on my head. My faith is in my perfect Father, 0:33:44.400 --> 0:33:48.360 who knows me better than I know myself. All I 0:33:48.400 --> 0:33:52.600 have to do is stay close to him no matter 0:33:52.880 --> 0:33:58.080 how dark it gets, and remember that he is with me. 0:34:00.400 --> 0:34:05.040 You know that there is no darkness you can experience 0:34:06.160 --> 0:34:12.879 that Jesus has not already felt. Hebrews four tells us, 0:34:15.960 --> 0:34:19.560 look at this, I love this passage of scripture. Therefore, 0:34:20.360 --> 0:34:24.760 since we have a great high priest who has ascended 0:34:24.760 --> 0:34:29.320 into heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold 0:34:29.760 --> 0:34:34.560 firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not 0:34:34.680 --> 0:34:37.960 have a high priest who is unable to empathize with 0:34:38.080 --> 0:34:42.160 our weaknesses. But we have one who has been tempted 0:34:42.480 --> 0:34:46.359 in every way just as we are. Yet he did 0:34:46.400 --> 0:34:51.120 not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace 0:34:51.560 --> 0:34:56.600 with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find 0:34:56.640 --> 0:35:01.800 grace to help us in our time of need. Jesus 0:35:01.960 --> 0:35:08.920 experienced every grief and every temptation. He is the true friend, 0:35:09.560 --> 0:35:16.160 the true empathizer, our heavenly Father. He actually went to 0:35:16.200 --> 0:35:22.319 all the schools. He went to betrayal school, he went 0:35:22.400 --> 0:35:26.200 to raise a child with special needs school, he went 0:35:26.239 --> 0:35:45.719 to loneliness school. And you can you can come to him. 0:35:45.800 --> 0:35:50.319 I'm telling you now, you can come to him with confidence, 0:35:52.160 --> 0:35:55.840 and while we wait for him to give us an answer, 0:35:56.640 --> 0:36:02.839 we find so much more. We find grace and we 0:36:02.920 --> 0:36:07.200 find mercy in our time of need. It's in the 0:36:07.239 --> 0:36:12.720 waiting that we get to know him better. We find 0:36:12.760 --> 0:36:16.920 out that he's not just a god who heals, but 0:36:17.040 --> 0:36:20.239 he is a God who is with us in our 0:36:20.320 --> 0:36:24.759 pain and in our confusion, and in our frustration and 0:36:24.960 --> 0:36:29.520 in our disappointment. And he stands by. He never left. 0:36:29.840 --> 0:36:34.320 He's with you. He stands by, ready with the grace 0:36:34.680 --> 0:36:41.879 that you need for each moment. And when I think 0:36:41.920 --> 0:36:46.120 of the darkest seasons in my life, the seasons of 0:36:46.160 --> 0:36:49.440 my life when you wake up in the morning and 0:36:49.520 --> 0:36:53.279 for a brief second, you forget everything that you're going through. 0:36:53.280 --> 0:36:55.440 Have you ever been there? And then all of a sudden, 0:36:55.480 --> 0:36:58.160 the pain and the realization of what's going on and 0:36:58.200 --> 0:37:03.680 the fear sets in. In those moments, what I remember 0:37:03.800 --> 0:37:09.360 most from those seasons is the tangible presence of God. 0:37:11.040 --> 0:37:12.759 If I didn't stay close to him, I wouldn't have 0:37:12.800 --> 0:37:15.920 gotten out of bed. If I didn't stay close to him, 0:37:15.920 --> 0:37:20.080 I wouldn't have made it through the day. I know 0:37:20.160 --> 0:37:25.520 I wouldn't have chosen those situations and those seasons. But 0:37:25.600 --> 0:37:29.120 I'm here to tell you today, if you stay close, 0:37:30.280 --> 0:37:42.279 you'll come out stronger on the other side. So if 0:37:42.280 --> 0:37:48.399 you would stand with me, I want to close by 0:37:48.440 --> 0:37:53.680 speaking over you one of my favorite passages of Scriptures, 0:37:54.320 --> 0:37:59.200 a passage that I memorized when I was in high school. 0:38:00.080 --> 0:38:03.240 But it's one of those passages that God just brings 0:38:03.280 --> 0:38:07.520 back to my mind over and over again throughout my life. 0:38:07.640 --> 0:38:09.480 And I want to speak the words of the prophet 0:38:09.520 --> 0:38:16.160 Isaiah over you today, and Isaiah forty says, have you 0:38:16.239 --> 0:38:21.720 not seen? Have you not heard? The Lord, your God, 0:38:22.920 --> 0:38:27.880 everlasting Father, creator of the ends of the earth. He 0:38:27.920 --> 0:38:32.040 will not grow tired or weary, and is understanding no 0:38:32.200 --> 0:38:36.920 man can fathom. He gives strength to the weary, and 0:38:37.000 --> 0:38:40.720 he increases the power of the week. Don't read along 0:38:40.719 --> 0:38:43.480 with me, because I might be quoting it a little 0:38:43.480 --> 0:38:47.719 bit different. Even youth grow tired and weary, and young 0:38:47.760 --> 0:38:51.520 men stumble and fall. But those who wait on the 0:38:51.600 --> 0:38:56.799 Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up on 0:38:56.960 --> 0:39:00.520 wings like eagles. They will run and not be weary, 0:39:00.920 --> 0:39:04.640 they will walk in not fake. That's you today. So 0:39:04.800 --> 0:39:07.840 all over this room, let's lift our hands and let's 0:39:07.920 --> 0:39:16.040 receive strength from the Lord today. God, I asked today 0:39:16.080 --> 0:39:19.440 before I got up here, that you would just whisper 0:39:19.560 --> 0:39:25.879 to someone's heart that you're here, that you're with us, 0:39:26.760 --> 0:39:31.400 You never left, and all we have to do is 0:39:31.440 --> 0:39:37.719 stay close, turn around, look up, and right now, in 0:39:37.760 --> 0:39:41.920 this moment, Lord, we receive your grace. I thank you 0:39:41.960 --> 0:39:45.000 for your mercy not giving us the things that we deserve, 0:39:45.480 --> 0:39:48.839 for your patience every time that I've ever said it's 0:39:48.880 --> 0:39:51.799 not fair. Thank you God for just staying there with me. 0:39:55.440 --> 0:39:58.160 Would you strengthen this Lord, is we pressing close to you. 0:39:58.920 --> 0:40:01.040 Let us not grow weary, let us not lose hope. 0:40:01.239 --> 0:40:06.040 We cling to the promise that you are doing so 0:40:06.239 --> 0:40:11.520 much more than we could ever ask or imagine. Even 0:40:11.520 --> 0:40:13.800 in the places that we can't see. God, we believe 0:40:13.920 --> 0:40:19.279 now that you are working. We love you. Send Jesus name, 0:40:19.320 --> 0:40:27.920 I pray Amen. Well. If you enjoyed today's podcast, there 0:40:27.920 --> 0:40:29.920 are a couple things I'd love for you to do. 0:40:30.000 --> 0:40:34.360 Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. You 0:40:34.400 --> 0:40:36.839 can also help us reach others by investing today at 0:40:36.840 --> 0:40:40.840 Elevationchurch dot org. Slash give and thanks again for joining 0:40:40.920 --> 0:40:42.520 us on the Elevation Podcast