number one put God first put God first in everything you do I didn't always stick with him but he always stuck with me so stick with him in everything you do can you say without hesitation that God is first in your life it's silly to say that we don't have time for God and if we don't have time for him that he's not first in our lives do you think about God and His goodness in your life do you take time to thank God for your blessings even little ones live to please the Lord make
decisions that are pleasing to God so are you trying to find a place to put God into your schedule or would you be willing today to say God from now on you're going to be first and I don't care what else has to go or what I have to change what I have to make an adjustment in I want to keep you first in my life in everything let me tell you being a Christian just does not work out right if God is a sideline in your life never meet with other people before you meet
with God if you'll take time to acknowledge God say God I need you today Lead Me Guide Me keep me on the right path not only will your day go better but God will keep you from making mistakes but until you find Jesus Christ as your lord and savior there will be always something missing you can't rely on you because you will fail you every single time just about it's not about me it's not about my ability it's not anything about that it's all about Jesus it's not about what you have or what you don't
have what you wish you had or what you wish you didn't have it's all about Jesus that no matter where you are in your life right now if you ask God to forgive you of your sin and you repent of your sin God will come into your life forgive you of your sin you'll receive his life His blessings his life eternal and his life life's plan for your life not my plan I don't want my plan sometimes we just need to get over ourselves and actually realize that sometimes God actually has a better plan God
allows things that we don't understand but I want you to know if you hold on to him he will hold on to you if you trust in the Lord with all your heart even when you cannot walk he'll carry you when you don't get a miracle you can still be a miracle but this is what I've understood in life some people don't need you to preach a sermon they need you to live one and so when they see you living it they can connect and identify with that one of the ways that you can take
an ordinary life and make it extraordinary is to learn to do every single thing that you do with and for God raise your kids for God let your marriage glorify God let your attitude glorify God let God into everything that you do God believes in you he's got hope for you he's got a future plan for you and no matter how many times you've messed up God is willing to give you another chance and another chance and another chance if you'll just be serious about your relationship with him don't listen to the lies of the
devil don't listen to the lies of the enemy as he would try to whisper to you God's Not For You God's against you that's a lie from hell I got news for you God is for you he's not against you he loves you he's on your side intellectuals are now jabbering that God and Heaven are far removed and Far Away God is as close as your next prayer ask him for things that are impossible because with God nothing is impossible ask him to defeat the Giants in your life because our God is a giant killer
ask him to divide the sea before you and to bury Pho and watch him turn your enemies into fish food ask him ask him to send fire from heaven as he did for Elijah and he will ask him to walk with you in the fire of the fiery furnace and be the fourth man in the fire and he will he said you will walk through the fire and the fire will not burn you you will walk through the water and the water will not drown you ask him he's The God Who Cannot fail he's waiting
to show you Great and Mighty things pray pray pray God and Heaven wants you to have that power that power is the ability to move mountains out of the way too little is spent in prayer and too much time is spent in talking about the problem if people would just start to pray and stop talking about the problem we would see phenomenal things take place prayer is the key that unlocks the Gates of Heaven and closes the Gates of Hell prayer has the power to cure sickness and disease prayer can shatter the shackles of misery
and habit that are tormenting your life or the life of your son or daughter or the life of your husband or wife prayer does not need proof prayer needs practice people need to worship more you need to take more time not going to God In Prayer oh God lord we've got this problem that problem this problem that problem forget about your problems go to God and just begin to worship Him begin to exalt him begin to extol him begin to call him by his name talk about his greatness talk about how awesome he is talk
about how Mighty he is all Giants seem larger than they really are you think you'll not be able to uh get control over whatever that giant is it it seems larger than it really is it's not larger than our God it's not larger than your savior remember these five words the battle is the Lord's the battle is the Lord's there is no giant so great that he is not greater still it matters not where the road took you in this year or how your year turned out I'm encouraging you tonight by the word of God
the spirit says call on God one more time one more time we have if we're here today if you're here tonight it is testimony that you have a new opportunity you've got a fresh start right here right now we get to reboot we get to do it again we will not cure what happened in the past for the past is irretrievable but the future is available see the older I get the more I realize that you can't take life nor moments for granted I I can deal personally I can deal with death better than I
can deal with regret whatever I got to say to you I'd rather say it whatever I want to give you I want to give it whatever I need to Express I want to express it because the next second is not promised all you have is the fierce urgency of now right now this present you don't have long to get over whatever you're going to get over climb over your inhibitions or fear the clock is ticking while you are thinking about it you are running out of time there's a rush to do it you have when
you woke up this morning God gave you an opportunity what could be a better gift than to get an opportunity and what a tragic waste it is to have an opportunity and not use it not maximize it not live it to its fullest and to assume you have tomorrow how arrogant of you to assume that you have tomorrow when in fact all you have for sure is right now right now get it right right now get it said right now get it done right now open your heart right now write the letter right now Express
the love right now because if you don't I can tell you from experience coffins can't hear you know don't don't ever waste today you know there's something really interesting about time we all get the same amount in a day every day is 24 hours and some people are very very fruitful and effective and some people just waste their time day after day after day and that's a choice that we make but there's one thing about time once it goes by you never get it back so how tragic it is to waste any day of your
life I think we need to live every day like it was our very last one and live it to the absolute fullest that we can live it and anything you want good you can have so claim it work hard to get it when you get it reach back pull someone else up Each one teach one don't just aspire to make a living aspire to make a difference sometimes I find it difficult to put all my trust in God do any of you ever feel that way I I want to trust in God but sometimes I
find it a little bit more difficult to trust in him you might be able to relate you might feel like I love God and I believe in God but I still feel so uneasy about the future when you look around there's a lot to feel uneasy about isn't there there's the tension all over our country I don't know about you but I want to trust God but sometimes I just want to say God is difficult to trust in a God I can't see there's a lot that I can see right I can see whenever my
bank account goes down I can see all the tension every time I read or watch anything in the news God I want to trust in you but it's hard when I don't really see you or some of you might say how can I trust in God when I did trust in God but he didn't do what I asked him to do I prayed I had faith I believed and I trusted him and he could have but he didn't I really want to trust in God but sometimes it's just not easy to do we all go
through things in life that don't make sense a friend walked out of a relationship the company's downsizing they don't need us anymore business went down dreams are put on hold sometimes it feels like we're going backwards words it's easy to live frustrated and think God why is this happening but we're not going to understand everything that happens God's ways are not our ways he can see things that we can't see just because it's not fair doesn't mean that God is not in control your steps are being ordered by the Lord if he allowed it to
happen he's going to bring good out of it he promises all things work together for your good on its own it may not be good it wasn't fair you're uncomfortable but when it all comes together you're going to see how it works to your advantage the difficulty the delay the Betrayal was all instrumental in you reaching your destiny you can choose to trust God right now or you can choose to trust in the systems of the world and you you got to be very careful here because if you make a choice to trust the system
of the world those systems May Fail but when you choose to trust God he never fails Lord help me to obey even when I don't understand this doesn't make any sense to me but because you're asking me to do it and because of who you are God I'm choosing to put my trust in you and this action leads us to the conclusion that you don't have to understand completely to obey immediately you don't have to know the end of the story to turn the first page of a story and be obedient to the one who
asked you the question that never goes away why and you can ask it all you want to but it's the question that rarely gets an answer even Jesus said my God my God why have you forsaken me the Bible doesn't say that God said anything back to him so the next thing Jesus said was into your hands I commit my spirit I love that Proverbs 3 uh 5 and 6 says trust in the Lord with all your heart lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him the word acknowledge comes from
the Hebrew word gadada which means to know in all your ways know him and he'll make your path straight in all your ways you know him you know him on the Mountaintop and you know him in The Valleys when you know him in the good times you learn to trust him in the bad times how do you know God how do you know him how do you know him intimately how do you know him trust him walk in him the only way that you can know him is to be close to him and the way
to be close to him is to cling to him not just to get be close in proximity but to hold on to and to not let go here's the key in order to hold on to God you have to let go of whatever else you were previously clinging to in order to trust in him you lean not on your own understanding can I say for a moment that's just hard to tell me not to lean I'm wired to lean on my own understanding some would say it's the strength that I can figure this out but
when you get to the place where you let go of your own understanding your own plans your own desire your own will your own strategy your your own place of comfort and when you cling to one who is a rock who will never fail you you cling to the faithfulness and the goodness of the only one who really is good than anything else that brought you the illusion of security before Fades away in the presence and the strength of the goodness and the grace in the presence of God Don't Let Go cling to the promises
of God God I thank you that I can cast my cares upon you because you Faithfully care for me God I'm clinging to your truth that you will provide all of my needs according to your glorious riches in Christ Jesus God I thank you and praise you that you're working in all things to bring about good God to those who love you who are called according to your purpose God I cling to your truth that you will never leave me God you will never forsake me God that when I draw near to you God you
always draw near to me God thank you you are close to the Brokenhearted God you save those who are crushed in spirit God you are my refuge You Are My Strength you are my help in time of trouble in order to cling to the goodness of God you have to release that which you are clinging to before Lord help me to trust you to cling to you even when I don't understand God help me to trust you and Obey even the smallest of promptings even if they don't make sense to me I don't know the
outcome got no clue of the outcome and the good news is outcome is God's responsibility obedience is yours Lord help me to trust you even when I don't understand what I promise you is God will prompt you in some way he'll invite you to trust him and what you'll discover is that big Miracles often follow simple acts of obedience trust is think about these words when I say this it's Reliance on the integrity the strength the ability the shity of God it's confidence and here's what I really like to rely upon or to place confidence
in to rely upon when you rely upon something you lean on it who are who or what are you leaning on in the midst of hard times in the midst of lack in the midst of hurt in the midst of uh of uh sickness and disease who who do you lean on the most and so we rely on him when when you say you trust him I trust God that means I rely on him I trust God that means I I I have confidence in in his certainty I trust God I have confidence in his
Integrity I have confidence in his strength I have confidence in his promise there will be times in life that you don't understand what God is doing things don't make sense trouble delays closed doors people that betrayed you prayers that haven't been answered it doesn't make sense now but don't worry one day you're going to understand God is going to connect all the dots he doesn't allow things that he doesn't have a purpose for that trouble is not a surprise to God the sickness didn't catch him off guard the child getting off course is not going
to stop his Destiny God is still on the throne he's still ordering your steps you can't see it right now but behind the scenes God is lining up things in your favor when it's the right time when it all comes together it's going to work for your good you're going to see the hand of God you'll look back and say if that hadn't have happened I wouldn't have this position if that door hadn't have closed I wouldn't have met this person if I hadn't have gone through that difficulty I wouldn't have stepped in to this
new level now you may not feel like God is changing you or doing anything in your life because it happens just little tiny bits and sometimes when you've got a mountain of problems you may go five years and feel like you haven't changed that much at all but really you have it's just the devil wants you to focus on what's what's still wrong with you amen instead of looking at how far you've come don't look at how far you have to go look look at how far you've come and don't look at what you don't
have look around you at what you do have you see Christians have a tendency sometime to lean on their understanding instead of completely leaning on God and so you got to decide that when it comes to trusting God am I going to trust him all the way or am I going to trust him 30% of the time and then trust something else 70% of the time what are you giving your attention to the most what are you giving your attention to the most it may be because you trusted the most and I'm sure it's so
tempting to trust other things other people other systems Satan is doing everything he can to try to get you to uh trust him then more than that he wants you to not trust God and to not need God the root to all evil is when you no longer trust God and and and when you no longer rely on God and when you no longer think you need God and now you think that money and things and people you think that those things will serve you better than God when you trust God you will decide to
keep your attention on that which you trust I trust God so I'm going to keep my attention I'm going to tend to the word I trust God I'm going to I'm going to give my attention to God I'm I'm going to fellowship with God I'm I'm going to I'm going to practice the presence of God I trust God I I don't as I trust God I'm going to I'm going to keep my mind whose mind is stayed on thee because you trust him when you trust God enough to give your attention to him he says
that'll keep you in perfect peace it'll keep you in perfect peace you may not understand what you're going through you could live worried discouraged try a new approach God I don't understand it but I trust you I know you're in control you're working all things for my good so I'm not going to live upset I'm going to stay in peace knowing that you will get me to where I'm supposed to be have you committed your cares to him that's why he said cast all your care on him because he cares for you have you committed
your trouble to him have you committed the persecution to him have you committed the lack to him have you committed the relational you know Discord to him have you committed you know the hurt and the Brokenness and the pain to him you because you trust him you will Comm commit your ways unto the Lord It's very freeing when you can say God I don't understand it but I trust you doesn't seem fair but I'm not going to live bitter had some bad breaks disappointments but I'm not going to go around sour I know you're still
in control and you will work out your plan for my life worry is a trust issue you worry because you don't trust that God is in control of your situation you worry that he will fail you in your time of need trust comes when you place your confidence in someone who knows better than you you trust God because you believe he knows everything about your situation and will somehow make everything work out for your good even when it doesn't look good at all trusting God with your life is the cure for worry listen nothing should
make God's people worry and yet we try to overcome it ourselves now the world has no way they can deal with worry that's why drugs alcohol they need something to dull themselves to it but the child of God has a Divine Deliverance it's not something you can do in and of yourself it requires the grace and the power of the holy spirit of God Jesus says that you and I as Christians are different one of the reasons you do not have to worry is because you have a Heavenly Father you're not like the rest of
the world who doesn't have anyone watching and looking out for their back as Christians who have a heavenly father who are children of God the Bible teaches have someone or have a heavenly father who's caring who's providing who's concerned and is promised to look after their needs and sometimes when things go wrong you forget the strength and the power of the god that we serve you think that you have to come up with the answer you get depressed when you forget the power of God and instead try to handle things on your own fight depression
by getting in the presence of God this fight is not about our strength this fight is about our God's strength this fight is not about our strength it's not about me getting strong enough to pull myself up by my bootstraps and power my way through this this one's not about my strength this one's about my God's strength Ephesians 3:20 says this now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us I love that verse because it reminds me God wants
to do things in our lives that we can't even imagine possible and when you're really dealing with anxiety and when you're really dealing with depression put your if they're they're days when if you put me on a polygraph test I would have to had to admit I don't see a better future in store I can't imagine being set free from this stuff I can't imagine living a better life and God says I got something in store for you that you can't imagine and it's not going to be by your power it's going to be by
my power so son daughter let's go it's not about our strength thank God it's about his realize when we choose not to worry is a step of faith we simply say God instead of worrying I'm going to choose to trust you I don't need to know how it's all going to work out I don't have to have the blueprints of how you're going to deliver me I don't have to intellectually or logically reason things out I don't have to have the specific timetable I just know that you're a good father and I'm in the palm
of your hand and that you're in control of my life and you're well able to take care of me so like a little child I choose to trust you and not give in to the temptation to worry trust God to take care of you George Mueller that great man of Faith said this worry starts where Faith ends worry and Faith don't coexist because if you're worried you're not trusting God and if you're trusting God you're not worried do you know what the most commanded uh uh most repeated command I'm sorry in all of the Bible
is do not fear don't be afraid don't worry fear not even by saying to not worry he is implying I got you by saying do not worry he's implying I got you and if he's not he's not a good God what do I mean if he's saying hey don't worry but you know I don't really don't have you covered he would not be a good Heavenly Father what kind of God says hey don't worry and then says but you're on your own does that make any sense he's clearly saying I got you I'm promising to
provide for your needs he's already proven it that the links that he'll go to to provide for your needs including your ultimate need includes giving the life of his only son dying in your place that there is no greater amount of love someone could have there is no even ability for us to comprehend the love that God has for us the Bible says it's literally something you have to pray God will you help me to comprehend more of it because you're such uh you're a God who loves me so much I cannot on my own
comprehend it that's Ephesians chapter 3 but if we were honest most of us often fail to believe that struggle to believe that man God you really you love me more than any human love I've ever seen expressed towards a child and the God who's there says I got you I promise I will provide for you as it's been said many times we do not know what tomorrow holds as Christians but we are the only people in the world who know the one who holds tomorrow and every tomorrow after it and he said I got you
you can trust me I got you maybe one of the most encouraging truths in all of scripture is that you belong to God you are his he will be there for you he is not ashamed of you he is proud of you he loves you and he will embrace you and sustain you you don't have to be afraid because you belong to the King of Kings and the Lord of lords when you pass through the waters I will be with you when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you you will face
trouble there's 's no avoiding that it's going to happen but listen to me it is not going to destroy you you won't drown in the flood because you are going to make it through you will persevere and you will overcome not because you are talented or strong or smart or special but because you are not alone God is with you when the doctor gives you a bad report God is with you when your spouse house leaves you God is with you when you lose your job God is with you when your friends turn their backs
on you God is with you when your bank account is empty God is with you when people treat you wrong God is with you when your car breaks down God is with you when tragedy strikes God is with you when the stock market crashes God is with you and that's why you don't have to be afraid no matter what happens no matter what you face God promises to be with you and then there's more when you walk through the fire you will not be burned the Flames will not set you Ablaze the fire may be
hot but you will not be destroyed because I am with you I will watch over you and protect you and see you through we can trust God in any circumstance we encounter with the Assurance found in these three words God's got this we can we can overcome we can have Victory we can believe in Deliverance we can believe in healing we can believe that we can overcome in any situation as long as we know God's got this is there anything that I ever go through that God don't know about the answer is a resounding no
is there any situation I ever find myself in that God's not aware of the answers are resounding no is there any sickness that God can't heal me of the answers are resounding no is there any situation that my marriage or my family or my finances can find ourselves in that God can't fix and the answer is a resounding no is anything too hard for God no as Believers as children of God we know it's going to be okay as long as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ now if you're looking to the world
right now for help you're depressed and there is nothing too hard for thee and there is nothing that's too hard for thee is there anything too hard for me what's the answer to that question that God's asking us no nothing too hard for him say it again God's got this we all have things that come against us us it's easy to live uptight wondering how it's going to work out what if the medical report isn't good what if my finances don't get better what if my child doesn't get accepted in that school we tried to
figure it out we've done our best but we don't see anything changing if we're not careful we'll live worried discouraged not expecting it to get better but there's a simple phrase you have to keep down in your spirit God got this he's on the throne he sees what's happening he already has the solution you don't have to figure it out there may not be a logical answer in the natural you don't see a way that's okay we serve a supernatural God he has ways to do it we've never thought of instead of trying to force
it to happen living uptight you have to let go and let God when you turn it over to him and say God I know you've got this I know you're in control not only will you feel the heaviness the weight lift off of you but God will make things happen that you couldn't make happen you have many problems you have many challenges you have many questions you have many struggles you need to know that you have a mighty God because when you face Mighty problems you need to know that God who will help you face
them is up to the task and he is up to the task right now my friend for God so Lov the world he has never messed up he has never struggled and he is not messing up now and he is not struggling now he will help us he will help us really what we need to do during these seasons is focus Less on the muscle of mankind and more on the muscle of God reach up and you'll see that our God has got this in Psalm chapter 46 and verse number one the psalmist David wrote
God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble I've told you this before but it Bears repeating the only time and place in your entire Bible that God promises to be a present help is when we're in trouble he said I'm going to be a very present help I'm not going to be a casually present help I'm not going to be a spotty present help I'm not going to be here and there here a little there a little present help he said I'm going to be a very present help in the time
of trouble God is not just with you on the mountaintops he's with you in The Valleys when you go going through things he knows what you're up against the scripture says God is concerned about what concerns you a sparrow doesn't fall to the ground without God knowing about it how much more is God concerned about what's happening in your life trust him live from a place of Peace this is a decision we have to make on a daily basis cuz every day there's something to worry about there's some reason to get upset all through the
day keep this phrase close to your heart God's got this he's concerned about me he's working in my life he's bigger than my enemies he's lining up the right people he's arranging things in my favor that attitude of faith is what allows God to do amazing things do you know why and how the shepherd boy David was able to Prevail over the warrior Giant Goliath very simple David didn't compare himself to the giant he compared the giant to [Music] God we need to quit comparing oursel to our troubles quit comparing ourselves to our pain and
our pressure and the things we think we can't do anything about they're Giants in our lives and instead of trying to figure out what can I do about it do I have enough money do I have enough clout do I have enough friends is there any way I can solve this and when you look at it through that eye you're comparing David to Goliath but David was smart enough to say you come to me with sword and spear but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts and the Bible said David
ran right toward him and let the rock go and the giant come down he compared the giant to is God what you're facing may be bigger stronger more powerful but when you refuse to worry when you refuse to live stressed out instead you stay in peace thanking God that he's fighting your battles knowing that he's in control you are showing God by your actions that you're trusting him we worry too much we worry about all sorts of things don't we we worry about things we can't even change we worry until we're a nervous wreck we
worry ourselves into high blood pressure we worry ourselves into a stroke or a heart attack we worry ourselves into ulcers we worry until we become absolutely miserable people the kind of people nobody wants to be around we worry when it would be easier to trust God is something weighing you down today are you worried about a situation frustrated by what didn't work out or maybe down on yourself because you're not where you thought you would be God is saying to you I've got this it's not a surprise to me I have New Beginnings I have
healing I have breakthroughs I'm asking you to change your perspective switch over into faith that situation at work that you're worried about God's got it I'm asking you to quit worrying about what you're facing quit losing sleep over that child that's not doing right quit being upset because somebody Did You Wrong your dream hasn't come to pass yet can I tell you God's got this I like what 10 Boom the famous Jewish Holocaust Survivor said she said worry does not empty tomorrow of its troubles it empties today of its strength your worry don't change tomorrow
your worry doesn't change next week your worry isn't going to change your situation your worry isn't going to help you make more money on the job it's not going to fix your car it's not going to fix the house it's not going to keep it from raining tomorrow all the time you're worrying about whether or not it'll rain tomorrow you're missing today's Sun life is too short for you to live your life every day worrying about something that might happen worrying about what somebody has said or what somebody has done life is too short to
spend it worrying life is too short for you to allow yourself to constantly be all worked up about something life is too short to go around miserable life is too short for you to make everybody around you miserable life is too short to Harbor grudges life is too short to hate quit worrying about stuff that hadn't happened yet it's a proven fact that 99% of the things we worry about never happen quit worrying about what can go wrong and get excited about what can go right it doesn't take any more effort to believe something bad's
going to happen than it does to believe something good is going to happen no more effort and by the way they're really both Faith you can either have faith that something Good's going to happen or you can have faith something bad's going to happen either one is you got faith I choose to have faith God's going to do something good I said I choose to have faith God's going to do something [Applause] good quit worrying about the future as children of God we don't know what the future holds but we know who holds the future
quit worrying about the future put it in the hands of God that's where it belongs anyway sometimes s we're trying to play God we're trying to make our boss promote us make ourselves get well and make the contract go through but when you take your hands off and say God I know you've got this I'm not going to worry about my finances I'm not going to live uptight because of the medical report I'm not going to be frustrated because I haven't met the right person God I trust your timing and I trust your ways my
life is in your hands God never promised that we wouldn't have difficulties but he did promise he would give us strength for every battle he would take what was meant for harm and use to our advantage you may have a good reason to worry about something in your health your finances a dream you've done everything you can doesn't look like it's going to work out stay in faith God is saying I've got this this I'm working behind the scenes I'm in the process of turning it around it's just a matter of time before you see
things change in your favor now live out of a place of Peace a place of trust it may not happen the way you thought but God's ways are better than our ways God knows what's best for you he's got this and if you're in the middle of a storm right now and instead of going home tonight and worry yourself Sleepless go to work tomorrow feeling bad cuz you worried all night and didn't sleep you know what you realize in the morning after you've worried all night is that the problem's still there worrying didn't fix it
so I'm worried about my child I'm worried about our money I'm worried about jobs I'm worried about a car I'm worried about a place to live I'm worried about my spouse I'm worried you can worry worry worry worry worry and you're not going to change no kids no spouse no family no bank balance because worry is how you fix the stuff the way you get a miracle is lay the worry aside and have faith in God don't worry God's got it all in control [Music] one of the worst feelings in life is to wait one
of the worst feelings in life is to wait especially when it comes to waiting on God you know what I'm talking about some of you right now you may feel like you're waiting on God you've prayed for something and you're you're wondering God what's taking so long God are you even listening have you forgotten me do do do you not even care you might be praying for who knows what maybe you're praying that God would um heal you from migraines perhaps you're asking God to bring a loved one to Christ you might be praying that
God would give you a job with real benefits to help you provide for your family you might ask God to heal you from uh depression or to save your hurting marriage or for God to bring you a spouse and yet the more you pray the less you see you're probably praying on something having faith for something believing for something and yet you've got no word from God you've got no sign that he heard you no sign that he's active no sign that he cares all you want is some answer any answer Give Me A Sign
God give me a feeling give me anything and yet for some of you there's nothing at all what is God doing while we're waiting why does God Feel So Silent I want to remind you that just because God feels silent doesn't mean he's absent God is working while you're waiting while you're wondering behind the scenes the goodness of God the power of God the provision of God the grace of God he's always working he's always working he's working in all things to bring about good he loves you he's a good father he has good plans
for you he wants to bless you he wants to prosper you just because you don't see it happening doesn't mean he's not doing anything what is God doing while you're waiting God is always working even while we're waiting we all have things that we're waiting for a dream to come to pass problem to turn around or to meet the right person when it's taking longer than we thought it's easy to get discouraged to become impatient and think when is it ever going to happen but sometimes it's not happening because we're not prepared for what God
has prepared you're ready for what you have in mind but if you could see what God has in mind you would realize you couldn't handle it right now you need more time to grow to develop to gain experience the scripture says let patience have its perfect work patience is developed in the wait room you may not see anything changing but something is happening patience is working your spiritual muscles are getting stronger you're growing developing p patience is building you getting you prepared so you can sustain what God has coming don't discount The Waiting periods don't
get discouraged because it's not happening as fast as you would like the longer it takes that means the more God has in store when it's your time when he knows you're ready what you give birth to is going to be much bigger than you've imagined we don't live in a culture today where people are willing to be patient and wait uh on God to work in his time frame God has a reason and when he doesn't move as quickly as you want him to move there's a reason why God doesn't move as rapidly as you
want him to move that waiting on the Lord is a good thing and and and keeping that hope and keeping that expectation and looking for God to work it and staying bound and connected to him and in other words not backslide not sliding into your own way not taking matters into your own hands cuz that's what most people do when they're waiting and God doesn't move quick enough they take matters into their own hands and that makes your situation even worse than it already [Music] was waiting patiently means that I'm I'm I'm going to have
an attitude of Hope and expectation I'm determined to stay connected to the Lord I'm not going to backslide I'm not going to get tired of waiting I'm not going to cuss God out I'm not going to walk away I'm not going to quit quit I'm not going to get weary I'm not going to get frustrated I'm just going to sit right here cuz I'm expecting God to move I'm expecting God to do something I'm not going to quit I'm expecting him to work it out we are like patients in a hospital calling the doctor for
advice on how to treat the patient what do you do as a patient when you call the doctor you're not telling the doctor what to do you're waiting on the doctor to tell you what to do most often when we feel like God is doing nothing y'all he is crafting chapter after chapter with the story of your life that he's fully engaged and fully invested in the details of all of our everyday living he is never not doing nothing we never grow spiritually when everything in our life is just the way we want it to
be I mean you can learn something but you still don't really know it if it's just in your head and hasn't been worked into your life yet the only way you ever know what you really believe is to have it put to the test we can sing about trust in God and we can talk about trust in God but not one of you really knows whether or not you trust God until something happens that makes absolutely no sense in your life and you you you feel like it's very unjust and not right and you can't
get any answers from God and you don't feel like he's anywhere in the neighborhood and you're waiting and you're waiting and you're waiting that's when you find out if you really trust God he wants us to believe him to trust him to wait on him with a good attitude as long as you're believing God is working and I'll tell you what we need to be saying more of and i' I've I've been doing this for a good number of years and it's really really helpful when I'm waiting on something and then I start to think
about how long it's been and you know my mind starts to go negative I say out loud God is working God is working and it helps me because he is you know when you get a breakthrough God didn't start just working on that a second before you got it God's working in your life right now he's heard your prayers he's working in your situation but especially when you've prayed prayers for other people you have no control over how long it takes them to listen to God faith is for when you don't see anything when it
doesn't feel good when you have questions that you're not getting answers to and faith is a matter of the heart faith can believe that God is working and that something good is going to happen when everything around them looks the exact opposite I know it doesn't make any sense but I believe God I believe God's working something good is going to happen to me this is going to change and I don't know how long you will have to wait but I do know that God will come through and I do know that you can enjoy
your weight if you will just improve your attitude now do your part and wait with a good attitude not upset complaining when is it ever going to happen no turn it around father thank you that what you started in my life you will finish thank you that what you promised is on the way if you will wait with the right attitude after patience has done its work you're going to see promises come to pass but we see waiting as negative we don't like it nothing is happening we're interested in the destination but God is interested
in the journey he's working on us along the way when we understand that waiting doesn't mean nothing is happening doesn't mean God has forgotten about us it's all a part of the process then we can stay in faith knowing that at the right time God will get us to where we're supposed to be David waited 13 years to take the throne after the prophet Samuel anointed him to be the next king God could have taken him straight to the throne but David wasn't ready he had to go through a time of testing during those 13
years he Faithfully took care of his father's sheep seemed like a menial position he knew he had bigger things in him he had heard the prophet say that he was a king but had David not passed the test in the wait room he would have never made it to the throne he had to show God he would take care of his father's sheep before God would trust him to take care of his sheep the people of Israel while you wait be your best where you are that's a very important time God Is Watching to see
if you're ready and here's the key if what you're praying about isn't changing then God is using that situation to change you if it's not working out then it's working out something in you all things are working for your good God is working in your life I'm telling you if you have prayed a prayer in faith that is according to the will of God God is working sometimes in hindsight you see more of the why behind the weight I'm going to talk to somebody here because right now you don't see it but years from now
you may look back and say oh wow well I'm glad he didn't or I'm glad he did sometimes in hindsight you can see the why behind the wait when we look back we can see exactly why God waited for the perfect time his ways are always good just because God feels silent doesn't mean he's absent whenever you're waiting remember our God is working and one reason we get in a hurry is we think we're falling behind our friend is getting married our cooworker got promoted the neighbors moved into a new house we got to make
things happen we're being left out well here's the key what has your name on it will not go to anyone else what belongs to you will not go to another person David was out in the shepherd's Fields when the prophet Samuel came to his house to to anoint one of the sons as the next King David's father Jesse didn't even bring David in he thought there's no way it's David he's too young when Samuel went to pour the oil on the other seven sons the oil wouldn't flow God was showing us no matter how hard
someone tries to get what's yours they may manipulate canive ignore leave you out the oil is not going to flow to them what has your name on it is coming your way the person the job the house the opportunity the promotion cannot go to anyone else that's why we don't have to live jealous or envious of other people well Joel my coworker got the promotion that I worked so hard for they played politics it wasn't fair if it was supposed to be yours you would have it stay in the weit room keep a good attitude
keep growing keep passing the test what God has for you is on the way the reason it's taking longer is because it's much bigger much more rewarding than youve thought when you see what God did you'll say it was worth a wait when you see the person God brings into your life somebody better than you've dreamed you'll say it was worth the wait Psalm 37 says don't be impatient for the Lord to act travel steady along his path he will honor you and give you the land when you're faithful in the wait room when you
don't get impatient you don't get frustrated by closed doors you don't live jealous of others because you're traveling steady honoring God he will give you the land that means you don't have to make things happen in your own strength you don't have to manipulate people try to force the doors to open God will give you the position give you the the spouse now my challenge don't be impatient for God to act don't be discouraged by what's not happening God is working