WEBVTT - Waiting On My Miracle (Holly Furtick) 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