1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:03,400 Welcome to the Cross Power Church podcast. 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:06,800 You're listening to a service from our church in Campbell, TX. 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,480 We pray this message strengthens your faith and points you to the 4 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,840 cross. Now let's join the service. 5 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,280 Have your Bibles tonight going to going to be in Habakkuk 6 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:22,680 chapter 3 over here in the Old Testament a little bit, but 7 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,320 there's some great stuff in here. 8 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,280 And how many know who Habakkuk was and what he did. 9 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,080 He ministered during the final death throes of Judah. 10 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:36,680 He was living in a nation that was about to be destroyed. 11 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,360 And God had repeatedly, when I look at this, I see a lot of 12 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,800 America today. God had repeatedly called the 13 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,640 nation of Judah to change, but they refused. 14 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,880 He repeatedly called them and he had given prophecies to Habakkuk 15 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:54,800 to go and tell them what was going to happen. 16 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:58,760 And Habakka had some questions. You go home and read chapter 1 17 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:03,320 and he had some questions there about why this had to happen. 18 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,680 But we all have questions when we go through times of trusting 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:09,560 God. And I titled this tonight 20 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,040 Trusting in times of doubt. You know, sometimes when we 21 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:14,720 doubt, we feel like we're lesser. 22 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,640 We feel like God's maybe not going to do what we are praying 23 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,480 for when we doubt, but doubt happens. 24 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,280 But in our doubt, we have to trust God in times of doubt. 25 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:27,600 And that's what Habakkuk did here. 26 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:33,040 But as I said, Judah refused to change and and 586 years before 27 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,800 Christ, the Babylonians and referred to as the Chaldeans, 28 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,720 they the Habakkuk's prophecy came true. 29 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,880 They under the lead of Nebuchadnezzar, they destroyed 30 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,400 Jerusalem and they took the people into captivity. 1 of 31 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,200 Israel's many captives because they refused to change. 32 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,840 And yet today we see this prevalent and and going on where 33 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,720 we live. Many times we refuse to change 34 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:02,240 and we refuse to trust God. But I challenge you tonight, 35 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,320 trust God in times of doubt, even when the doubt comes. 36 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,240 And let's stand in the reading of the word in Habakkuk chapter 37 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:09,680 3. We know the setting of the 38 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:13,720 Scripture and after Habakkuk had had a few questions and God 39 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,840 answered his questions, but it was not the answer that he 40 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,840 wanted. He was, he was trying to to to 41 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,160 maybe persuade God a little bit and asking God why this had to 42 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,800 happen. But yet just as Job did, he, he 43 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:31,120 finally he stopped asking. He stopped questioning and he 44 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,880 said this in chapter 3 of 17. It got a hold of me when I read 45 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,160 this today. It says though the fig tree may 46 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,560 not blossom, nor the fruit beyond the vines, though the 47 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:47,960 labor of the olive may fail and the fields yield no fruit, 48 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:52,880 Anybody ever been there? Though the flock may be cut off 49 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:57,080 from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, You know, 50 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,320 and in those days, the way he was talking here, that meant 51 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,400 that there was no money there. He was broke. 52 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:05,520 He he didn't have anywhere else to turn. 53 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,840 Anybody ever been there? He didn't understand what was 54 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,480 fixing to happen. The nation was to the people 55 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,240 were taking captivity. There was nothing to eat. 56 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,160 Probably there was lots of things going on and in verse 18 57 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:22,800 he said yet I will see he found some faith right there. 58 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:27,640 He said though all these things be going on in my life, yet I 59 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:31,440 will rejoice in the Lord and I will joy in the God of my 60 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,320 salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and 61 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,520 He will make my feet like the deer's feet. 62 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:39,840 We need some deer's feet in the church today. 63 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,880 We need some deer's feet when we're serving God today. 64 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,800 Some feet that are swift to move and jump and do things for God 65 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,480 and He will make me walk on my high heel. 66 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:52,840 Maybe your heels not high tonight. 67 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,720 I come by to tell you, begin to walk on it and you'll begin to 68 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:57,040 be elevated. Amen. 69 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,280 Begin to say, God, give me the feet of a deer. 70 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,600 Give me the leap. Give me the joy that I once had. 71 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:04,640 Let's go to the Lord and prayer. Father, we thank you for your 72 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,120 word tonight. Father, we know that in this 73 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,400 life you said that we will face troubles and trials and 74 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,320 tribulations, but through it all you will lead us, You will guide 75 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,120 us and you will direct us. We thank you for your love and 76 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:19,320 your mercy. I pray I can preach this the way 77 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:21,240 you've given unto me. It's in your Son's name. 78 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,360 I do this. I ask for the anointing to 79 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,280 preach this in Jesus name. Amen. 80 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:33,560 Many times we trust God to accomplish what He promises us 81 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,680 in His word, but the real battle of faith that you know we have 82 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,520 some promises that we read some of God's promises are attached 83 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,640 to principles. They are attached to 84 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,240 prerequisites. We read this in in the book of 85 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:47,960 Hebrews. We can read in book of 86 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:49,800 Deuteronomy. We can read some of the 87 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:54,520 blessings and the cursings, but of some 7000 promises in this 88 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:58,880 book we can stand up on. But the real battle of faith 89 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:03,040 comes, you know, many, many people have faith, but when 90 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,120 faith is under fire, when the doubt is, is coming into your 91 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:11,920 mind, that's when it appears that that, that we have to have 92 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,520 a deeper faith right? When, when, when he appears, 93 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,280 when God appears. And sometimes if you've served 94 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:22,240 God a long time or a short time, maybe some newcomers, it's all 95 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,080 new God's blessing, God's doing things, but the new begins to 96 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,880 wear off of this walk. I'm here to tell you, the new 97 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:33,600 can begin to wear off if we don't saturate ourself in the 98 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,080 presence of God. When we pray prayers and it 99 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,800 appears that God does not respond to our trust. 100 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,240 Can I get a witness? There's some things I've trusted 101 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,360 God for, and it seemed that God did not appear in that area at 102 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:49,040 that time. I'm just going to be real 103 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:51,480 tonight. What should we do when God 104 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,320 appears to have ignored our request? 105 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,680 There's some things we can do. Will we continue to rely upon 106 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:03,440 Him despite the disappointment? Some Christians don't. 107 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:05,840 Can I say this? Most Christians don't. 108 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:09,240 When the disappointment hits, when we don't get the thing we 109 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:13,080 prayed for, when when the sickness maybe doesn't leave at 110 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,560 right, when we think it should or the money doesn't hit it, we 111 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:18,280 go through times of disappointment. 112 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,160 I come by to tell you there are times in this walk you will face 113 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:25,120 disappointment because you trusted God, you had faith in 114 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:29,800 God, and yet it seems that God was despondent to your request. 115 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,120 It seems that everything in your life was maybe in the will of 116 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:35,120 God. But the question is, will we 117 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,800 continue to rely upon Him despite the disappointment or 118 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:41,160 will? There's two options. 119 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,640 You can blaze your own path and turn away from the Lord in 120 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,280 discouragement. Habakkuk demonstrates the 121 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:51,080 essence of true faith here. He says, even though these 122 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:55,120 things happen, I will, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 123 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,040 I may not have anything else, but my soul is secure. 124 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:01,680 I have a home in heaven and I have food on the table, and by 125 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,720 God shall supply all of my needs according to His riches and 126 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,160 glory. He demonstrates a great faith 127 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,920 here to continue to trust in the Lord's wisdom and the Lord's 128 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:18,440 faithfulness even when it seems inactive or uncaring. 129 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,400 Sometimes we will feel like that in our faith. 130 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:25,600 Our faith at this point becomes a matter of devoted allegiance 131 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,760 to the Lord Jesus Christ. You know so many preachers 132 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,680 today, they preach of all the promises that God answers and 133 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:36,080 all the prayers, and he does. But but there comes a time that 134 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,440 you will pray for something and you will have great faith and 135 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,600 you will be trusting God in that area and it will not turn out 136 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:45,280 the way that you thought it should. 137 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,680 Can I get a witness? What do we do at this time? 138 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:51,200 We have to answer these three questions. 139 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,480 I'm going to give you 3 questions that you must answer 140 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,520 tonight if you want to trust God in times of doubt. 141 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,000 Anybody going through doubt tonight about some prayers you 142 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,000 prayed? It's it's not turning out like 143 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,160 you thought it should. We're facing doubt. 144 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:07,120 The question is, do I have confidence? 145 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,120 Write this down. Do I have confidence in Him 146 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:16,080 regardless of the circumstances? It's so easy to get your eyes on 147 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:20,400 the circumstances. It's so easy to be defeated by 148 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,000 the circumstance. Right when the circumstance 149 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,280 comes upon us, the mind begins to be flooded with negative 150 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,640 doubts of fear and and things that have happened in our life. 151 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,440 But write this down. Do I have confidence in him 152 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:37,039 regardless of the circumstance? See when God can look down and 153 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:40,559 he can see and even the enemy when he when he pressed in on 154 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:42,840 Job, what happened? What made the enemy get off of 155 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:44,920 Job? Really and truly is he seeing 156 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,720 that no matter what the circumstance was, he was 157 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,680 fighting a losing battle because Job sealed his lips and he said 158 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:54,000 though he slay me, yet I will praise him. 159 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:56,440 He knew that he was getting nowhere. 160 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,320 I think it gets the enemy off of our back somewhat when he looks 161 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,520 down and he sees, hey, circumstances does not affect 162 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:07,400 this child of God. They have confidence regardless 163 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,440 of what I put them through. The second question we have to 164 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:16,200 ask is do I cling to God and his word in spite of the silence? 165 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:17,720 Come on, don't look at me like that. 166 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:21,880 When he God didn't answer, maybe it went from praise and worship 167 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,560 to to country music. Maybe it went from reading the 168 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:29,400 Bible to not reading the Bible and not open it until I hear 169 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:31,600 from God. A lot of people are like that or 170 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,240 maybe it even came down. Well, I'm going to just withdraw 171 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,520 from the church for a little while until God does this. 172 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:39,840 We get that way. Don't tell me it don't happen to 173 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:41,640 you. I there's times enemies come to 174 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:42,800 me. I thought, man, I'm going to lay 175 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,920 this mic down until I see this answer, till if I can't, if God 176 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:49,480 can't meet this need in my life, how, how can I stand up here and 177 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,960 tell you God can meet your need? That's how the enemy works. 178 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:57,240 But do I cling to God and His word despite the silence? 179 00:09:57,240 --> 00:09:59,640 Because you will go through times of silence. 180 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,480 I went through one year of my life of silence from the 181 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,240 presence of God, feeling nothing but yet praying and seeking God. 182 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,320 And through that God took me to a place that I learned how to 183 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:13,560 never get there again. The third thing as Habakkuk do 184 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:19,840 we say yet yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 185 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:22,800 We must learn to rejoice in the Lord no matter what the 186 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:27,520 circumstances is and tell the enemy, yet I will rejoice. 187 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,240 You know, I, I would like to think preaching got easier over 188 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,600 the years, but I'm getting older. 189 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,360 Y'all are getting older. And it seems every day, man, I 190 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,520 have to, I deal with sickness, I deal with another. 191 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,280 You know, it seems like people are up against the wall today 192 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:44,160 and there's a machine gun going off. 193 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:47,520 And if you don't get hit by one of the bullets of cancer or 194 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:50,960 sickness, you're very fortunate, you're very blessed. 195 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,360 Because the list could go on and on of the calls I've had just 196 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:59,320 lately. It's crazy every day and it 197 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,760 gets, it gets hard as we pray for people as we get older and 198 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,120 we feel pains. Can somebody say, man, we feel 199 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:10,000 aches that we've never felt. Some of the young people don't 200 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,120 know what I'm talking about yet, but you will. 201 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:16,560 And what happens, the mind goes crazy. 202 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:19,640 The mind goes crazy with fear. You know, when you got a pain 203 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,760 used to, you think, man, that's that's hurting because because 204 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:24,360 of what I did or something like that. 205 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:26,000 Now we can't remember what we did. 206 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,280 What did I do to make nothing. It just hurts. 207 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,360 But then the enemy comes in and you think of a conversation you 208 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:39,000 had with someone that had the same pain in the same place, 209 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:41,200 right? And then, and then they went to 210 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,480 the doctor and they were ate up with disease and maybe cancer 211 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,440 and those things. And our mind begins to run 212 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,040 rapid. Did y'all do that? 213 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:52,520 Come on, we're human. The doubt begins to flood our 214 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:57,360 mind and we begin to to to focus on the circumstance right 215 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,520 instead of the God that can heal and take us out of the 216 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,240 circumstance. We have God's word to stand on 217 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:08,400 to help us and we must learn to build a wall around our mind. 218 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:10,040 Amen. The apostle Paul said. 219 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,320 We must learn to take that thought captive and bring it 220 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,360 under the authority and the submission of God and be willing 221 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,280 to punish all the disobedience of God. 222 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,360 Doubt is disobedience to God, but do we trust Him in the 223 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:25,560 doubt? It becomes a different thing to 224 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:29,720 start trusting God in the doubt. We do see a lot of healings. 225 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,440 We do see. We just heard of 1 here and and 226 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,200 Jennifer can tell you of a sciatic nerve that she was 227 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:37,040 facing surgery. She started coming here. 228 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:38,240 She said I don't know what happened. 229 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,360 It just don't hurt no more. I said I know what happened. 230 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,200 Amen. We look at Sister Margie, we 231 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,560 look at the healings that have taken place. 232 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:51,920 But sometimes it seems that those with great faith do not 233 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,120 receive, I think of Brother James, great faith. 234 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:57,240 He's going through a trial tonight. 235 00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:59,480 He's going through a trial. He needs our prayers. 236 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:01,920 They're, they're putting another feeding tube in today. 237 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,920 And, and, and that the lung that they put in as the textile guide 238 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:07,880 is, is that it may have a hole in it. 239 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,280 There's getting fluid and they may have to just own and oh, 240 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,640 it's just one set back after another. 241 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:15,920 And he's a great man of faith. If I've ever seen no doubt in no 242 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:17,720 one's mind. It was when I prayed with him 243 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,360 and when I talked with him. And when we go stand by the 244 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,000 bedside, he, he lifts us up, doesn't he, brother? 245 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,600 But but we don't understand that sometimes. 246 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:28,320 But we have to trust God in the doubt. 247 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:33,800 Numbers 23 and 19, it says that God is not a man that he should 248 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,960 lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. 249 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,680 Has he said he will make it good? 250 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,280 That's the God we serve. What He says He will make good 251 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:48,880 in His time. It's not always in our time 252 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,800 because our ways are what help me, not his ways. 253 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,000 But his ways are higher than our ways. 254 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,360 He knows what's best. I think of the words of King 255 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:01,160 Darius when we look at someone that did not doubt the Bible is 256 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:03,800 full of them. You know, when David stepped out 257 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,400 to be great, David had to do some great things to have the 258 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:10,000 testimony. He, he failed God a lot of times 259 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,720 in a lot of ways. But when the giants of his life 260 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:14,960 seemed to come, he didn't look at the giant. 261 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:18,240 He looked at the opportunity. He looked at A at A, at A, at a 262 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:22,000 big giant that he could slay and give God the glory and deliver 263 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,720 God's people. I think of the words of King 264 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:27,760 Darius said echo through Daniel's mind as the servants 265 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:31,280 lured him into the lion's den. They lured him into the lion's 266 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:35,160 den and and as he said, your God whom you constantly serve will 267 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:37,920 deliver you the king give him a little bit of faith there. 268 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,160 But but Daniel already knew because see, the workers had 269 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,320 already laid the stone against the mouth of the den. 270 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,200 It was already going to happen. And even after assessing the 271 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,200 situation, Daniel did not waver in his faith. 272 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:53,520 He didn't change his mind the next. 273 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,280 And as the lions had closed, God had closed the lion's mouth. 274 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,080 King Darius found what you know, the story. 275 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,960 He found Daniel untouched, proclaiming, O King, live, live 276 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:06,000 forever. My God sent his Angel in the 277 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,400 night to shut the lion's mouth. You know, there's something we 278 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,960 miss on the story of that a lot. And and you know that in those 279 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:15,880 days when they were going to throw someone in the lion's den 280 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:18,680 and they were going to, that was a form of execution. 281 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:22,280 They were supposed to die. History says that they would 282 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:26,960 starve these lines for weeks before they threw a body of 283 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,960 flesh down in there for them. And so they were hungry lions. 284 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:34,440 It's even a greater miracle than many think, because he closed 285 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,680 the mouth of those. But how did Daniel survive? 286 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:43,080 The lions were very hungry, but Daniel's faith was never and his 287 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:45,680 fate was never in the hands of men. 288 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:49,720 See, we, we, we need to realize that sometime our fate is not in 289 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,240 the hands of doctors. They can help us, they can hurt 290 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,520 us, but our fate is not in the hands of them. 291 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:01,160 Our life belongs to God. The Bible is clear that our days 292 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:05,200 and our times are in his hands. You know, I was still hearing 293 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,920 some stuff the other day. That's just crazy that's going 294 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,720 on. And I mean, it's, it's crazy the 295 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,640 things that are happening in the UK and different places. 296 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:15,760 They, they have these nudist cruises. 297 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:19,440 You can go on and you can be a part of the nudist cruise if you 298 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:21,760 want to. Not really something I've ever 299 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,560 desired, but but you can go do that. 300 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,040 And, and it just seems like on every hand, we just try to go a 301 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,880 little deeper against the commandments of God. 302 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,720 We try to do those things and, and, and, and just to disappoint 303 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,080 God. And how long will God tarry? 304 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:42,040 How long will God tarry? But Daniel survived by placing 305 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:46,720 his trust in God. But what else was he placing it 306 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:48,640 in? I, I, he, he, he, Maybe he's 307 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:50,840 seen the Angel of the Lord that appeared that night. 308 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,560 I don't know what he's seen, but I do know that that he had 309 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:57,600 placed his trust in God in a time that he could have really 310 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,840 doubted God. He placed his trust in God in a 311 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:06,520 time that was very hard in his life, and he placed his faith in 312 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,400 God's promises. The same things we have today, 313 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:13,160 that somehow, some, some way God's going to take care of me, 314 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:15,880 right? Each of us can remember times 315 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:19,200 when we wish we we had a sure word from God, something that we 316 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:21,160 could just take a hold of and run. 317 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:23,960 But in times of doubt, it's not always like that. 318 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:28,280 It's times that God's waiting and he, he's waiting and, and, 319 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:30,760 and it's like he's just withdrawing from us for a little 320 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,720 bit to help build our faith. I don't know, but we have to 321 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,480 keep claiming the promises of God. 322 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:40,960 Sometimes we look for the why in the doubt. 323 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,960 Sometimes there there is no why. Sometimes there, there is no, 324 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:49,080 there is no one that can answer your question on this earth. 325 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:51,640 That's when wait. Well, that's when doubt enters 326 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:53,680 in. But we must must remember that 327 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:55,800 God's word is an immovable anchor. 328 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:00,320 It's an immovable anchor in the times of a storm if we cling to 329 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:02,440 it. God's word is a compass and a 330 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:04,640 guide, an instruction book to life. 331 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,320 You know, I, I think of myself, if I went in there, if my wife 332 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,760 told me to go bake a cake and she give me the instructions, 333 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:13,200 what's the first thing I would do? 334 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:14,960 I wouldn't read the instructions. 335 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:18,400 I thank God in my spiritual life I'm not like that, but in real 336 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:23,080 life I I used to be like that. But after many dangers, tolls 337 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,880 and snares of putting things together and Chris, I think of 338 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:28,600 this at Christmas, putting these anybody ever put one of them 339 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:32,640 swing sets together that kids swing on them little metal ones. 340 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,520 I lost some instructions and I had to go it alone one time and 341 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,120 this thing was half as big as this stage. 342 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,520 But thank God we have an instruction booklet. 343 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,880 I'd I challenge you to read it if I was going to go bake a 344 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,160 cake, though, I think I would just go to pour it and trying to 345 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:50,960 put eggs, try to figure it out. And I promised it it wouldn't 346 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:55,440 turn on very good. My wife told me this morning I'm 347 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,480 having this glasses trouble and she said there's these little 348 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:03,240 them little French toast sticks. And she says, you know, the air 349 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:06,720 fryer is the new deal. I mean, if, if, if it don't 350 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,040 taste good, put it in air fryer and it'll come out good. 351 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,160 They say I have to chew it sometimes, say it didn't work, 352 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,880 but most time it works, right. But I was going to put some of 353 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:17,560 these in here because our toaster broke. 354 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,640 I was going to learn how to run the air fryer talking about 355 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:22,760 trusting and doubting instructions, right? 356 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:25,360 And my wife said them little French toast sticks are in 357 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:26,400 there. So I got them out. 358 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,840 Well, I'm trying to get this air fryer to push one side and it 359 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,240 cancels it out over here. I'm about to have me a little 360 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,720 moment in there. I'd push it and it'd go back to 361 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,280 the temperature I didn't want and it'd go back and she, you 362 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:38,560 know, she comes there, just let me do it. 363 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,120 So she's doing it. She goes to put the she goes to 364 00:19:41,120 --> 00:19:44,360 put the French toast in there. I didn't have no glasses. 365 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:46,680 That's the first thing I should have done was got glasses. 366 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,720 It makes life easier at our age. But I walked back over there and 367 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:52,920 she's being smart. You know, she's talking about, 368 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:54,560 she said we ain't even got the right thing. 369 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:55,960 She said these are cheese sticks. 370 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:01,040 I was fixing the butter and syrup them dudes up and I was 371 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:03,160 fixing to eat me some garlic cheese stick. 372 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:10,080 I said, I told you, I told her. I said we better go somewhere. 373 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:11,760 Get me some glasses. I'm going to hug the wrong 374 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:15,680 woman. I said that's how, that's how 375 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:17,120 bad my eyes are. Kidding. 376 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:20,760 I did that one time in a crowd, one time in law. 377 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:22,600 So I thought it was her. I reached over there and it 378 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:24,000 looked. I was like that ain't her hair 379 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:26,200 looked the same. Anybody ever done that? 380 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,720 You just maybe put your arm around the wrong person. 381 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:35,800 But I have an excuse now. My eyes are bad, right? 382 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,440 Is anybody there? I broke the prescription I had. 383 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:42,800 I wore them out. I didn't lose them. 384 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:44,800 I kept them things two years, but I've been without them about 385 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:46,480 a year now. I'm fixing to get some because I 386 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,560 have 3 pair. None of them are ever in my 387 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,080 pocket at the need that I have at the time. 388 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:53,120 You know, like what? Right now I can't see y'all. 389 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:55,280 I can see this, but I can't see y'all. 390 00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:00,600 So when you confuse cheese sticks for French toast, they 391 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:02,640 look the same though, y'all? They're the same packages 392 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:04,840 system. I think they were, I'm not sure, 393 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,720 but anybody, anybody else? I embarrass myself up here. 394 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,320 Anybody else got anything they've done like that crazy 395 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:21,640 every day, every day. My only question is, as we get 396 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,960 older, why God gives us more to keep up with. 397 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,440 I could have kept up with them glasses when I was younger. 398 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:34,280 Hey, man, now I can't keep up. But when David sought God's 399 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:40,760 heart regarding his desire to do things, God responded. 400 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:43,960 David was always about, you know, he was a he. 401 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,600 He was a man after God's own heart, the Bible says. 402 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:48,360 Yet he was an adulterer and he was a murderer. 403 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:50,520 Some people don't understand that, But he always repented. 404 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,120 He always turned back to God, and he was always working for 405 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:57,160 God and doing the things that God wanted him to do. 406 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:01,440 So, but God never fails to keep a promise He makes. 407 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:07,000 He wants us to get in His Word and listen for His voice because 408 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,080 many times we're praying out of the will of God for our life. 409 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:15,800 We have to pray, you know, we, God knows if He gives some the 410 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,880 big promotion or the big job, it would just draw Him away from 411 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,600 Him. It's never before anybody ever 412 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:24,240 been there. And then you knew that the 413 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,600 pleasure wasn't worth the pain, right? 414 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:29,280 But God knows what's best for us. 415 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:33,920 We have to trust Him in times of doubt, Listen to His voice. 416 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:36,440 That's where our responsibility comes in. 417 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:40,280 God gives promises, but we must be willing to patiently wait for 418 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:44,720 him to fulfill them. We can't fulfill the promises of 419 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:46,320 God. We can simply stand on them, 420 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:47,600 right? And claim them. 421 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,400 And when God decides to open up the windows of heaven and pour 422 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:55,760 them on us, we can receive them. But never try putting God in the 423 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,200 time box. That's not a good thing. 424 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,680 But we we're good at doing it right because we think time is 425 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:06,280 running out and we know it is. But God has all the time in the 426 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:09,480 world because we're in such a hurry. 427 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,560 But really, you know, we're going to live forever. 428 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:15,120 We're an eternal being. We're going to go to sleep, 429 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:18,360 we're going to live forever. I've been trying to think a life 430 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:20,120 like instead of trying to y'all ever do that? 431 00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:22,240 When you're getting ready to go somewhere, you may have had six 432 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,320 months to do some things, but you're leaving for a week and 433 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:27,560 it's got to be done. The day you're leaving, it's 434 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:31,320 laid there for six months and you walk by it, but today you 435 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,480 got to pick it all up and move it and do those things. 436 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,400 But you know, we're an eternal being. 437 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,960 We're going to live forever. It puts it in different 438 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,440 perspective when we look at it like that. 439 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:44,280 Never try putting God in a time box. 440 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,280 Instead, leave room as you stand your feet tonight, leave room 441 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,360 for Him to bring everything together according to His plan 442 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,720 and His timing. Because we find that when we do 443 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,040 this, we will be glad that we did right. 444 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,640 Because when it's in his timing, it works. 445 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:04,480 But what a great scripture tonight. 446 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:08,160 I want to read that again in Habakkuk chapter 3. 447 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,160 Maybe you're going through a storm tonight. 448 00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:17,040 Trusting in times of doubt, we have to learn to trust how many. 449 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:18,760 I'm going through some storms right now. 450 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:20,800 I know many of y'all are going through some storms. 451 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:24,760 But though the fig tree may not blossom, nor the fruit beyond 452 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:27,160 the vines, when you think about the Scriptures, you close your 453 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:31,120 eyes and worship. Tonight, though the labor of the 454 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:33,760 olive may fell in, the fields yield no fruit. 455 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,320 Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no 456 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:44,640 herd in the stalls, yet say that with me, yet I will rejoice in 457 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:46,240 the Lord. Thanks. 458 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,200 For listening to the Cross Powered Church Podcast, may you 459 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,880 know that true hope, peace, and salvation can only be found in 460 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,880 Jesus. If you're near Campbell, TX we 461 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,000 would love for you to join us in person. 462 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,600 You can find service times at crosspowerchurch com.