1 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:08,320 I discovered this week people like when I share stats and 2 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:10,640 studies. Here's 1 you won't like. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:17,440 Studies show that we spend on average five years of our entire 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:29,320 lives waiting. Five years, 24/7 waiting. 5 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:32,600 I don't know about you, but I hate waiting. 6 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,640 I think ranking up there with one of the things I hate waiting 7 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:44,160 the most for is parking. Maybe you haven't had it, but in 8 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:48,480 my BC days, you had it yesterday. 9 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:50,720 Yeah. More Lord, more. 10 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:55,400 Yeah. You get to that parking spots 11 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:58,600 and they, they see that you're waiting while they unpack all 12 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,760 the groceries and they take their time and they take their 13 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:04,599 time. Yeah, get a brother in arm. 14 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:08,760 And then they climb in the car. And I don't know, maybe they 15 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:13,640 check e-mail, you know, respond to that job offer, notify their 16 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:15,400 husband. Now. 17 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:16,960 I said, what? Gender Notify. 18 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:25,680 And she puts it in reverse. The lights are white, but the 19 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,960 car's not moving. And you missed four or five 20 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:31,840 parking spots because, you know, you're indicating here and they 21 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:32,960 don't get that one. Yeah. 22 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:35,320 And then they wind down the window. 23 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:41,040 I'm not leaving now. Yeah. 24 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,760 Or you go to that restaurants table for two, please. 25 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,120 Did you did you book? Have you made a reservation? 26 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,000 But like, it's empty, you know? Yes, but that one's reserved for 27 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,000 next week, Wednesday at 6:00. So we just don't. 28 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,680 Yeah, Uber Eats is kind of up there at the moment. 29 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:58,680 You know, you order from two different places. 30 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:00,120 The one arrives 10 minutes later. 31 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,720 The other one, you know, you're in bed and my wife is at the 32 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:04,400 gates. Thank you for the food. 33 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,960 Yeah, I don't know what WhatsApp are thinking. 34 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:12,600 Typing. Hey, babes, I'm at the shops. 35 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:14,080 Is there anything you need me to get for you? 36 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:21,480 Send receive blue tick typing. OK, still typing. 37 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,120 Let me go and get the trolley because clearly it's a long 38 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:26,360 list. So I get, you know, and you're 39 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,080 standing there. It's like a Cam ready typing 40 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:39,080 anything gone, no message. I'm like, I am highly medicated 41 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:47,440 and This is why all my favorite raw preachers and absolute 42 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:52,200 cracker, we're crying. The presence of God is here. 43 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,440 I get up to host and close the meeting and someone can't wait 44 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:00,160 for me to finish praying. They're ducking out because they 45 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:04,040 don't want to wait in line here. And it normally happens from 46 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:11,320 this group over here. And it's not even it's not a we 47 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,120 sneaking out. It's dragging little Johnny and 48 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,720 he brought drums to church in the backpack. 49 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:25,560 Who's it going to be today? I'll make sure Kai prays a long, 50 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:29,640 loud prayer because we hate waiting. 51 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,960 Can't even wait for an Amen. So we're doing a series called 52 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:35,800 Teach us to Pray. And today I want to. 53 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,080 If there's a titled swimmer sermon, it's teach us to wait. 54 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,760 Teach us to wait. So grab your Bible, get to 55 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:53,000 Isaiah chapter 64. I'll wait a little bit of a fine 56 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:54,800 prints. I'm not going to answer all your 57 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,240 questions. This is not going to be a 58 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,400 theological thesis. This is just a guy on his knees 59 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,600 waiting who wants to show you a thing or two that I've learned 60 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:10,520 over the years as I 64. If you're not there and if you 61 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,400 don't have a Bible, why I'll put it up on the screen because I 62 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:19,600 want you to see this. Isaiah 64 verse 4 says since the 63 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:25,680 world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like 64 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:31,720 you who works for those who wait for Him. 65 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:39,880 What a verse, what a God. Since the world began, no ear 66 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:46,520 has heard and no eye has seen a God like the one we call Father, 67 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,120 who works for those who wait for Him. 68 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,800 Some translations say, Who acts on behalf of, who intercedes on 69 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,960 behalf of those who wait for him. 70 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,400 This is why we need to say, Lord, would you teach us to 71 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,000 wait? Because if we get this, what we 72 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:13,560 get in return is a God who works on our behalf, the God who works 73 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,840 for those who waits. If you have your Bible right in 74 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:21,440 the in next to verse 4, Two Chronicles 20, and then head on 75 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,160 over there. While you're paging there, the 76 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:28,200 back story to Two Chronicles 20, there's a king by the name of 77 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:33,400 Jehoshaphat and the enemies are amassing on their shores. 78 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,240 It talks about the Moabites and Ammonites and Meonites. 79 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,440 They've all gathered against the nation of Judah. 80 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,760 If you know your Bible history, there are 12 tribes of Israel. 81 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,760 Ten of them went the other way and they've already been taken 82 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,520 off by hoarding masses. And now you could just got these 83 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,120 last two tribes of Judah and Benjamin in Jerusalem. 84 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,360 It's the least of these, and three nations have now amassed. 85 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,200 And this is in verse 2. Some people came and told 86 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,040 Jehoshaphat, A vast army is coming against you from Edom 87 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:07,720 from the other side of the Dead Sea. 88 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:12,040 It's already in Haziz and Tamar, that is, in Gedi, that is less 89 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:19,200 than 40 kilometers away. Alarmed, Jehoshaphat called on 90 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:23,320 the mighty men, gathered his troops, sent money to Egypt to 91 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:27,720 get armies. No Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved 92 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:35,440 to inquire of the Lord. I don't know if it was you, a 93 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,920 threat of your life what you would do, I'd spring into 94 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,880 action. Jehoshaphat springs into waiting 95 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,440 on the Lord. It says in verse 4, the people 96 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:46,560 of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord. 97 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,040 They came from every town in Judah to seek Him. 98 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:53,040 So here you got a king who knows that since the beginning of the 99 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:58,000 world no ear has heard, no eye has seen a God who works for 100 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,160 those who wait. The king seems to know this. 101 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,560 The people seem to know this. They gather from all the cities 102 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,680 across Judah to come and wait on God. 103 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,160 And so the king now prays and he says, listen, we're not here 104 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,560 just out of happenstance. This has been taught to us by 105 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,640 our forefathers. It actually says in verse 8, 106 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,200 they built a sanctuary for your name, saying this is what our 107 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:22,280 forefathers did for us. It says they built the 108 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:24,000 sanctuary. And they said, if calamity comes 109 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,560 upon us, whether the sword of judgments or plague or famine, 110 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,680 we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears 111 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,280 your name. And we will cry out to you in 112 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,280 our distress, and you will hear us, and you will save us, 113 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,000 because you are a God who works for those who wait. 114 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,480 And then verse 12, one of my favorite verses in the Bible. 115 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:51,280 For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking 116 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,840 us. We don't know what to do, but 117 00:07:54,840 --> 00:08:03,240 our eyes are on you. What a God, what an example. 118 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:07,560 We have no power to face this vast army. 119 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:16,320 What vast army are you facing? Maybe it's finances, maybe 120 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:18,280 you've been stuck in the hall. Maybe you just haven't recovered 121 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,080 since COVID. The side hustle is dying, you 122 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,240 haven't had a raise, inflation, petrol price, all of that and 123 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:26,160 now you're hemorrhaging finances. 124 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,720 What is your vast army? Maybe it's health. 125 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:35,240 Had a friend a few weeks ago. The doctor didn't quite know how 126 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:39,919 to tell them the news and so awkwardly said, I think you need 127 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:44,960 to work on your bucket list. What is the vast army? 128 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,840 Is this there? We have no power to face this 129 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,920 vast army. Maybe it's those in your 130 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:53,720 workplace that have risen up against you. 131 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,120 Maybe it's a spouse. Maybe it's that you're single. 132 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:02,960 From time to time, I help out with the AV team, which means 133 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:08,920 that I stand at the back there and I've watched ongoingly, a 134 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,000 husband and wife and their family come to church on a 135 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:16,920 Sunday and she stands in radiant worship of her heavenly Father. 136 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:22,360 And he sits, calls himself a Christian, but he won't stand 137 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,480 and worship this God. He'll he'll sit there sometimes 138 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:29,480 on his phone. And I've watched the ache. 139 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,160 I can. It's tangible because when she 140 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,240 brings her kids, her kids stand and they're teenagers, and her 141 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:40,120 son is from time to time looking at her husband, like, is it OK 142 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:41,920 if I stand in worship? You know, am I going to get 143 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:43,480 moaned at by Dad? Am I caught? 144 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,400 What is that vast army? I have no power. 145 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:53,960 We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you. 146 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:59,240 We don't know what to do. This is unprecedented. 147 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,560 This is the end of me, the end of my career, maybe end of my 148 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:06,640 marriage, end of my finances. But we don't know what to do. 149 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:13,840 But our eyes are on you because since the world began, no eye 150 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:17,200 has seen, no ear has heard. A God like the God that we 151 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:20,720 serve, a God who works for those who wait, you know, And I 152 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:22,920 realized that you can. You can pick a page. 153 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:24,960 Pick a page in your Bible. Yeah. 154 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:26,200 Start right at the very beginning. 155 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:31,400 Joseph, Moses, Joshua. Page through to Ruth and Esther 156 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:35,000 and Daniel and David and Paul and Peter. 157 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,960 What do you find there are Saints, sons and daughters of 158 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:44,560 God are saying, I don't know what to do with my eyes or on 159 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:49,320 you. And you hear on those same pages 160 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:57,400 the whispers of God's word. Since the world began, no eye 161 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:03,640 has seen, no ear has heard of a God like me who works while you 162 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,400 wait. You can pick a page. 163 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:10,000 You can pick a person. Sabrina, Annie, Dennis, Royal, 164 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:14,360 Hilton, Kath, Kai, Wadner, Somaine. 165 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,840 Pick a person. I guarantee you there's been a 166 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,360 moment and it might even be today where you are saying, I 167 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,160 don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you. 168 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:30,880 To which I ask you, have you heard the whispers of God Says I 169 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:37,360 will work while you wait. What does that look like? 170 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:42,520 It's very easy to say Andrew Murray says it like this, says 171 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,760 the whole relationship of all creation to its creator. 172 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:51,000 Is this a continuous universal dependence on Him? 173 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:55,320 Therefore, the place and nature of man is nothing but this. 174 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:59,560 To wait upon God and receive from Him what He alone can give. 175 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,960 The whole relationship of all of creation to its Creator is to 176 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:10,320 wait upon God and receive from Him what He alone can give. 177 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:17,760 But man do I hate waiting. I wonder what the statistics 178 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,720 would show if we had to find out from those who drift from God, 179 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,000 who leave church, deny their faith. 180 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,560 I wonder how much of that revolves around waiting. 181 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:30,040 So what does it look like to wait on God? 182 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:34,600 I want to just pick up one Psalm because we can. 183 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:37,040 We can spend weeks on this. And this is Psalm 27. 184 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:39,280 If you have your Bible open over to Psalm 27. 185 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,840 I've been there so much. My Bible actually flips open to 186 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:43,400 Psalm 27. At the moment. 187 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:47,960 It's it's known as a war Psalm because he uses words like the 188 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,400 wicked advance against me in the day of trouble. 189 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:54,520 My enemies surround me. But it's also smear campaign. 190 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,280 David is saying things like they are false witnesses. 191 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,680 They are spewing malicious accusations. 192 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:06,080 They have literally declared war against me with their words. 193 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:09,360 So that's Psalm 27. Yeah, don't read it on a Monday. 194 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,600 Maybe read it on a Monday because the very last verse on 195 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:16,120 2714. It's like he's built this entire 196 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,640 monstrosity and it lands on one verse. 197 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:26,320 Psalm 2714 says wait upon the Lord. 198 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:31,240 Be strong and take heart and wait upon the Lord. 199 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:36,480 Now what does it mean to wait on the Lord? 200 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:38,920 That that word in the Hebrew is cava. 201 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,520 It's it's a word that's always translated into for us wait. 202 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:45,560 But the beautiful thing about Hebrew is it's an incredibly 203 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:47,880 colorful, rich, textured language. 204 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:52,000 And and wait is so 2 dimensional Kavar. 205 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:55,320 It can mean and does mean to wait, but it waits. 206 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,480 It means to wait where you sort of like if I were to grab hold 207 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,640 the reel as he's as he's walking out the door because it means to 208 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:08,560 tie together with twisting that's waiting to entwine 209 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:13,800 inseparably together or to rap tightly. 210 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,280 See, waiting is not let go and let God. 211 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:23,160 Waiting is grabbing a hold of God to entwine your heart with 212 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:24,880 his. I think this is what Jesus 213 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:27,200 starts when he says, listen, this is how you should pray. 214 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:31,840 Begin with our Father. Entwine your heart with your 215 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,120 father. Entwine your heart with his 216 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:37,960 purposes, with his plans, with his promises. 217 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,160 What has he spoken over that situation? 218 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,600 Entwine your heart, wait upon the Lord, be strong and take 219 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:46,480 heart. Wait. 220 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,280 And that middle portion there, it's a, it's quite a quaint 221 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:55,400 Hebrew phrase to take hearts and to be strong and courageous. 222 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:59,360 It can mean, you know, be alert, be brave, be courageous, but 223 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:04,400 it's also got this element of fortifying your heart of making 224 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:07,600 your feet firmly secure. So we're not just waiting 225 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,680 passively. Your God will do is look, we are 226 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:12,440 grounding and entwining ourselves into the heart of the 227 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,640 father and 11 translation actually says harden your heart, 228 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,800 which is weird because normally harden you harden your heart 229 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,520 against what God wants to do. But this is a picture of 230 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,080 hardening your heart like cementing your heart to his 231 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:29,280 heart. Be entwined with your God who 232 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:35,600 moves for those who wait, who works and acts and intervenes on 233 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:40,440 behalf of those who wait. And it's an absolutely 234 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,520 incredible picture because if you get this, if you get this, 235 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,600 actually what I've found over the last few days and studying 236 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:51,040 this portion of Scripture, it's like God has shown me some kind 237 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:56,000 of a delight in the wait. I think if we get this, there 238 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,440 will be such a delight in the wait that the answer will become 239 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,480 secondary. You know, if you've ever met 240 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:07,400 someone who's gone through some stuffs, lost everything, or came 241 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,720 close to death, you know, you chat to them and you ask them 242 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,840 like, you know, would you ever, always, I suppose you hope you'd 243 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:16,520 never go through that again. The answer is yes. 244 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,240 I really hope I would never have to encounter that again. 245 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:26,360 But I'm so glad I did, because in waiting on the Lord, He 246 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:31,880 entwines his heart to you. He deals, He exposes with 247 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,440 insecurities and fears and doubts. 248 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,600 He uses the time to peel back some layers so that you can 249 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:41,600 actually know what you believe. Just how much do I trust that 250 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:43,760 this God can heal my sick daughter? 251 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:51,920 He'll push all those buttons and slowly carve away all of that 252 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:55,280 which is of you and replace it with that which is of His heart. 253 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:02,480 And it is profound because we run from it, because we hate it, 254 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,920 because it hurts and it's terrifying to actually 255 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:09,079 encounter. What is it that you genuinely 256 00:17:09,079 --> 00:17:13,359 believe? Is he really who he says he is? 257 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,400 Do you believe that he is who he says he is? 258 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:21,720 And so David ends it. I think he's talking to himself. 259 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:27,359 Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart and 260 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:34,360 wait for the Lord. A few years ago I had the 261 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:36,640 privilege of almost losing my business and going through 262 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:41,640 Hellfire. And the problem is we had just 263 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,160 done so well. The year before that I'd done 264 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:49,280 all the TV ads for the Rugby World Cup for Absa. 265 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:51,960 I was the voice of BMW and Samsung. 266 00:17:52,960 --> 00:18:05,400 You can't afford me, Rory, anything else. 267 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,160 So we were we were printing money. 268 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,480 We were living large. So much so that we decided now's 269 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,880 a good time to try to have kids. Kath was pregnant. 270 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,920 Well, sorry, Noah was born. And so we just sort of working 271 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:27,520 her out of needing to work. And then I lost my anchor client 272 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:38,120 couldn't afford you snap before snap before if we could. 273 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,680 And we went from printing money to I don't even think we were 274 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:52,480 making 20% of budget. But I'm a man of God, got my 275 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,520 theology degree, and I would call myself a radical 276 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:57,440 intercessor. So I did what came naturally. 277 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:03,640 I just worked twice as hard. I started an hour earlier, I 278 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,560 worked through my lunch breaks and I finished an hour later. 279 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,080 And I worked part time on Saturdays because this thing 280 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,920 wasn't going to finish me this vast army. 281 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:18,080 And I decided that I would put together a proposal for a new 282 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,520 client and a new idea once every week. 283 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,240 And not one of those proposals were accepted. 284 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,320 Actually, it went the other way. I remember, I just remembered 285 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,320 this morning, there was one client we had to finally 286 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:33,960 there's, there's like nice one little bit of good work that 287 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:35,920 came through. And right at the very end they 288 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,280 said, listen, can you just put a statement together of, you know, 289 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,640 of all the bits and pieces? And so I emailed that through 290 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:44,160 and they paid for that entire statement. 291 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:46,200 I was like double paid. I'd already been paid for 292 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:47,600 everything, all the bits and pieces. 293 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,200 I sent it through to her and 5 minutes later I get paid, double 294 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,600 paid. I'm sitting there like, oh, what 295 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:56,440 do I do? She made a mistake. 296 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,680 No one would know. So I asked them for their bank 297 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:03,120 details and I paid the money back. 298 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:05,400 And she's like, sure, that's so weird. 299 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:06,640 We wouldn't have noticed it. I'm looking. 300 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:12,600 Don't tell me that days became weeks and weeks became months 301 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,800 and months became more than a year. 302 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:18,800 And you're like, Lord, where are you? 303 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,280 I was on my knees repenting of sins that you know. 304 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:29,200 That the pencil that I stole from my friend when I was 3 and 305 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,600 I remember I didn't return that toy and I broke my mom's mug and 306 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:33,800 like, Lord, that's like anything. 307 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,440 What do I, what's the formula? How can I get through? 308 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,480 Just don't make me wait. How can I short circuit this 309 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,560 thing? And then remarkably 310 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:45,560 supernaturally, I got an e-mail from a client. 311 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:47,680 A lot of the time I never actually met the clients. 312 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:49,840 You know, if you were doing work for East Coast radio or Seminar 313 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,160 2 or even OFM, you get an e-mail. 314 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:54,920 This is the job. This is the the brief, finish 315 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:56,520 the project, send it off and you get paid. 316 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,360 And the one lady, I remember it was about 3:00 on a Friday 317 00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:02,440 afternoon. I get this e-mail and it's a 318 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:06,000 very awkward e-mail. She's saying to me, listen, I 319 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,560 don't quite know how to say this, but I'm a Christian. 320 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:09,800 So she didn't, she didn't met me. 321 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,280 She didn't know I was a Christian, but she's saying I'm 322 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:16,960 a Christian and I believe that my God speaks to me and he's 323 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,840 been speaking to me about you. And then she wrote a paragraph 324 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:23,560 word for word of what we were going through. 325 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:27,760 It was frightening. And right at the very end was 326 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,200 the promise. Wait on the Lord. 327 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:34,800 He works for those who wait. He'll come through for you. 328 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:37,600 You are of the head and not the tail. 329 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:43,320 Just receive Shabba Baba filled like yes, we're eating a spur 330 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:49,000 tonight going big, but not just that Monday. 331 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:54,080 My mom phones me. She says, my boy, you won't 332 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,640 believe this, but Barbara, which is her best friend and down in 333 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:00,800 Durban, was at church this Sunday and Barbara had gone. 334 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:02,840 And the pastor, before he started preaching, he said, hey, 335 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,760 listen, I just feel that I have a word for someone here. 336 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,800 Is there a Stephen? Can I see a Stephen? 337 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:12,160 No one. And that's really bad for a 338 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:14,840 pastor. Prophetic word. 339 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:21,240 I see clearly Stephen's son. Yeah, he's like anyone here, 340 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:24,640 married to a Stephen and he's at home, not a hand. 341 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:27,800 You got a son named Stephen, Please. 342 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,600 Yeah. And out of exasperation, he 343 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:32,920 says, did anyone know any Stephen at all? 344 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:39,160 Barbara puts up and my friend's son's paragraph exactly word for 345 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:43,440 word what we are going through. And it ended. 346 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,640 The Lord works for those who wait. 347 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,880 We're going big tonight got prophetic word. 348 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:59,720 It's been confirmed and it was almost eight months later. 349 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:03,240 We're on the brink of losing everything, huh. 350 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:07,000 I mean like properly we do like worst case scenario, move in 351 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:17,480 with your mother-in-law bad. Help me Jesus. 352 00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:22,160 That's when you tested on what you really believe. 353 00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:25,000 You know God, are you really good? 354 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,480 Actually, I've gotten to the point where I despise those two 355 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,440 prophetic words because those two prophetic words changed from 356 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,960 working to waiting, and I hate waiting. 357 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,920 Answer me now. Do you realize, Lord? 358 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:50,600 But we read here that to wait is to entwine your heart with the 359 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:56,040 heart of the Father, be strong and courageous, allow him to 360 00:23:56,040 --> 00:24:00,400 circumcise your heart and in its place graft you into his heart. 361 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,120 And when you get that, when you understand that, you will know 362 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,920 that it is worth the wait. Because what happened at the 363 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:15,280 very end of that year somehow, and I can't explain why, I just 364 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,280 knew that I knew that I knew that I was called to full time 365 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,080 ministry. I never wanted anything to do 366 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:22,160 with it. My grandparents were 367 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,680 missionaries. I'd seen the dark side of 368 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:26,960 missionary work. My my father had stepped in to 369 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,080 help with a a church that was imploding. 370 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:30,960 I'd seen that very dark side of that. 371 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:38,960 Plus I wanted to be rich and God said I've called you to 372 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:44,200 ministry. Now that entwining of my heart 373 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:48,480 with his bears fruit. See what the world does when 374 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,200 you're facing this. There are two things on offer. 375 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,720 The one, I don't know if you remember it, I suppose I 376 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,880 remember it because of my advertising background, but 377 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:58,800 there was a credit card called Access. 378 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,320 I don't know if you remember that credit cards slogan. 379 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:09,360 Take the wait out of wanting. Yeah. 380 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:14,960 And you're offered that when you wait to fix it, do something. 381 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,920 And on the other hand, there's this whisper. 382 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:25,240 Since the foundation of the world was established, no eye 383 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:31,360 has seen, no ear has heard. A God stands ready to work. 384 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:38,400 If you'll just wait, I'll close with this. 385 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:40,120 So if you want to leave, now's a good time. 386 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:04,240 What God did in my heart back there is the reason why I'm 387 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:10,520 standing here today and He had to Get Me Out of very cautious, 388 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:17,240 very caged place to trust Him. And that's what He does in the 389 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,880 waiting. I don't know if you've seen the 390 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,280 movie Madagascar. It's a true story. 391 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:27,680 Must watch it. It will change your life. 392 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,920 I was reflecting on it. So the opening scene, for those 393 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,520 who haven't watched it is Marty the zebra is running in the 394 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:36,720 wild. But it turns out he's not 395 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:38,680 actually in the wild. He's in a cage and he's got this 396 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,400 wall painted with nature and he's on the treadmill. 397 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:45,560 But he just wants to be in the wild. 398 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,880 And at the end of the day, it's his birthday. 399 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:50,320 I think he's turning 10 or something like that. 400 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:51,840 And so all the animals gather around. 401 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:53,560 They wish him happy birthday. And then, of course, he has to 402 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:55,520 light the candle and make a wish. 403 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:57,600 And I'm like, what did you wish for? 404 00:26:58,080 --> 00:26:59,480 I wish that I could be in the wild. 405 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:04,720 And they're all like, whoa, I'm out, bud, Alex the lion and 406 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:06,760 saying, listen, why would you want to be in the wild? 407 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:10,400 You know, they feed us every day plus of a raw. 408 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,360 You know, it's like we get the applause. 409 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:15,920 And I think the giraffe's name was Melman or something like 410 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:18,640 that. Yeah, he's like, but I get all 411 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,280 my medication. And if I get an owie, you know, 412 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:23,720 they put a plus on me and they'll love and care for me. 413 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:30,680 And in prepping, I realized that's us Christians love cages. 414 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:36,480 Now give us enough time and we all distill a relationship with 415 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:41,400 the God of all creation down to well, I might come on Sunday and 416 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,200 they can feed me my roar at last group and I get a pat on the 417 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,000 back. And we do that over and over and 418 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:52,320 over again. But what I've found during this 419 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:56,960 prayer series is that God has begun to awaken a call to the 420 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:02,920 wild in me. Surely this can't be it for you 421 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,520 and I. Surely this can't be cloistered 422 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,560 up on a Sunday. Surely God has more for us. 423 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,000 Surely there's a call, There's a whisper. 424 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:17,520 Do you not know three CI since the foundation of the world, no 425 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:21,320 ear has heard. No, I has seen a God who works 426 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:25,520 for those who waits. And so my charge and I close 427 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:29,400 with this. Would you come out of your cage, 428 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:37,200 get on your knees, and begin to wait again and watch what God 429 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,720 does with your dark places. Watch what he does with your 430 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:44,520 workplaces. Look what he does and watch as 431 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,800 you wait what he does with the dissonance and the destruction 432 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,760 that surrounds you. And watch as he works on your 433 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:57,920 behalf and deals with the advancing armies in your life in 434 00:28:58,040 --> 00:28:58,640 Jesus name.