[0:00] Amen. Praise His holy name. And if it wasn't for this book that we have here, we wouldn't know a thing about what we just sang about.
[0:12] About the love of God, the Bible says, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You and I would have no clue about any of that if it wasn't for this Bible.
[0:23] This book is the most important book in the world. It's the most important thing you can put your hands on. And so let's get into it this morning. I want to take you to Isaiah 55 by way of introduction and a very quick review from last Sunday.
[0:38] We're going to continue last Sunday's thoughts, which come out of Isaiah 55. And this time I'll just read verses 8 and 9.
[0:57] Isaiah 55 verse 8, the Lord God says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
[1:10] Okay, so we're different. We have different thoughts, different things that go through our minds and hearts. And in case you're not sure what God thinks about your ways and your thoughts, He then says, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
[1:30] I'm right, God says, and you're wrong. And where our thoughts are different, I'm way above you. And my thoughts are always right. And when you get into this Bible, you find out some examples that we began last week.
[1:45] Some men who found out that God had a different plan than they had. And what we found out, though, was even in the gravest of circumstances, which they found themselves in, they were able to submit and to lay down their wills and to receive His.
[2:02] And it's not an easy thing to do, submitting to the ways and the thoughts of God for our lives, when they don't match our ways and our thoughts. And it's something, a temptation within each one of us is to hold on and to try to figure it out and to trust God.
[2:17] But we're going to do it our way first. There's some men that we looked at last Sunday that submitted to the will of God. And we're going to continue with two more this week.
[2:30] All four of these circumstances are not easy. They're life and death. They're very dramatic. Last week we began with Eli. And saw that Eli had not raised his sons in the right way.
[2:43] And they were sinners. They were wicked before the Lord, called sons of Belial. And how the Lord pronounced judgment against Eli and against his sons. And the sign was that they're both going to die in the same day.
[2:55] And so the man of God pronounced this to Eli. Eli, he heard it. A little bit later then, at some point, God revealed himself to Samuel by the word of the Lord. And when Eli found out that God's speaking to Samuel and not to him, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, there was no open vision.
[3:12] Eli probably hadn't heard a thing from God for quite a while. But when God does reveal himself, Eli at least has the wherewithal to know and to discern that this is God talking to Samuel.
[3:23] Because I know I didn't call him these three times. He's coming to me. And he said, it's the Lord. Say, speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. And so Samuel does. And what God says to Samuel in his introduction was, what I'm going to do to Eli, I'm going to do it in a day.
[3:39] Everybody's going to hear it. Their ears are going to tingle. It's going to be spread around. This is going to be big time. I'm cutting him off. He and his seed from this priestly line.
[3:51] And Samuel, I'm going to take you. And I'm going to use you. And so Eli then hears these words from Samuel in the morning. And his response to this is something that probably I would not have responded.
[4:03] I would not just have accepted it. Yep, okay. He says, it is the Lord. Let him do that which seemeth him good. And right away Eli submitted to God's will when it meant his death, his son's death, the destruction of all that he's, his line, his family line, if you want to call it that, his legacy that he leaves behind.
[4:23] It's just all snuffed out. And Eli doesn't fight with God. He doesn't say, no, Lord, this isn't right. I've given my life to you. He doesn't fight at all. He says, it is the Lord. And what we saw last week from that statement was Eli acknowledging God's sovereignty and acknowledging that God is right and that if he says it, then I'm going to submit to it.
[4:44] If it's the word of God that came forth from his mouth, then it must be accomplished. And so Eli saw the best and the only choice for him to do was just to submit. It is the Lord, he said.
[4:56] It's the Lord. God said it, okay. And he submitted to it. And so we're trying to study and learn how to submit to the will of God. Even when it means bad news for you and I, one of the best things to do is to acknowledge this is the Lord.
[5:11] If it's him, then why would I fight? Why would I resist it? If it's the Lord's will, it's right. And let me park there for just 10 seconds and say, if it's the Lord's will, if it's something God wants, if God decrees it, it's right.
[5:27] Doesn't matter what your heart's telling you. Your heart's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. It'll chase the wrong things. It'll seek after the wrong things. If God says it, it's right.
[5:39] And God knows what he's talking about. Eli submitted to it very quickly because he recognized God's sovereignty. And then we saw another man named Joab. And Joab was fighting a battle for King David against the Ammonites.
[5:52] And the Ammonites had hired to themselves some Syrians to come and join them. So Joab, the generals faced fighting two armies in a situation that he did not ask for.
[6:03] It was not of his making, but it's his duty to fight the battles of the Lord. And so as an obedient and submissive soldier, he's leading the battle. And he made this statement in 2 Samuel chapter 10 that we're going to play the men for the people of our God or cities of our God.
[6:19] And may the Lord do that which seemeth him good. He said the same thing Eli said. He was ready and willing to submit to the will of God. But what did he say first? We're going to play the men. We're going to do our job.
[6:31] We're going to do everything we can do that we know is right to do. And one way that will help you, and it's easy to say this. It's maybe harder to do this. But it's easier to submit to the will of God when you do everything you know that is right to do.
[6:47] And then whatever the results are, it's easy to say, praise the Lord. It's the Lord's will. I'll receive it and I'll accept it. But some people want to sit back and just say, pray for me, pray for me, pray for this, pray for that, and never do anything about it.
[7:02] I gave you an illustration of my wife and I. I gave you an illustration of a woman that I knew growing up who lost her job. And she went and did everything she could do to find a job.
[7:13] And then when the Lord gave her a job, she submitted to it and said, this is the will of the Lord. This is it. But she didn't sit there and wait for the phone to ring. She did her job first. And so there's a few things from Eli, from Joab.
[7:26] We can see how to submit to the will of God. Today I want to take you to, well, let's first of all go to 2 Kings chapter 20. We'll start there. And then we're going to go backwards.
[7:39] But 2 Kings chapter 20. I want to take you to another king. And we want to learn some more things here about how we can submit to the will of God.
[7:57] 2 Kings 20. And here's one of the greatest kings Judah's ever known, King Hezekiah. And Hezekiah, he really had a great reign.
[8:12] And it really turned Israel toward righteousness and revival in the land. And he was a great man. And the Lord did some things in his day that was incredible to read about concerning and considering the kings before him.
[8:25] But toward the end of his life, he started to slip up, you might say. And in 2 Kings 20, the king of Babylon sends somebody to Hezekiah.
[8:38] And he heard he was sick. He recovered, which was the Lord's doing. And Hezekiah, in verse 13, shows him all the house of his precious things. And shows him everything. Says there was not found in his treasures something he didn't show.
[8:51] He just revealed to this Babylonian all of the wealth and treasures of God and the house of God. And the prophet, the Lord sends Isaiah to him. That's a problem with God.
[9:03] And so Isaiah shows up in verse 14. Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah and said unto him, What said these men? And from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. It's no big deal.
[9:13] It's not a threat. Nah, it's fine. And he said, What have they seen in thine house? Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen? There's nothing among my treasures I've not showed them. And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord.
[9:27] And here it comes. And now this no big deal just becomes a big deal. Behold, the days come that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon.
[9:39] Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
[9:50] So that's bad news, right? Now if you're thinking, based on where we've been, that Hezekiah is going to submit to this, and submit to the will of God, that's bad news. That's not where we're going quite yet. Verse 19, Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken.
[10:05] And why did he say it's good? And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days? You know what he's saying? As long as I don't have to deal with it, then it's fine.
[10:17] So my sons after me, they're the ones that are going to go through all this affliction, and war, and this city be besieged, and the treasures be removed, and children be taken from their parents, and off they go.
[10:31] Well, eh, but, you know, it's good. Good is the word of the Lord. You know why it's good? Because it's not going to happen to me. So he's not submitting to God's will here in this case. I want you to see a king that had judgment pronounced upon him, but it's not going to happen to him, so he could submit pretty easily, and agree with it.
[10:49] Now that's not the way we want to be. Let me show you another king, though, who had to deal with it. Come to 2 Samuel 15, and show you a king that had some problems, and this time, this one submits to it, but it's happening to him, and in his days.
[11:07] 2 Samuel 15, and we find ourselves with the great king David, but at a very low point in his life, leaving his throne, leaving the city of God, Jerusalem, because there's a rebellion that's broken out in Israel, and his own son is going behind his back and attempting to usurp the throne, and so David is running in this chapter from his son Absalom.
[11:37] He's been stabbed in the back by his own son and certain people that were close to him, and there's a movement, a rebellion, a supplanting going on at this moment in David's life, and so he's taken off and heading for safety, but what he's facing is a very painful situation, a very painful change in his life.
[12:00] There's a threat here that's from his own kinsmen, from his own family, from his own loins, his own son that's coming to take him out, and in 2 Samuel 15, let's notice verse 25 and 26 and see that David responded in an incredible way.
[12:24] Verse 25, The king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and show me both it and his habitation.
[12:39] That's the temple. But if he say thus, God speak, I have no delight in thee. Behold, here's what David says, Here am I. Let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.
[12:54] That's the same phrase, very similarly worded, that Eli said, that Joab said, and now hear David saying, Here am I.
[13:06] Let him do to me as seemeth good to him. When I read that, coming from the lips of a king, I just, I think, Wow. Considering the circumstances, considering that he is accepting this, whether it gets better for him if God brings him back into the city, or whether it gets worse and he doesn't ever get back to it, he just submits to God's will.
[13:27] He's not happy about it, of course, but he's not bitter either. It's anguish, but he's taking it and swallowing it. He's not where he wants to be. He says in the verse, Here am I.
[13:41] Where is here? It's not on his throne. Jerusalem's a city on a hill. He's got to descend and go down to leave that city and then to cross over and go back up on the other side.
[13:54] He gets up over on verse 30. He went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, just like the Lord Jesus Christ does. And David leaves that city and leaves that throne and leaves that kingdom, as it were, to say, Here am I.
[14:11] Here am I. Let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. Just that quickly, submitting to God's will for his life. You know what David was doing at that moment as he walked out and fled from his son?
[14:26] He's not crying, Save me, God. Deliver me from the ones that raise up their hands against me. He says, Here am I. And if God wants me back, praise the Lord.
[14:37] If God doesn't want me back, I'm going this way. You know what David was doing? I believe David was just letting go. He was letting go of what was his up in that city.
[14:49] He was letting go of what he had earned and what he had fought for. You've got to think about his life. David has been through some terrible trials. I mean, the king, we studied this on Wednesday nights, the king saw coming after him, 18 different attempts on his life, running, getting off the grid, getting in the mountains and the caves and the hills and hiding and away from his family, away from his wives, taking even his mother and father out of the land for fear that they would be targets.
[15:15] David's been through some stuff. David then made king in Hebron for seven years. And then finally, he gets to Jerusalem and takes that city and becomes king over all the land. And David reigns and he's a great king and he subdues the enemies of God.
[15:33] And then his own son comes and tries to kill him, takes him off the throne. And David just says, here am I. Here am I.
[15:43] And he lets go. And it's easy to say that, I know. I realize it's easy to say, okay, no big deal. to separate yourself from all your accomplishments, it's not so easy to do.
[15:57] David's separating himself from his possessions and from people that he loves. The throne's up there and I'm down here. God put me on that throne and God can put me back on it if he chooses to.
[16:11] He didn't let go of God in verse 22, or verse, it's not 22, maybe 32. Yeah, when it came to pass when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshipped God.
[16:24] David is worshipping God. He didn't let go of God, but he let go of that throne. He let go of his accomplishments and all that he had done.
[16:37] You know what's going to help you and I to submit to God's will or God's ways for us when they're not our ways and they're maybe not our thoughts is probably just let go. It's easy to say that.
[16:49] I know that. I know that. It's easier said than done, but let go of your ways. Just let go of your thoughts that you have for yourself and admit, like he said, your ways are so much higher than my ways and your thoughts for me.
[17:03] I know that your ways, things that you envision for yourself, there's attachments there, there's people, there's relationships. Some cases, there's years of your life.
[17:14] You don't think David had all of that going through his heart? There's roots that have been deep and established that he was letting go of. There's emotions involved. Surely there's emotions involved.
[17:26] But David let go. Things that David had worked hard for and fought hard for to be established. Let go. David doesn't charge God foolishly and he doesn't stand there and say, God, you put me in that throne.
[17:40] You promised me that throne. You can't take it from me. Instead, he says, okay, God, this is what you want to happen to me in my life. So be it.
[17:51] And his statement was, again, let him do to me as seemeth good to him. And he just let go. His hands open before God.
[18:02] You think it's an easy thing for a king to humble himself like that? You think it's an easy thing for a king to let go? Somebody who, the only thing he knows anymore is do what you're told.
[18:16] I'm the boss. Everything I'm in charge of. You think it's easy for him to humble himself, to let go of it all, to just leave? Surely it's not easy, but if David can do it, then so can you.
[18:31] So can you submit to the will of God when it's hard. You can let go. If that's what God's calling you to do, you can let go and let him do to me as seemeth good to him.
[18:44] Now come to Matthew, chapter 26. I mention the Lord Jesus Christ walking perhaps this very same path. In Matthew 26, here's a passage that we've studied already on a Wednesday night and I want to bring it out again and draw this same truth out of this passage when we were dealing with Jesus Christ and about him being prayerful.
[19:12] There's something going on here that we need to get about submitting to God's will. Matthew 26 and let's read 36.
[19:24] We're going to work our way through this passage, this time when he gets to the garden and his death and his suffering is imminent and he knows it. The others don't know it.
[19:35] They don't feel it. They're not going through those feelings internally that he is. In verse 36, then cometh Jesus with them unto the place called Gethsemane and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder.
[19:49] And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy and saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.
[20:00] Tarry ye here and watch with me. Help me out. It's what he's calling these men to do, these three men. The others just said, Sit. Just take a seat.
[20:11] I'm going to go pray. Three of you come with me and then you stay here and tarry ye here. Watch with me. With me. Help me out.
[20:23] There's twelve men total. There's no Judas Iscariot, Jesus Christ being the twelve. Eight of them sit. Three of them come. And in verse 39, he went a little further. So he separates himself from those three and he goes a little further in verse 39.
[20:38] It says, He fell on his face and prayed saying, Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Wow.
[20:52] That's what he wanted. He wanted it to pass. Why did he want it to pass? Well, you would too. Verse 39, he said, Nevertheless, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
[21:10] Let this cup pass from me, God. If it's possible, God, just let it pass. He has come all the way to the evening, to the night before Calvary.
[21:23] It's within hours now. And if it's possible, just let it pass. But his statement then is, Nevertheless, not as I will, not my choice here, if I could have one, but as thou wilt, the will of God.
[21:42] It's obvious that he wants to get out of it because as a man, he's flinching at facing this torture and this suffering and being separated from God.
[21:53] And as the story or as the night would progress, taking on the sin, being made sin for us, and his soul descending to the lower parts of the earth.
[22:05] And it's not pretty. Things that are about, he's stepping into something that I wouldn't want to be any part of. And he's flinching at it and he's saying, this is not what I want to do. I want it to pass.
[22:17] And it seemed that he would go on for an hour because he comes back in verse 40, he cometh unto his disciples and findeth them asleep and saith unto them, Peter, what, could you not watch with me one hour?
[22:30] And so it seems that he's going on for some time there. And he says in verse 41, watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
[22:43] What's he saying? He's talking about himself because he's exceeding sorrowful. He is sorrowful and very heavy. He is asking God, if it's possible, let it pass from me.
[22:55] The spirit's willing, but the flesh is scared to death. The flesh is weak right now. And he says, Peter, come on, help me out. Pray with me. He called those three to help him and they didn't.
[23:10] And so the Lord goes off again. He needs strength because he's facing a big battle with his flesh. In verse 42, he went away again the second time and prayed saying, Oh my Father, just like before, but this time it's a little different.
[23:28] If this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. A little bit different now. He's not looking for a way out like he was the first time, plainly.
[23:43] The second time he's saying, If it's not going to pass up I drink it, thy will be done. He's warming up to it. That's what he's doing.
[23:54] His flesh is starting to weaken or get turned away from and the spirit's taking over. And in verse 43, he came and found them asleep again for their eyes were heavy.
[24:08] Now verse 44, he left them and went away again and prayed the third time saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples and saith unto them, Sleep on now and take your rest.
[24:19] Behold, the hour is at hand. The Son of Man is betrayed in the hands of sinners. I don't believe he's telling them to sleep, but just maybe sarcastically even saying, you know, the praying time's over. Okay, go ahead.
[24:30] Go ahead and back to what you were doing because you didn't help me anyway. But in verse 46, Rise, let us be going. Behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. It's well after midnight.
[24:43] It must have totaled a few hours in this place looking detailed into the chronology of the night. And I want you to notice clearly there's a change in his demeanor because now in verse 46, he says, it's time.
[24:57] It's time now. He says, let us be going. He's not saying, let us run. Let us be going. He is at hand that doth betray me.
[25:14] First, he comes in sorrowful, saying, let this cup pass from me. That was his will, is what he said. Secondly, then he prays a little longer and he says, if the cup may not pass from me except I drink it as he warms up.
[25:29] But then, as this comes to a close, this time in the garden, he says definitively, the hour's at hand, let us be going. It's time to go.
[25:41] What does that mean? It's time to go? It's time to go face this thing. Head on. He is ready. And what made the difference for him having his will, not wanting to deal with this, not wanting to face it, to prepare to say, come on guys, let's go.
[26:00] What made the difference? It wasn't his disciples helping him. It was prayer. That's all it was.
[26:12] It was prayer. Prayer made him, from trying to get his own will, to leaving, willing to submit to the Father with no reservations.
[26:26] Let us be going. prayer. It's the same thing that will help you, extremely help you, submit your will and ways and thoughts when they're against his high and lofty ways and thoughts for you.
[26:42] Submit yours to his as getting on your face, as the Bible says, verse 39, and fell on his face. He got alone. He isolated himself.
[26:53] He went a little further and fell on his face and prayed. You know what it will be for you? It will be prayer. Maybe even, in the passage, hours of prayer.
[27:06] They didn't help him because they didn't feel what he felt. And you know, even your closest friends and people that give you lip service, they're not going to help you the way you need help because they don't feel what you're feeling inside.
[27:24] There's things in life that just put you down and they draw you to prayer because there's nothing else you have. You're drawn to talking to God over the thing. And you can reach out to others, but unless they feel the same burden, the same sorrow, and unless they're very heavy as Christ was, they're just going to sleep.
[27:44] They're not going to put themselves into it. But what is it that got Jesus Christ to cross that bridge from His will to the Father's? It was prayer. It was prayer that slowly warmed him up to accepting what God's ways and what God's thoughts were for him in that hour.
[28:03] It was prayer that little by little, incrementally, as we see in the passage, strengthened him and prepared him to face that horrible night of Calvary. He entered the garden sorrowful.
[28:15] He left prepared to fulfill God's plan for him. It was like changing a dead battery in a car. Prayer did that.
[28:26] Prayer charged it up and got it ready to go to face anything. And prayer bridges that scary sometimes, that deep and long divide from where I am to where God wants me to be.
[28:40] But when you get on your face and close your eyes before God and just spend time with Him and talk and talk things out and talk and talk and just be with Him, you wake up, you open up your eyes and you're not where you were.
[28:55] You're not over there anymore. You've traveled in your prayer and didn't realize it. Why? Because He was changing you inside. He was preparing you.
[29:06] He was strengthening you. Your eyes are open to find, this is where I want to be. I want to be where God wants me to be. Prayer is so, so, so much more than just letting your requests be made known unto God.
[29:22] God this, God that, please help me here, please do this for me, me, me. Prayer can change you inside. Prayer can strengthen you inside, the inner man and it can weaken your flesh and its hold upon you.
[29:42] Prayer can do that. The Lord Jesus Christ knew the night was coming, knew the time was coming closer. He knew He had a certain amount of hours and He said, guys, we've got to get out of here.
[29:54] We've got to go somewhere. I've got to pray. He felt Himself being weak. He felt Himself not being prepared. He said, I've got to get away and took Him on that trip out of the city, up onto the Mount of Olives, into that garden where He even separated Himself further and then went a little further and fell on His face and prayed and prayed and prayed a third time, it says.
[30:23] And when that was finished, He was ready, ready to submit. Now how can you and I submit to the will of God? How can we find it easier to submit when it seems so hard in so many cases?
[30:35] Sometimes in life, these guys have been faced with life and death and they submitted. The first thing we saw last week was recognize God's sovereignty, acknowledge that this is God.
[30:46] If it's from God, it's right. I'm the one that needs to submit to Him. Secondly was to do your part first, to do what you know what is right and do all that you can and what's left is just to submit to what God decides is the outcome.
[31:01] This morning then, learn how to let go. Learn how to let go. There's people in this book that, for instance, we looked at David, everything up on that hill, he let go of it.
[31:15] There's a man and woman in Acts chapter 5 that had trouble letting go and they ended up dying. Ananias and Sapphira, they made a little decision, we'll keep this, we'll keep this.
[31:25] And, I mean, it's a different setting today than it is then, but God was calling them to let go of it. They held on and it was to their own death. Let go.
[31:38] And as they say, let go and let God. And then here with the Lord Jesus Christ, pray and pray and pray until you're ready to go forward with His ways and His thoughts.
[31:55] There's four examples that we've given here in the scriptures of men that have faced real traumatic things and yet have submitted to God's way for them. This message here, these thoughts, are not born out of just, oh, I need to come up with a message Sunday morning.
[32:11] It's born out of something that was real in my own life and the wife of my wife and I. When I started working at the church in Pennsylvania, I was only a few months in, I got a phone call one day sitting in my office or I might have been in class even saying your wife needs you to call her.
[32:31] And she had gone to a doctor's appointment that day in ultrasound and I got the call saying she needs to talk to you so I went to my office and made the phone call. And she was on the other end crying and sniffing and saying you need to come in here.
[32:47] They see some things and they want us to make a decision and she said you just need to come in here. So I got somebody to cover for me and I took off and headed into the doctor's.
[32:59] And there was Carla walked into this kind of a big room with a big table, like a conference table. And there's all these papers and binders on the table and a few people in there and Carla was there just red in the face, puffy eyes, had been crying and tissues everywhere.
[33:15] And I just walked in and thought, oh no, what's going on? And we were pretty young. We had one child. Samuel was just over a year old or so.
[33:27] And this was the second child and we were excited for a baby girl. And the word was though that there's things that they saw that are definitely causing red flags to come up and they need to talk about it.
[33:45] And the things that they saw, we still don't have, we argue about or just don't have a nail down exactly what those items were anymore. I forget. I think I'm just nuts maybe.
[33:57] But there were so many things that they saw that they discussed it with her saying, we put this in a very high percentage that this baby's going to be a Down syndrome baby and we really highly recommend that you abort the baby.
[34:10] And here's a number you can call, here's the paperwork for that. And it wasn't just one, it was a couple of them around her. She felt kind of pressured, ganged up on, have an abortion, have an abortion, have an abortion.
[34:21] And so I got in there and we sat down and listened to them talk and said, okay, we'll make our, you know, we'll talk about it, make our decision and we both knew in our hearts, no, we're not doing that.
[34:32] We're not aborting this baby, forget it. So we took their papers and we left, but what did that mean then? Again, we were just kids, we didn't know, I didn't know anything about this.
[34:44] They're doctors, they looked with their scan, they saw this, they see this every day, they know is what I'm hearing, I'm believing their opinion. And so we went out and sat in the car and prayed and just said, God, whatever is going to happen here, you know.
[35:02] If we're going to, if you're going to give us a baby like this, then my mind is saying, oh, finally, God's getting me back for all my sin, all my willful disobedience, all my turning my back, telling him, no, God's finally, all my disobedience, my parents, it's coming back to get me now.
[35:20] I'm going to have to deal with this. But I said, Lord, whatever you want to do here, it's up to you. We're not aborting this baby. And if it's healthy, praise the Lord.
[35:30] If it's not, praise your name. And we just, we settled on that. There was peace. But in my mind, I grew up with a family with twin boys that were just a little older than me.
[35:40] They were close to me, were good friends, spent time at their house. And they had an older sister who was very severely, had Down syndrome. And she was always just a teenager but very incapable of anything.
[35:55] And so when I heard that, that's what I pictured. And she had to have so much extra work and help and then she just, a poor quality of life, she died at a young age or as a teenager.
[36:06] And that's what I thought. I thought that's what this means, is this is going to be a terrible, hard situation for us that we're just going to have to deal with. Accepting this means accepting just years and years and maybe probably an early death and we're going to have to, you know, have our hearts broken and just, it felt like that's what this is.
[36:29] So, we just said, okay God, you're God, you're sovereign, you're right, we'll do it. If there's something we need to do here, we'll do whatever we can but we're not going to do what they're telling us to do.
[36:43] So we finally, I went back to the church and I went back in my office and just closed the door and got behind the desk and got down on my knees and I remember just praying and just, just kind of, this was heavy on my heart at the time, just saying, God, you have your way and I submit to you on this, whatever you choose to do, so be it, I'm not going to ask you for anything and the words came out of my mouth, may the Lord do that which seemeth him good.
[37:11] and I remember kneeling there thinking, that's in the Bible. Where is that at? I know that's in the Bible and praise the Lord that you put some Bible in you and you don't even know it but it comes out when you need it and it comes out, the Lord just gives it to you and he gave it to me and I thought, I know it's in there and I looked around and I found a place and I thought, I know it's in there more than this, I know I've read this more than that and I found it again and I found it again and I was like, this is good, this is helping me.
[37:46] These men just submitted to God and that's what I'm going to do whatever it is, no matter what and this is probably the only time that I can remember that I stood up in church and asked prayer for anything.
[37:59] On Wednesday nights we'd have prayer requests and things like that. Everybody would be praying for their stubbed toe and for their doctor visits and I just, anyway, this one was real to us and heavy and so I asked the church to pray for our, the baby in the womb.
[38:17] This is what the doctors say and just pray, Lord's will be done and so we prayed and the next visit some of it had cleared up but not all of it and we praised the Lord and by the next visit or the two, somewhere getting closer and closer, it was all gone and we glorified God.
[38:36] We had a healthy baby girl. We named her Madeline Grace and she's 14 years old today full of spunk and full of sass and just a little lady and that baby came out.
[38:52] It wasn't crying. It was a crazy delivery but Carla was all worked up saying why isn't she crying? Thought something was wrong. The alert was still there and the doctor said, okay, I'll make her cry and the doctor made the baby cry and she cried for three years after that.
[39:09] She didn't stop but by the grace of God, we have a healthy baby girl who's now a young lady and it may have just been just the doctors and what they do but at the time, it was very real.
[39:28] It was that day it was submitting to possibly a bad situation or one that was going to be very grievous and hard for us as you know but we submitted to it.
[39:42] Why? Because God is God and if that's what he chose, amen. It's easy to say it, maybe a little harder to do it. We submitted to it because we could bow on our knees and pray and say, God, if this is your will, we'll submit.
[40:02] Those verses have been real to me. I even, I never was able to do it. I wanted to try to write a song. I'm just not gifted enough in that category about that thought of the Lord doing that which seemeth him good and even try to incorporate some of those Bible stories into it because it just means something still to me and in my heart that God's will is right.
[40:25] His will is higher than our will in ways. It's like as high as the heavens above the earth and the heavens are immeasurable to us. They're incalculable.
[40:36] They're just so high up and all we can do is see what's around us within our vision and not realize that he knows what he's doing. He's got it under control.
[40:47] It's our job to submit. If you're struggling with some area in your life, you feel God dealing with you, I hope that these examples over the last two Sundays will help you in submitting your will, your ways and thoughts to his.
[41:04] Lay it at his feet. Learn how to say, may the Lord do that which seemeth him good. Let's pray. Father, I know that in me dwelleth no good thing.
[41:23] Lord, if I've been able to do anything right or make any right choices, it's because of your direction, your grace. I thank you that you have a will and a plan.
[41:36] I'm thankful that you have thoughts that are higher than mine, that I can submit to, that I can trust. The Bible says, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.
[41:51] And so I thank you for your direction in my life. Thank you for steering me away from sin, turning me away from the world, from its foolishness, from its supposed pleasures and joys.
[42:10] Lord, thank you for putting something better in me. Thank you for a family. Thank you for a church family. Father, it's my request to you today that you'd help these that are here that are struggling, maybe with their own plans, maybe with seeing something through, maybe with a trial or a real affliction in their life and find it hard to submit to what would be your will and your way in it all.
[42:37] God, I pray that these examples in Scripture, they'd be something they could hold on to, that they could pray these words, the Lord do that which seemeth him good. Help us to submit, help us to find a place to do it.
[42:53] Perhaps today you're here going through something in life, struggling with submitting. I can promise you this, you'll find peace in submitting to the will of God.
[43:06] You'll find peace. God will be pleased. God will be glorified. God will be glorified. God will be glorified. Have we read it in Sunday school?
[43:17] God can work it together for good. But he's going to call on you to submit. Didn't say that you'll understand. Didn't promise that he'll paint the whole picture for you first.
[43:31] He just asks you to submit. To be willing to lay your thoughts and your ways for yourself down. It may not even be for yourself.
[43:42] Maybe for others. To lay him down and submit to him. If anybody's struggling or needs to talk to the Lord, please do it now.
[43:55] Please take advantage of this moment while the Lord's moving and dealing with your heart. While your spirit's soft, take advantage of the time to talk to God. It doesn't make you weak.
[44:08] It doesn't show you're weak. It shows that you want to be strong. It's not just a moment. It's not just a moment. We're going to sing together a moment here. What's the number?
[44:19] I surrender all. 394 in the blue book.
[44:33] Let's stand together and sing. If you want to come and pray, come and pray. Don't ever be ashamed to come and pray. 394. everybody.
[44:44] 394. 395.ées. 396. 407. 406. 307. 417. 408. 407. 608. 4114. 4110. 4113. 4119. 4216. 4118. 4217.
[44:56] 4218. focus. 4219. 4219. 4120. 4118. 4119. 4220. 4120. 4220. 4220. 4219. 4220.
[45:06] 4220. 4219. 4221. 4420. 4120. 4220. 4820. 4220. 4220. 4320.