[0:00] Those are some mighty truths that we just sang.
[0:17] ! We need to pray. God, we are so grateful this morning that you are faithful.
[0:29] ! Over us. That even what has been planned for evil, you can redeem and turn it for our good. Oh God, we praise you.
[0:42] That you can turn the bad things into good. You can work all things out for our benefit, for our good. To those who love you, to those who are called according to your goodness.
[0:55] We praise you. We praise you, Lord, for the fact that you intervene in our lives. You intersect with your sovereignty. You make good plans for us.
[1:08] You have a good future in store. We know that you're able. We know that you're strong. We know that you love us and are watching us and are interested in the very details of our lives.
[1:23] God, we know that you're going to do that. Help us, Lord, to trust in your absolute supremacy and authority and sovereignty over all things.
[1:38] So that your gospel can radiate to this world. So that the impact of the truth of God's word can not only penetrate our own hearts and lives, but can make its way into the hearts and lives of the people around us.
[1:59] So there can be some fruitfulness. There can be some effectiveness because of the power of God working in and through us to impact and to change the lives of those around us.
[2:15] God, that's our desire this morning. Please make it happen. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, last week we began our study through Isaiah chapter 40, and hopefully this morning we're going to finish that chapter as we're thinking about and looking at the God of comfort.
[2:38] And as we think about the God of comfort, how does the God of comfort show up in our lives? What does the God of comfort do? How does it intersect with the day-to-day living in our lives?
[2:55] How does it change us? How does it help us? How does it make a difference in our day-to-day? As we talked about comfort, we got to see that we're not talking about what the world, the world's concept of comfort.
[3:12] We're not talking about this superficial idea of things that are pleasing in life necessarily, things that are comfortable in life.
[3:22] This feeling of acceptance and peace in your life. That's our world's view of comfort. But when God is talking about comfort, He is talking about the things that run to the very core of who you are.
[3:38] He's talking about the things that change everything about the person that you are. They affect the heart in life that you live.
[3:49] They're not just dealing with the externals of life, but they will change you entirely. That's what God is about doing for you in ministering comfort to your life.
[4:05] God's desire is transformation. To produce within us this lasting and enduring peace. This ability to look fear in the face and to move forward in courage, recognizing that God is in control.
[4:25] There is a fearlessness about those who have been ministered to in terms of comfort. We understand that fear is one of those things that tends to grip our lives.
[4:39] The apostle Paul even had to commend or correct his young disciple Timothy. The young man in the faith, he says, Don't have a spirit of fear.
[4:52] God has not given you that kind of spirit, Timothy. But He's given you the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. And then in Isaiah chapter 41, God is calling this people of Israel to, Fear not, for I am with you.
[5:08] Be not dismayed, for I am your God. Trust me. Believe in me. And then the beloved apostle in 1 John says, Perfect love casts out fear.
[5:26] One commentator puts it this way. He says, Fear expresses the opposite of all that Christianity is to be. Fear is the contradiction of faith.
[5:39] Fear is the complete state of anti-God. That's a penetrating statement. And God has to move us through steps of maturity.
[5:56] To grow us in this fearlessness as we're confronted with the God of all comfort. And He ministers to us graciously, moving us into fuller peace, fuller dependence, fuller confidence in His ability to intervene in life.
[6:16] There are two times of my life in particular. I can remember that God has made dramatic shifts in my thinking in relationship to trusting in Him.
[6:31] Of course, He intends to move us all in baby steps at times, in moving in the direction of trusting Him more. But two that stand out in my mind.
[6:43] One, it was a dark morning. The sun had not yet risen in California. I was sitting in my family room on the couch. I was giving my heart to the Lord.
[6:57] And I felt this tap on my shoulder. God was speaking to my heart and saying, Andrew, do you really trust me?
[7:08] I know that life is sometimes out of control, but do you trust me with the things that are most important to you? Do you trust me with your future?
[7:20] Do you trust me with your health? Do you trust me with your family? With your finances? Do you trust me with your occupation? Am I good enough to be trusted in that way?
[7:35] And I can remember this wrestling that took place in my heart and finally yielding to say, God, you are trustworthy. So I give you my family to do with them as you will.
[7:51] God, I give you my future to do with it as you will. God, I give you my finances and my health. Every part of my life, God, I recommit to you again because I know that you are faithful and good and able.
[8:09] It belongs to you anyway. But God, I give it to you to do with as you will. That was a big step. Of course, our families belong to God in the first place.
[8:24] But to go through the motions and to reaffirm the things that we know because of confidence in a God who is able, a God who is good, a God who is faithful, a God who cares, it's one more step towards maturity.
[8:43] It's one more step in terms of yielding and trusting. In Him. And then several years ago, we were standing at a crossroads in our life as a family and we believed that God was calling us to make a big decision to step out of where we were and to step really into the unknown.
[9:05] I'm the kind of guy, I like to plan ahead. I like to know what's coming. I like to have things well in hand. At least I can anticipate what the future holds.
[9:18] And this was one of those crossroads in our life where I was stepping into the unknown. I didn't have a job to step into. I didn't know necessarily what the future would hold.
[9:30] I just knew that God was faithful. I knew that God would provide. And again, I felt God tapping me on the shoulder. Saying, Andrew, do you have to step into your plans?
[9:46] Are your plans really that secure for you? Step onto me. Because I am the foundation.
[9:57] I am the bedrock. On Christ, the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Do you trust me enough to stand on me for your future?
[10:11] So another step took place in my life that day. As I committed my heart to trust in God in another way that was different from the past.
[10:23] And God does that for us as He is progressively moving us into deeper dependence upon Him. And then He's ministering to us in the process to say, I am the God of comfort.
[10:38] I will come and intervene in your life. I will rescue. I will help. I will provide. I am enough for you. And when we do that, the testimony of the great comforter comes and fills our life and shows the world that we serve a God who is distinct from any other God.
[11:02] Who moves us from fear into faith. That moves us from the struggles and the anxiety into peace and joy.
[11:12] that surpasses any of the struggles that we are currently experiencing. And I can tell you by experience and I can tell you on the authority of the Word of God and as we look there this morning we'll see it together.
[11:30] We'll see that when we make room in our hearts and lives for the God of comfort to come in, He will run to you.
[11:41] He will rush into the vacuum of your life and fill it up with His comfort and with His help. You see, as we seek to minister to our co-workers and our neighbors and our family about the greatness of the gospel in Christianity, the one thing that will not stand out to them necessarily is our devotion.
[12:11] There's a lot of religious people in this world. Many are far more religious than we will ever be but what will stand out to them is that the God of comfort has rescued you from your circumstances, has rushed in to help and the God of comfort will beckon them in their anxiety to come and to feast at the table of comfort, to drink in the well of comfort and living water that God has to give to them.
[12:43] And that happens as we herald the good news of the great comforter who has ministered to our hearts and lives in the greatest difficulties and circumstances that you might face.
[12:57] Are we resting in the great comforter this morning? Turn with me if you would to Isaiah chapter 40. As we continue this great study of the great comforter what we notice through this passage beginning in verse 1 that there are really three spokesmen that stand out throughout this chapter.
[13:23] The first spokesman is God who is initiating comfort with his people. He is the first speaker and he is the one who sends his message out to the world.
[13:37] The second speaker is in verse 3 and that's our next stage. And this is the voice of one crying in the wilderness and this voice is hearkening or beckoning to his audience to make a way for the Lord to have his work in their life.
[13:56] The final speaker or the final speakers I should say is in verse 8 and verse 9. These are the the heralds of Jerusalem.
[14:07] This this chorus of voices who are speaking about the greatness of God as they have experienced him for himself. And that those who hear the message can participate in the experience of knowing God by by following the same process that they have they have also gone through in their lives.
[14:29] Just by way of recap I want to just take us briefly through some of the some of the things we learned last week about the God of comfort. First we we ask the question why does comfort come?
[14:43] And we saw that comfort comes in three different ways. In verse 1 we we recognize that comfort comes because it is God who desires comfort for his people.
[14:53] look at that with me there in verse 1 it says comfort comfort my people says your God. It is God's earnest desire for everyone in this room today to know and enjoy and experience the comfort of God.
[15:14] He is the initiator of comfort. You cannot have comfort without him and if it were not for the fact that he is initiating comfort for you you have no experience of lasting comfort in your life.
[15:30] It is amazing that God wants us to know comfort today. That God initiates comfort with us today when he knows our hearts he knows our wickedness he knows our tendencies he knows our history and our baggage he knows it all but he is still a God who pursues comfort with us he is still a God who desires it for you to know it and experience it.
[16:00] It comes also through the forgiveness that God provides. We see that in verse 2 the very first part it says speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended that her iniquity is pardoned and as we look at this word last week we came to understand that whenever this word is used in this way in the Old Testament it's used to refer to blood sacrifice.
[16:31] We also have understood through our study in the book of Isaiah that God didn't really delight in the actual blood sacrifices of this group of people because he understood what was really going on.
[16:44] They weren't pulling anything over God's eyes. They weren't pulling the wool over his eyes. He knew their hearts. He knew the veneer of religion. He knew the hypocrisy.
[16:56] He knew that they were just going through the motions. He says that in chapter 1. He says I don't delight in your offerings and your sacrifices. They're nothing to me. In a few chapters from chapter 40 we'll see what sacrifice really matters to him.
[17:14] the only sacrifice that ever matters is the once for all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. He was wounded for our transgressions.
[17:25] He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was placed on him and by his stripes we are healed. It is his sacrifice in his sacrifice alone that brings comfort, that makes way for comfort between us and God.
[17:44] Because the God of comfort cannot be in the presence of those who have not been pardoned. So God not only offers the comfort to us, he initiates comfort to us, but he makes a way through his son Jesus to experience that comfort through pardon of sin.
[18:03] We also talked about the God who chooses to discipline. Do you realize that God introduces discipline in your life because he wants to call you back to what's really important?
[18:18] He wants to remove the things from your life that you have filled up your life with that will never give you the kind of comfort that only God can give. He does it to get your attention.
[18:31] He does it because of his grace. He does it because he wants you to really experience true lasting comfort that only comes from him. And if you're filling up your life with all of these other things you're not going to have any room for God.
[18:48] So God has to take you through this disciplining process this weaning process to help call your attention to him. To help expose the emptiness of those things and help to direct your attention to the things to the one thing that really matters and that is a relationship with God.
[19:09] we come to see in the book of Romans in particular that judgment of God is to ignore our sin to give us up to our sin to let it just have its way in our life.
[19:23] God just says fine I will give you the things that you're asking for go ahead but for those whom God loves he disciplines he disciplines for our best he disciplines so that he can be part of our life.
[19:41] Why does comfort come? It comes because God shows up God desires to intervene in your life God wants to give us the comfort that we so long for but just because comfort is offered doesn't mean that comfort will be received so the next question we ask ourselves is how does comfort come?
[20:02] how does it how do we get it in the first place? And we see that in the next several verses it says in verse three a voice cries in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our God every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain shall be made low the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places plain and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh for the mouth of the Lord has spoken and as we read this verse and we understood the correlation between this verse and the ministry of John the Baptist we came to appreciate the fact that what Isaiah is talking about what God is communicating to his prophet Isaiah is that comfort will come through the preparation of the heart is your heart ready for comfort to come the ministry of
[21:08] John the Baptist was the ministry of repentance the ministry of John the Baptist was to help bring humility to the people of Israel you see when he was baptizing these Jews out by the Jordan River what was actually taking place was this ceremony that was set aside really for Gentiles it was set aside for Gentiles to usher them into this new identity as being Jewish as John the Baptist was trying to help them understand there was a need for rebirth to take place in their life that they could not rely on their ancestry on their heritage on their ethnicity they couldn't rely on the fact that they were connected to Abraham something more significant had to happen at the deepest levels of their life it could only come through repentance and brokenness and receptivity of the word of God in their life the ministry of Jesus could only have its way as they were humbled and willing to receive the message that he had to bring there was a need for preparation for raising up the low places!
[22:24] and bringing down the high places this is all about accessibility does God's word have its way in your life does it have free course in your life is there a sense of receiving the message that he intends to give and when the heart is prepared then this next thing happens it comes through the presence of the Lord notice the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken when Luke is referring to Isaiah this is the one phrase he kind of makes an adjustment to to help us understand the correlation between the glory of God and Isaiah and the salvation of God that was going to be ushered in through Jesus you see the glory of God and the salvation of
[23:24] God merge together in they converge at the cross this is where glory and salvation culminate together to help us participate and enjoy and experience the glory of God in a whole new way it is through the cross that we come to understand the perfect standard of God it is through the cross we understand his holiness his justice it is through the cross we come to recognize his mercy and grace it is through the cross we come to appreciate the significance of obedience and redemption and authority and sovereignty of God all the glory and salvation converge there at the cross that was the work of Christ that is what he came to do to make the glory of God known and to welcome us into that experience through salvation so the presence of
[24:25] God can come and show up in your life that leads us to the final question this morning what does comfort accomplish what does comfort accomplish we look there in verse 6 and we saw that comfort first of all leads me to confidence it helps me to understand that the difference between fleshly trust and trust in him in verse 7 it says the grass withers the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it surely the people are grass the grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God will stand forever if you want to experience lasting comfort put your hope in the things that last the word of God is the only thing that will last it leads us to confidence in him it also leads us to a continual commitment a commitment of proclaiming the good news to others we see that in verse 9 go up to a mountain herald the good news lift up your voice with strength
[25:39] O Jerusalem herald of good news lift it up and fear not this comes to us loud and clear on the day of Pentecost this group of individuals who had gathered together 120 in all they had been praying together and worshiping together and going to the temple together they had been ministering to one another through the word and then the Holy Spirit comes and then there is this bold proclamation in Jerusalem so that we find in Acts chapter 2 it says of these people who are listening to the semblance of individuals preaching the good news to them says we keep hearing them say the mighty works of God that's the gospel the gospel is that God's word and God's power will change everything in my life life it's not that it just changes me or saves me for a moment and then
[26:47] I eventually look forward to heaven but that the gospel intersects with every moment of my day and changes my parenting it changes my working it changes my relationships in my community it changes the way I relate to suffering it changes the crises that I face and helps me to experience rescue in difficulty that's what a herald of good news does not only proclaiming the good news but demonstrating it through a changed life and finally it leads us to a commitment of waiting on him!
[27:30] waiting waiting for the last several weeks interestingly the book of Isaiah mentions the significance of waiting almost it's only second to the book of Psalms in terms of using this word waiting in all of the Old Testament and if you compare the number of words Psalms and Isaiah and the concentration of the use then Isaiah wins hands down in terms of referring to this concept of waiting waiting on the Lord trusting in him putting your confidence in him knowing that he is able to help those that wait on the Lord will renew their strength we see in verse 31 but this theme of waiting and hoping and looking forward with confidence how does it happen how are we able to wait in this way and that's what
[28:31] I want to come to this morning I want to spend the rest of our time just talking about five essential truths that will help us to wait in a way that pleases the Lord you have those five essential truths in your outline this morning I want to begin with the first one and that is this truth that God cares about you God cares about you we find that in verse 10 let me read that for us it says behold the Lord God comes with might and his arm rules for him behold his reward is with him and his recompense before him he will tend his flock like a shepherd he will gather the lambs in his arms he will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young he will tend his flock like a shepherd as
[29:35] I was thinking about sheep and this portrait of God being our shepherd I'm sure we've heard a lot of messages about sheep and shepherding but do you know how high maintenance sheep are like they can't do anything for themselves they can't really feed themselves they can't find nourishment they can't protect themselves they're so subject to disease and parasites and they can't groom themselves they always wander off sheep are high maintenance so high maintenance in fact that as I was thinking about it from the very beginnings of creation just after the fall from that point until now sheep have had to be cared for like Abel he was a shepherd right and so somehow right after the fall from that point till now sheep have not been able to take care of themselves they've always needed somebody else to step in and make sure that they survive otherwise we and that's the picture that God uses for us this gentle caring continual interest of God in your life he cares for you like a sheep like a shepherd cares for a sheep he knows your needs he cares for you deeply he knows you intimately he knows what you need and is able to deliver and as we find here in verse 10 it says behold the Lord comes with his might and with his arm he rules for him now when you read that phrase with his arm he rules for him
[31:32] I kind of get this picture I can help you with one arm tied behind my back the sense of God's power and showing up to help with the with the most intimate details of your life because he cares for you it says behold his reward is with him behold his reward is with him I like what God says to Abraham he says this the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision he says do not be afraid Abraham I am your shield your very great reward God is your reward maybe the reason why we don't feel like God cares about us is because we're not getting the things that we think we deserve when in actuality God is giving us the very best because he's giving us himself in
[32:38] Romans chapter 8 he says if God is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with him freely give us all things God is your reward and if we feel like God doesn't care maybe it's because we are not looking to him for satisfaction maybe it's because we're looking to other things to help fill those deeper parts can never satisfy God is our reward he cares about your needs he is good as the psalmist says taste and see the Lord is good not the good things that God gives is good but the Lord himself is good the challenge for us in being ministered to by the God of comfort is embracing and loving the giver more than the gift itself do you love the giver do you love the shepherd are you being ministered to this morning by the
[33:49] God of comfort because you are learning to enjoy him for who he is as the great reward he is your great reward does your life reflect unwavering joy in the provision of God if it does then you will enjoy the pleasure of comfort from God and you will lead others to experience the same comfort as the herald of good news your words not only express the wonder of the God of comfort your life demonstrates that he is comfort that he is good that he is the treasure does your life show that this morning if it does it will it will herald the good news of the great comforter the God of all comfort who is good God cares about you he has given himself as your reward the second truth is that
[34:55] God knows what's best for you we find that in verses 12 to 14 God knows what's best for you look at this with me! Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span and enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains and the scales and the hills in its balance who has measured the spirit of the Lord or what man shows his counsel whom did he consult and who made him understand who taught him the path of justice and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding these verses are pointing to the wisdom of God not just his authority and supremacy over creation but notice the key words that Isaiah is pointing to here this key word of measuring and marking and enclosing and weighing these are words for wisdom these are words for knowledge and knowing how to make the best things work together the balance of creation all working intricately!
[36:09] to his master plan and design for me I had a grandma who was a master baker and there have been times where we said grandma can you help us know how to make this bread and how to make this pie and what do all good grandmas do all good bakers do they say well take a little bit of this and feel it out and then put it here and they're taking each of these ingredients they're not going off a recipe they just know the feel and the weight and consistency and when that dough is put together we need a little bit more of this or a little bit more of that and you're like ah I can never duplicate that and that's the point certainly my grandma is no no comparison to God but the point is made God has measured it all he knows it all from the beginning and the end he knows from start to finish he has good plans for your life perfect plans for your life do you trust him with those plans
[37:22] God has plans he knows what's best for you he knows what's in your heart he knows what's in your future and he knows how to get you there do you trust him with his plans does your life reflect an unwavering trust in the wisdom of God this morning if it does if you are depending in resting in the wisdom of God you will be an agent of comfort an ambassador of comfort to the world around you who says I have not figured things out how do you have so much peace in your life so much settledness about the future say well I don't know what's happening either but one thing I know is that God is all wise and God will work it out the truth is
[38:24] God wise or is your life demonstrating a commitment to trusting him in that way if it is you will be an ambassador of comfort third truth God is able to help you God is able to help you we find that in verses 15 to 26 maybe you ask yourself the question I know that God loves me I know that God cares about my life I know that he is wise about the future but is he able to actually work it out and Isaiah in this herald in these verses says yes God is able he is strong nothing can thwart his plans it begins there in verse 15 we see that God is supreme over human powers behold the nations are like a drop in the bucket and are accounted as dust on the scales behold he takes up the coastlands like fine dust all the culmination of all the worldly powers joined together against
[39:39] God is just like a drop in the bucket no earthly! power can stand against the might and supremacy of our God well okay that's human powers well what about divine powers what about supernatural powers well the answer there is in verse 18 to whom then will you liken God or what likeness compare with him an idol a craftsman!
[40:06] a gold smith overlays it with gold and and cast it for silver chains! Is this what you're going to look to an idol a representation of the supernatural God is higher and greater than any of these things you can trust him because he is able he is supreme then dropping down to verse 25 it says to whom will you compare me that I should be like him I'm greater than all these things I am God and I am able well he's greater than natural powers than human powers he's greater than supernatural powers we find in verse 21 to 23 that he's greater than earthly powers they're nothing to him it says in verse 21 everything do do you do you not know do you not hear has it not been told you from the beginning have you not understood from the foundations of the earth it is he who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants!
[41:15] are like grasshoppers who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like tents to dwell in who brings princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the in this world is nothing compared to the power of God nothing can stand in his way he is supreme he will do it there's nothing that's going to be able to thwart his purposes for your life for his purposes for your life God actually delights in our weaknesses so that his strength can show up we don't like to be weak we don't like to be helpless but God actually delights to show up in our weakness so that he can magnify!
[42:09] his strength what is standing in our way is not earthly powers or limited resources or limited giftedness what often stands in our way is an unwillingness to trust his power and wisdom but by trusting and yielding to the power of God I herald the good news I don't have to strive I don't have to fret I don't have to strategize I just have to wait and yield does our life demonstrate an unwavering trust in the power of God if it does then we will be ambassadors of comfort heralds of good news saying behold our God he is able he is strong he can be trusted fourth God is watching over you
[43:09] God is watching over you we find that in verses 27 and 28 to whom then will you compare me excuse me verse 27 why do you say oh Jacob and speak oh Israel my way is hidden from the Lord and my right is disregarded by my God that's the question does God see what's going on in my life now the answer may surprise you look at it with me in verse 29 he gives power to the faint to him who has no might he increases strength even the youth shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength verse 28 I'm sorry have you not known have you not heard that the Lord is the everlasting!
[44:10] God the creator of the ends of the earth he does not faint or grow weary his understanding is unsearchable now remember the question God are you watching me answer I'm the everlasting God I don't faint or grow weary I have untappable and unsearchable wisdom what kind of answer is that well it's the answer that answers the deeper question not the question God are you watching me but the reason why we often feel like God isn't watching why we feel so alone why we feel so isolated is not because God is not watching but because God is not doing what we expect him to do
[45:12] God says know me and see me I'm the all wise all powerful God I'm doing what I do for you but we are blinded by our own expectation we're blinded by our own selfishness and self oriented perspective God says of course I'm watching I'm faithful I never grow tired I never grow weary but we miss it we're blinded because God doesn't meet our expectations he's not doing what we think we deserve for him to do and so we miss his activity in our life our problem is not that God doesn't see us the problem is that we don't see God we're not looking for what he is actually doing in this life we're only concentrating on what he's doing for me and to help my particular crisis we don't see the end game we don't recognize that
[46:31] God has higher and greater plans for our lives I think particularly about the wisdom of God and the work of God in the life of Johnny Erickson Tata who could have imagined that at 16 in this freak accident of diving into this lake breaking her neck and becoming a quadriplegic that God would actually use that to make her world changer that is our God showing up that is his wisdom his watching his caring to make someone like Johnny Erickson Tata an international world changer a paraplegic who the world would write off as being unworthy God says no I delight in showing up in her life to show my strength and as a result
[47:34] Johnny Tata is her program is being listened to by over a million people a week she serves 800 special needs families a year she supplied over 34,000 wheelchairs worldwide written 35 books visited over 41 countries she is a highly sought after conference speaker does God care about Johnny yes but God has greater objectives for her than her comfort he intends to use difficulty in showing his strength through her so that he can make her effective and fruitful God wants to do that for you but he will only do that for you as you!
[48:21] God of comfort to come and intersect your life to change you and to shape you and to make you a herald of good news and finally God will God will strengthen you God will strengthen you says he gives power to the faint to him who has no might he increases strength even youth shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings like eagles they shall run and not be weary!
[48:58] they shall walk and not faint say okay I understand that God is good that he is watching that he is powerful he has got good plans for my life but I don't think I can do it and God says you don't have to I will do it for you I will empower!
[49:16] I will strengthen you I will help you but our problem is this our problem is that God doesn't give tomorrow's strength today he only gives today's strength today you find it fascinating that in the Lord's prayer he says give us this day our daily bread the reason is because God wants us to continue this process of leaning and resting and trusting in him but he will only do that as we are depending on his strength moment by moment and he will supply he will supply more than you could ever know and when we depend on the unwavering power of God to fill us up and to strengthen us for the moments where we feel so weak then we become the herald of the good news the
[50:21] God of comfort has intersected our own lives and we have something to give to this world around us the comfort that they so desperately long for may God help us to be heralds of comfort for him as we depend on him wait on him and trust in him let me pray oh Lord please help us as as for many of us we are moving into uncharted waters uncertainty about the future really begins to grip our hearts and what you're calling us to is not the events or the planning about the future what you're calling us to Lord is the confidence in the unwavering nature of God regardless of what the future holds there is certainty not certainty in circumstances but certainty in the future in the power of
[51:24] God to make it happen so help us Lord to rest to be confident to trust in the God of comfort who can help us through the future and can make us effective and fruitful as we yield and surrender our hearts to you help us in that process we pray in Jesus name Amen let's stand as we sing sing together my foes are many they rise against me but I will hold my ground I will not fear the war
[52:27] I will not fear the storm my help is on the way my help is on the way oh!
[52:40] my God my God he will not delay my refuge and strength always I will not fear his promise is true my God will come through always always always always trouble surrounds me chaos abounding my soul will rest in you I will not fear the war
[53:41] I will not fear the storm my help is on the way my help is on the way oh my God he will not delay my refuge and strength always I will not fear his promise is true my God will come through always always I lift my eyes up my help comes from
[54:42] Lord I lift my eyes up my help comes from the Lord I lift my eyes up my help comes from the Lord Lord I lift my eyes up my help comes from the Lord Oh my God he will not delay my refuge and shame always
[55:42] I will not fear his promise is true my God will come through always always always the song comes from Psalm 121 it says I lift up my eyes to the hills from where does my help come my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth he will not let your foot be moved he who keeps you will not slumber behold he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep the
[56:43] Lord is your keeper the Lord is your shade at your right hand the sun will not smite you by day or the moon by night the Lord will keep you from all evil he will keep your life the Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever as