WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.600 Well, it's good to be here. 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:06.959 This is my my home church, so I'm glad to be up here speaking this Sunday. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:11.599 But before we get started, am I getting feedback? 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:21.920 Before before we get started this morning, I wanted to tell a little story about a woman who was on a cliff, a steep cliff, and she slipped and she fell. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:26.480 But fortunately, she was able to grab on to a branch as she was going down. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:31.039 Hanging on for dear life, she looked up and screamed toward heaven. 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:33.280 Is anybody out there? 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:37.759 A loud voice boomed from the clouds. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:39.039 I'm here. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:40.560 Have faith. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:44.640 Let go of the branch, and I will catch you. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:58.079 The woman paused, looked down at the thousand-foot drop, looked back up and yelled, Is anybody else up there? 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:09.040 How many of us have prayed to God and didn't like the response we got? 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:18.400 We thought we had faith, and all of a sudden we're really questioning our faith because we don't like what direction our life is going. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:33.680 This and then when we question God or we have doubts, then we start feeling guilty because everybody else around us is saying, just have faith, trust. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:37.439 But you're not having that at the moment. 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:46.799 So this morning we're going to be looking at the Psalm 27 about what place doubt has in the life of faith. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:51.280 Here's something you might not know about me. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:02:00.719 I write with my left hand, but I use scissors with my right hand. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:09.039 I can play tennis and other kinds of sports terribly with both hands. 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:16.240 I pitch with my right hand, but I sew with my left hand. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.840 Some people would call me messed up. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:36.560 When I was involved in high school and college in ballroom dancing groups and lead helping with leading classes, I was always pegged as the man due to my height. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:41.039 And so many men didn't join the classes, so we were short men. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:47.439 So I tend to struggle when I would start dancing other times. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:50.800 Am I leading or am I following? 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:59.680 You could think of me as being flexible or accommodating, or you'd call me a messed up dancer. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:06.000 Then there are those songs that just are plain hard to figure out to dance to. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:12.639 You think, okay, I've got the beat, but then it goes in another direction in the middle of the dance floor. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:17.759 You start looking perplexed and very unsure of how to move forward. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:23.840 Sometimes life feels like a waltz, gentle and smooth. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:38.240 But then the music changes, and you must learn how to jitterbug with jumpy steps, only to find out that they've turned on heavy metal, and you've got no clue how to dance to that. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:44.319 We like assurance. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:46.479 We like certainty. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:50.719 We like to control the dance moves. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:06.639 Situation and problems leak into other areas of life until we are entirely confused. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:11.680 How do you dance life when the playlist is all scrambled up? 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:15.759 My life has been full of messiness. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:21.920 Many of you know about our seven-year-old son that died of cardiac arrest. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:27.439 But what you don't probably know is all the things around that time. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:30.800 That's just one part of the story. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:48.399 During that time, I was unpacking my family of origin issues and how I was the caretaker to my mom and how I played older child because my brother was a very difficult and messed up person. 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:50.800 My family down there's laughing. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:58.639 When our son died, it didn't, I didn't have the capacity to care for other people. 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:09.600 I could only focus in on the two children that I still was raising, my husband, and trying to keep myself grounded and not flying out. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:16.160 This fractured my relationship with my parents. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:18.480 They walked out of my life. 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:21.600 They didn't answer phone calls. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:27.680 They returned my letters and my cards, returned to sender, said on the front of them. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:35.279 In addition, I was in a leadership group at our church and was receiving actually a lot of attention. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:43.439 I was sort of notorious for that woman who lost her son and actually could get up and speak at his memorial. 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:50.879 The woman pastor who is leading this group began to see me as a threat to her domain. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:56.879 And I was starting to feel the effects of her jealousy on me. 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:06.240 Words spoken behind my back set a fire, all sorts of things, and relationships started to break down. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:12.720 The death of my son affected everything. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:25.839 But everything in my life started changing. 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:39.920 I had nothing of security and friendships anymore, of extended family changed, and my church changed, and I was disoriented. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:43.120 How many of you have felt that way? 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:46.800 Oh, say it out loud. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:47.839 Can I hear it? 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:50.879 Okay, you're awake and you're with me. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:55.600 Yeah, it's hard when something changes. 00:06:55.759 --> 00:07:00.240 We think it's one problem when we realize it's hit everything in our life. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:04.240 So I'm gonna set this up here so I don't wobble around with it. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:06.319 But keep that in mind. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:14.160 The truth, when our when problems arise in our life, it hits all sorts of areas of our life. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:16.079 It's not isolated. 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:21.680 We don't know when our life will settle down, do we? 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:25.120 And we don't know how it's gonna turn out. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:30.000 Anything could change the direction of our lives. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:39.360 Psalm 27 was one I memorized decades ago, actually, in that time frame that I shared with you. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:43.759 And it's been my guide to dancing since then. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:48.000 I can't recite it clearly anymore. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:51.600 I can recite parts, but that's what age does to you. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:54.879 But I can remember what it means to me. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:08:00.319 And I think it'll be clear how much this psalm fits my own story. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:09.120 I used the working title for today, A Messy Song, When Trust Dances with Doubt. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:23.279 Scott read Psalm 27 for us, so now we'll walk through it a little chunk by chunk, four little chunks we'll look at, and we'll be able to see what's going on in David's public life as well as his interior life. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:38.879 And I'm sure each of us will relate to parts of this, if not all of it, because it can be easily adjusted to maybe not the depth of what David was going through, but we all have chapters that look something like this. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:47.200 So if you want to look farther into David's life when he writes this psalm, it's in 1 Samuel 16 through 30. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:59.519 I'd encourage you to go home and read it this week and then go back to Psalm 27 because it's attributed to David, the shepherd boy who became the king of Israel. 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:10.000 He lived a life barked both by divine promise as well as human problems. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:22.399 The prophet Samuel had already been anointed by had anointed David as a successor to the first and still living king, Saul. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:25.440 Think about that. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:36.080 After Davis David's miraculous slang of the giant Goliath, David unsurprisingly became very popular with the congreg with all the people. 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:42.799 And also, not surprising, Saul began to get jealous of David. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:53.120 How would you feel if you knew your successor was already on your heels, already been anointed, already been shown off as an incredible leader? 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:55.279 And there you were still there. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:02.080 Saul became so jealous of this rising star that he had spears thrown at him when he was in court. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:07.759 And then he had so many death threats against him that David had to run. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:15.600 And for years he ended up running and hiding from Saul's army because they wanted to assassinate him. 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:16.960 Wow. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:22.720 Okay, if we take that down, that kind of means, you know, sometimes we have people that are jealous of us. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:29.360 And they're throwing maybe verbal spears at us, or they're even trying to do things that trip us up. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:32.639 And we and we have to go on the run. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:42.159 In Psalm 27 was most likely written during this time of David's life. 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:47.600 And the song opens with what I call a pep talk, a self-talk by David. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:52.000 You can hear how he's trying to talk himself into faith. 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:55.519 Let's listen to the first three sections. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:59.679 The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:04.879 The Lord is the stronghold of my life, in whom shall I be afraid? 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:14.559 When the wicked advance against me to devour or slander me, it is my enemies and my foes that will stumble and fall. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:20.080 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:26.879 Though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:35.360 David is reminding himself of God's power and protection that he's already experienced in his life. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:40.559 He's leaning back into memories of God already being there for him. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.000 This is a personal pep talk. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:51.600 When he's slandered, when he's has enemies pursuing him, when the poop hits the fan. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:25.600 This only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and seek him in his temple. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:30.159 For the day of trouble, he will keep me safe in his dwelling. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:35.759 He will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me upon a rock. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:40.559 Then my head will be exalted above my enemies. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:48.080 At his sacred tent, I will sacrifice with shouts of joy. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:52.159 I will sing and make music to the Lord. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:13:02.320 So here we hear him reminding himself even more about how God has taken care of him in hard times, that he's committed to seeking the Lord. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:14.879 He doesn't say it, but he's choosing not to pursue revenge, ill will towards his enemies, or take things into his own hands. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:21.279 David instead chooses to worship the Lord through shouts of joy and music. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:27.200 I don't know about you, but that is not my first response. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:36.399 I don't go around singing, shouting joy to the Lord when I'm struggling with my world moving around. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:46.399 But it's in the doing that we actually trust in the Lord. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:57.440 A quick sidebar: when Abraham questioned if he was ever going to have children, and he went to the Lord and said, When's this gonna happen? 00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:59.759 I'm old, it's not gonna happen. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:01.840 God didn't answer him directly. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.600 He just said, Go and look up at the stars and count them. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:11.360 He told Abraham to do something. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:16.799 And in that doing, Abraham found faith again. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:21.440 So sometimes we think we have to have faith and then do something. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:24.159 But maybe sometimes it's the opposite. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:28.480 We need to do something, and in the doing, we find faith. 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:37.759 In verse 7, we have a huge shift from self-talk to a direct call to God. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:46.399 We get this raw, heartfelt anxiety that changes all of a sudden, which makes David a little bit more real to all of us. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:50.879 David's asking for mercy and to be seen by God. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:55.120 He shows fear, he shows anger. 00:14:55.440 --> 00:15:00.080 He's afraid that God is angry with him or might reject him or turn away from him. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:09.120 Eugene Peterson, a theologian of our time, said belief in God is not exempt from feelings of abandonment from God. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:15.120 Praising God does not inoculate us from doubts about God. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:18.000 In the psalm, we have both. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:30.799 David is claiming that even if our friends or even our closest relationships abandon us, what we can depend on is God is going to be there. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:32.799 That's foundational. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:42.399 In verses 11 through 14, David says, Teach me your ways, Lord. 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:46.720 Lead me in a straight path because of my enemies. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:57.840 Don't turn me over to the desires of my foes, or false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:03.039 I remain confident of this. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:08.399 I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:13.679 Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:16.639 Wait for the Lord. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.879 Earlier in the Psalm, David has expressed such confidence. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:29.200 We think it's going to continue to be this confident David that we hear, that he triumphs over his enemies, he triumphs over his personal struggles. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:34.879 But then suddenly he's begging God for mercy. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:39.279 He's begging God to help him with the anxiety. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:46.799 You can feel how he's feeling the enemies coming up against him, practically breathing down his neck at this point. 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:52.240 And so he reverts to self-talk in the end. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:58.879 He promises and believes that he will see goodness in the land of the living. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:28.400 Doesn't it? 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:30.799 It goes all over. 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:35.359 He ends up on the dance floor, knowing he doesn't know to the dance. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:37.920 And you know what he decides to do? 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:42.480 He decides that waiting is the wisest option. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:47.119 There's waiting to be had. 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:58.559 That this song or his problems won't be fixed immediately, but that does not mean that God is not present or ignoring the bad that's happening. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:05.759 David knows he must wait on God's timing, which certainly isn't what we all want to hear. 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:10.720 Wait, develop patience. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:16.400 God's timing isn't hurried because my desire to avoid pain. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:24.000 Verse 14 says, wait for the law, Lord, be strong and take heart. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:26.720 Wait for the Lord. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:31.119 David says in conclusion, wait for the Lord. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:33.279 And he says it twice with emphasis. 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:35.039 How many times do we have self-talk? 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:37.680 And we have to say it over and over and over again. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:39.119 I can do this. 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:40.559 I can do this. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:42.079 I can do this. 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:46.960 Trying to tell yourself this, you're gonna make it, you're gonna make it. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:19:00.400 Waiting, maintaining trust while waiting, seeking the Lord while waiting, practicing healthy self-talk while waiting. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:06.799 Trust and waiting are action verbs. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:11.279 But so much of our faith is based on our actions. 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:22.720 In the Gospel of John, we find Thomas, many people call him doubting Thomas, who didn't believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:25.680 And he needed to have proof. 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:31.279 He needed something to happen to prove what he was doubting. 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:34.960 He wasn't struck down dead, was he? 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:43.039 But Jesus came to him in his doubt and showed him who he was. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:51.920 What that tells me is we're not going to be struck dead for questioning and doubting our faith. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:54.160 That's good news. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:57.200 Because I doubt a lot of times. 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:02.640 I may be up here saying things, but I live with doubt a lot of the time. 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:04.480 I question everything. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:08.319 I'm the kid that didn't you wouldn't have wanted in a youth group. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:15.839 You don't want me in your small group either, because I start asking questions that nobody wants to really address. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:17.839 But that's me. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:24.079 Now going back to my own story, I had seven years no contact with my parents. 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:33.279 It was as if God had removed me from their lives and my roles with them as an enabler. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:39.200 God needed time to work in my life and to work in theirs. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:51.279 In those seven years, my mom contracted ovarian cancer, but she also met Jesus, which changed everything for her. 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:10.880 During those seven years, I got healthier and my relationships got healthier. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:15.200 But it was all during the waiting, what felt like waiting. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:19.839 As for the jealous woman leader, well, it didn't let up. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:36.880 And my husband and I ended up moving down to San Diego for a while, which ended up being a good thing because I went back to school, got some degrees, got some understanding of my gifting, grew into a leader that I didn't know I was. 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:41.359 And as a side note, I didn't have to take that leader on. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:50.079 She was later removed from her staff position as her jealousy started rolling into other places in the church. 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:55.680 And finally, the elder board saw what was going on and removed her. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.599 She was God's responsibility. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.200 Not mine. 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:06.640 And I had to leave it at that and trust that God had her as well. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:14.720 Messy song. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:20.319 When trust dances with doubt. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:22.880 Let me wrap this up. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:33.599 Psalm 27 maintains a gritty honesty as it dances back and forth between doubt, fear, and trust. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:40.240 On the one hand, the psalmist addresses God as light, salvation, stronghold. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:44.480 God hides or protects in times of trouble. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:48.880 God teaches and leads in the way of right living. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:54.720 Even in times of trouble, he affirms, God's worth the wait. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:56.720 Do you believe that? 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:00.720 God is worth your waiting on him. 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:07.519 So whom should we fear? 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:12.319 Whom shall we be afraid of? 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:21.200 David had adversaries, enemies, foes that were ready to fight him. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:23.440 You might too. 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:31.200 This is an honest story about faith, where trust dances with doubt. 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:37.759 The truth is a dance between the Lord as our leader and us as the follower. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:49.440 When we allow God to dance us in this life, we have to give up control because what does not dance well together is faith and control. 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:53.599 We must place our hand in God's hand. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:24:03.920 Take a deep breath in, release it, and rest in God's loving arms. 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:09.920 God moves us to the song He's trying to teach us. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:15.279 Doubt doesn't have to be something that we avoid or deny. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:20.319 Faith and doubt are deeply intertwined rather than opposites. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:26.640 Doubt is not a lack of faith, but an opportunity to seek God's face. 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:31.440 We deeply want security. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:35.039 We deeply want certainty. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:42.559 But uncertainty can serve as a crucial catalyst in our personal and spiritual growth. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:47.519 Real fear lives alongside honest faith. 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:53.119 Doubt holds hands with genuine trust. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:05.039 Theologian Paul Tilk said this way doubt isn't the opposite of faith, it is an essential element of faith. 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:08.480 How many times have we been told that in our life? 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:10.720 Don't doubt, have faith. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:12.640 That's what I always heard. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:14.960 But I like Frederick Biekner. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:19.839 He has a way of saying that that just really sits home with me. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:23.039 Doubts are the ants and the pants of faith. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:25.359 They keep it awake and moving. 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:27.839 I'll say it again. 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:30.960 Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:34.400 They keep it awake and moving. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:39.759 It's moving. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:45.440 Life of faith is grounded in experience because God's got you. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:52.799 Like the mobile set upon the foundation of the stand, the pieces still move. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:55.759 You're still gonna have problems in your life. 00:25:55.839 --> 00:25:59.279 You're still gonna have fear, you're still gonna have doubt. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:00.559 But you know what? 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:05.440 You won't ultimately blow away because God's got you. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:15.680 If you're still trying to lead your life, maybe today is the time to say, I'm gonna put my doubts in God's hands. 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:20.559 And maybe it's time for me to seek his face with my issues. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:28.240 The truth of authentic faith is both beautiful and quite frankly frightening. 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:31.440 But God's got you. 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:35.519 Let God lead the dance of your life. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:46.960 The wind will blow, hurricanes of pain may come, but God's presence will be there with you, holding you tight. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:49.839 Let's pray. 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:58.319 Lord, you are our light and our salvation. 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:03.759 You are the stronghold that holds us tight. 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:09.599 Show us how doubts are the ants and the pants of our own faith. 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:14.799 And may our doubts keep us awake and moving towards you. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:20.079 Remind us that we can trust you with the dance of our own life. 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:25.839 You have a firm grip on us even when our lives spin and wobble. 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:36.319 Thank you for your grace you show as we learn how to dance with both trust and doubt, knowing that both are necessary. 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:45.920 Teach us to worship how to worship you in all circumstances rather than seek revenge or unhelpful ways of responding. 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:49.359 For you promise to never forsake us. 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:55.279 And in the act of worship, may we embrace trust one more time. 00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:04.640 Strengthen us so that we each remain confident as we practice waiting. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.400 In your son's name we pray. 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:09.359 Amen.