God is Not Dead - PT 2 "When Evil Reigns, God Still Rules"

When the headlines shout chaos, we reach for a quieter truth: God’s sovereignty doesn’t flinch. We walk through Daniel’s courage in a corrupt court, Israel’s multiplication under Pharaoh’s oppression, and Isaiah’s startling prophecy about Cyrus—a pagan king God raised to free His people. Along the way, we ask the honest questions from Psalms, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk and learn why lament belongs in a living faith. The thread through it all is simple and stubborn: evil can act, but it cannot rule.

We share how steadfast practices—prayer, Scripture, integrity, and community—turn pressure into growth, and how perfect love breaks the chokehold of fear. We talk about wilderness provision that shows up in unfamiliar packages, the “unknown God” who reveals Himself in new ways, and the power of one faithful life to bless multitudes, just as Joseph’s journey preserved a nation. History becomes our teacher: empires rise and fall, but the Author of seasons still removes kings and raises up kings.

If you’re feeling the weight of injustice or the sting of uncertainty, this conversation offers both realism and hope. Expect grounded takeaways you can apply today: how to trust when timelines stretch, how to spot God’s hand in hostile systems, and how to keep moving toward your purpose when resistance intensifies. Subscribe, share with someone who needs courage, and leave a review with your key takeaway—what truth are you holding onto this week?

Transcript

Prayer, Series Setup, Core Question

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to this episode of Daily Bread. I am your host, Dr. Terrell Stokely Jr., and I am here today with my lovely co-host, Angela Stokely. Angela, would you like to greet our audience at this time?

SPEAKER_03 0:16

Absolutely. Welcome. And what's up? Everybody, we are so excited to be one more time. We look forward to the time that we get to share with you. We pray as always that it said that would encourage you, empower you, that causes you to keep moving forward in what God has called you to and who He has called you to be. So thank you once again for joining us. We look forward to this time that we share together.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Daily Bread is our encouraging podcast where we deliver unto you scripture from the Word of God that will empower you and give you daily bread for everyday life. Today we're going to go into prayer and we're still in our series, God Is Not Dead. This is part two. And our subtopic for part two is when evil reigns, God still rules. I hope that by itself will bless you. Amen. All right, so Angela's going to go into some prayer and then we're going to get started.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

Amen. Father, we bless you and we thank you. We give you glory, honor, and praise for the opportunity to share one with another. Father, we ask that your power and your presence, your glory, your anointing, God will show up in this time we have together. That God, you will speak through us to your people in the mighty name of Jesus, that they will hear, Lord God, what heaven has to say concerning them. So move by your glory, touch, anoint us, Lord God, afresh and anew. For this assignment, we give you the glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen, and amen.

Statistics and God’s Daily Concern

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Amen. Thank you so much, Angela, for that anointed prayer. Amen. Here's a thought. When wickedness seems to dominate, is it true that God's sovereignty remains steadfast? I believe and I am convinced that God uses even corrupt systems to fulfill his purpose. Absolutely. We're going to look at that throughout the Word of God all today. How even when it appears that evil is reigning, it is important to stay steadfast in your faith and ground it in your belief in God and his care for you, because God often will take a corrupt system in which we are living in in our modern time in 2025. God will take a corrupt system to fulfill his purposes.

SPEAKER_03 2:48

Amen. And you know what's so powerful about that is that the key is that oftentimes we don't know what the purposes are. Right. And so when we see certain things working a certain way in the earth in the earth, we become confused.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

We become dismayed. Yes. Sometimes disheartened. Right. But the reality is that God is the one that knows the purposes.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Right.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

By which he has certain things to happen the way that they're happening. Right. And I couldn't help, as you were saying that, I couldn't help but to think about when he allowed the children of Israel to go into Babylonian captivity. Right. And though they didn't understand it, God still works something very powerful through that process.

Daniel: God Removes and Raises Kings

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Absolutely. That is such a great reference point. Because we do see that even in our mistakes, yes, God's sovereignty and his love is always powerfully acting righteously on our behalf and in our behalf. That is so beautiful. Okay, listen to the statistics, ladies and gentlemen. A recent state of theology study found that 32% of Americans believe God is not concerned with what they do each day. And this is a record high from in the past. This statistic was taken by Evangelical Focus in 2023. So you got in 2023, 32% of Americans don't even believe that God is concerned with their day-to-day situation. And people believe that because there is chaos, because there is trouble, because there are problems all around, because evil is present and active, they feel like God is detached. But we must understand that because evil is present and active doesn't mean that evil is dominating and winning. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

And so I'm constantly being reminded that God left his word for times such as this. Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Uncertain, unpredictable, unbecoming.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

And I appreciate that God left us his word to let us know. Number one, this is not strange. Right. Dark times are not strange times to God.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Right.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

Dark times have hit the earth before.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 5:34

But but God does some of his most amazing work in those dark times.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

And the Bible gives us comfort in knowing that there were others that have gone before us that have been in very similar situations. And God and the beauty and how the word shows us how God brought them out. How God brought them through. How God remained with them, even if his name wasn't written, if his name wasn't mentioned in a book. I'm thinking about the book of Esther. You know what I mean? But yet we understand that God's hand was present the whole time.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Oh my God. That is so good. That is so good. So let me ask the question of our audience. Are you in the 32% of Americans that believe that God is not concerned with what they do each day? You have to ask yourself, do you believe God cares enough about every single day of your life?

SPEAKER_03 6:36

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

Every decision of your life. Because every day of your life is a day of purpose. It's a day of a plan that God put you here for his specific purposes and for his glory and your purpose and destiny that he has in your life.

SPEAKER_03 6:50

In simple terms, if if I if I'm a Christian, right? Right. And I believe the word of God.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Right.

SPEAKER_03 6:57

And the scripture, this this is simple terms. And the scripture says that he knows the number of hairs that I have on my head.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Clearly, he cares about everything that's happening in my everyday.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Because every hair on my head, yes. Oh, that's deep. That's deep. That's deep. That's detail and it's a small thing.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

It's a small thing.

SPEAKER_03 7:21

But the Bible took time to God intentionally had that written in the Word of God to let us know how involved and intimate and intricate his focus is on our lives.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:36

You know? Right. And that's just a simple example.

Babylon, Steadfast Faith, and Promotion

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Yes. I would agree with that. Well, let's look at some people then in the Word of God who had to live through corruption, corrupt kings, evil governments, evil oversight, and that those believers' interaction with God and God's response back to them. And what was God doing during this time of evil and corruption? So first I want to go to Daniel, the prophet Daniel. In Daniel chapter 2, we see an amazing response. Because here, Daniel begins to praise God for removing and raising kings. So we understand here that even though evil may be active for a season, God still has the power to remove evil and corrupt leadership and put good leadership in place, no matter where that leadership is in its terms. So let's go to Daniel chapter 2 and verse 20. It says this Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever. For wisdom and might are his. And he changes the times and the seasons. Look how powerful that is. God is responsible for changing the times and changing the season. The reason we have 24 hours in a day is because God allows and commands the day to come forth, and he commands the night to come forth. The reason we have spring, summer, winter, and fall, because God has set a term for each season of the year to expire and the next season to begin. Absolutely. But it says here, He removes kings and raises up kings. Oh my god, I'm trying not to preach this. Okay. And it says here, He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. I like verse 22. He reveals deep and secret things, and he knows, watch this, what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. In other words, God knows all the evil that's going to happen before it happens. God sees what goes goes on in the dark. And when God is fed up, when God will let evil run its course, God will let us because God is merciful and God is kind and God wants none to be lost. And he will allow a person who is on the wrong track to keep going down that wrong track and keep being merciful and keep being merciful and reaching out to them because he's trying to save them. This is why he sent Jesus Christ to die for evil humanity, for sinners, because he loves us just that much. But he is the one who will raise up a king and bring down a king. And so power changes hands on earth, but heaven's authority never falters. Amen. Men come and go, but God is consistent and God is the same. And we must understand that God is not dead when evil is reigning, God is ruling.

SPEAKER_03 10:40

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Oh, that is so good. That is so good. Another one that I want to look at is in Exodus chapter one. Exodus chapter one. We're looking at Pharaoh here, and it's in verses eight through 14. And Pharaoh at this point, he has been enslaving Israel, right? Yet the more he enslaves Israel, the more oppression that they go through. God blesses their womb. God blesses them to multiply. Oh, this is so good. God blesses them to increase even in the struggle. Angela, do you want to take that one thing?

Exodus: Oppression and Multiplication

SPEAKER_03 11:16

Yeah, I will, I will, I want to refer back because I can't I can't really shake this idea about what happened in Babylon, Babylonia, I mean, right with Daniel. Okay, you know, and thinking about they they went in captivity, but through strategy, God allowed these men to be pulled out and pulled closer to the king so that they could represent godliness even in this place of corruption. Wow, you know what I mean? That is so good, and and and they and you know, but one of the things this is kind of what's really resonated with me in that is how the believer had we have to stay grounded, right? Because that's what Daniel did. They they wouldn't eat the king's food, they wouldn't drink the king's drink, and and and and and and instead they offered a an a different option, like just give us the vegetables and the water, and then after this certain period of time, let's just see what happens, right? You know what I'm you know what I mean? So even though they were in a different place in in bondage and captivity, they remained steadfast in their belief of God, right? You know what I mean? And as a result, we see them constantly being promoted, yeah, and being in a position to minister to the king through their faith, you know, and and and I believe it was when was it the fiery furnace, when they came out of the fiery furnace that the king said, Now, Daniel, I believe in your God.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Yeah, you're talking about when he was when Daniel was in the lion's that particular king did. But but Shepbreak, Meshach, and Bindigo, they were promoted as well. I see where you're going.

SPEAKER_03 13:02

Absolutely, absolutely. And so just just realizing that we don't always know the purpose of God. Right. What if in these situations God is trying to give these people in authority who are operating in darkness and the opportunity to turn from their wicked ways? Absolutely. And then he allows his children to be placed in this in a in a quote unquote subservient type of role for them to stand their ground in their belief and in their their uh worship and their honor and praise of God, and these wicked and corrupt people see that, and God uses their his children to turn the heart of the wicked king.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

That's so beautiful. That is so beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 13:46

When I say we don't know the purposes, but he does, he does, and the and the biggest and sometimes the most difficult part is trusting that God knows what he's doing. Oh, trusting that God knows what he's doing, even when it's dark, even when it's dark around us, there is still light in him, as we just read, right? Right, right, and so he he's able to do things how he wants to do them for the purposes that he has, yes, not for the ones that we want, right? Glory to God. So I had to just because that thing was wearing on me, just how he can how he worked in that Babylonian captivity, right? I remember even uh I can't remember the scripture right now, but when he even told him, You you go, you're gonna build houses, right? You're gonna you're gonna plant vineyards, right? You're in captivity, but I'm still gonna prosper you. Right, I'm still going to bless you. Prosper in the land that you're in, yes, dig dig well, yeah, plant vineyards, yeah, build homes, even in captivity. Even in captives, you're gonna bloom right where you're planted, you're gonna bloom right where you're planted because although it's dark, captivity is not fun. I'm still gonna bless you.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

That is so good.

SPEAKER_03 15:03

OMG, I'm still gonna bless you. How do we translate that into our now? In spite of what's going on in the world, we have to know that God still has good plans for us.

Freedom Within: Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

SPEAKER_00 15:15

That's amazing. Because how do you explain away the reality, the fact that an enslaved people are over here prospering in an enslaved land? Come on. How are these people prospering when they should be subjugated? Yeah, when they should be mistreated, when they should be the last to get a break, when they should be the last to get good land, when they should be the last who's crossed to grow, when they shouldn't be able to even get the resources to build a house because you're enslaved in a not your own. But God, but God, it shows that when evil reigns, God still rules because he still had them prospering in what you would call bondage. Absolutely. Oh my god, absolutely. They they were bound in some ways, but they weren't in bondage. Absolutely, they were bound because they they didn't have the government authority, they they they couldn't do whatever they wanted to do, they couldn't leave. So they were bound, but they weren't in bondage. Amen. That's what we have to look around and say, okay, I may be bound by some new rules, some federal laws, and this and that that's going on, but I'm not in bondage. Absolutely. Because God is still with me, absolutely, and he's still with my family in Christ. Absolutely. My kingdom is still covered, absolutely about the glory of God. Oh my god, absolutely. I kind of lost it there.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

It's you know, they just that just made me think about how we have to celebrate our freedom and understand what that freedom in Christ really looks like. Yes, I may be going through things in the earth, yes, but in the spirit, I'm free. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? According to God's law, I'm free, I'm free, according to his governance. I'm free. Yes, glory to God, yeah, and hallelujah. And sometimes I think we have to take the time to really say, in spite of, I am still free because he came to set the captive free.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

It's so that's so beautiful because it's it is Christ in us, the hope of glory, come on, the indwelling Christ that calls us to walk in a kind of love that keeps us free. Come on, because the Bible says perfect love casts out all fear. It's a lot of times we are in bondage when we're going through when we're bound, we're in bondage when when there's a lot of evil and darkness going on, because we have some things in our heart that we need to relinquish. Because perfect love will not allow you to hate. Perfect love will not allow you to become bitter at people and stay that way. Amen. Perfect love. See, we become bitter in this and that because of fear that somebody is taking something, fear we're not gonna be able to do this, fear somebody's mistreating me, fear that this is gonna turn out bad for me, fear that you know my life quality of life is gonna degrade and decrease. When the reality is perfect love casts out all of that, amen. Perfect love casts out all of that, and so Christ in us, the hope of glory, gives us a freedom on the inside that the outside can't take from us. Amen. That is so good, amen. And and then you bringing this up reminds me that in darkness and in dark times and dark seasons, we have to fall back on the word that we know. We too, the word we've hidden in. You know, we preach about it and testify it all the time to our friends and and and to other people's situation. And when things are good, we preach in God's words, and no weapon formed against me shall prosper. Well, that's because you don't have a weapon formed against you right now that you can see. But will you fall back on that word when it gets dark that's it around you? That's it. Will you still say no weapon formed against me shall prosper because I'm in the kingdom, not I'm in this world, but I'm not of this world.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Absolutely. And what I have learned is that God will give us opportunity to practice that. Yes, yes, indeed, He will. He will give us opportunity to practice that. And earlier you said something, and it made me think about God's provision to the children of Israel when they were in the wilderness. Oh, you were talking about how you can be in a place and prospering in spite of the fact that it's quote unquote at captivity, right? Right. And they're still able to prosper. And it reminded me how when God when God had them come out through Moses' leadership, yeah, they came out as millionaires. Come on, yeah, right. They came out rich. I want to say, I ain't gonna even say what I want to say, but they came out very rich.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

They came out with more than one form of freedom.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

They were debt-free as well.

Provision in Wilderness and Gratitude

SPEAKER_03 19:45

Absolutely. And it made me, it made me think about that. Even in that, they came out with all of this stuff. My God, that was a part of God's plan. Because He the one told them to take it, told them to get it. They went into the wilderness and they did not have it like they had it before. Yeah, so in many ways, I'm sure they saw that as another form of captivity, right? Yeah, because things were not as they desired. And the thing about that that really resonated with me is how God provided their needs in ways that were like unconditional ways, right? He gave them manna. Well, and and and the parallel to that is that we have to learn that even when we're in these situations that we'd rather not be in, let's say a tight spot, an uncomfortable spot, a aka a wilderness, we have to be grateful for God's method of provision. Oh my god, that's where I was trying to get to. Yeah, we've got to learn how to be grateful. This is so good to me right now, for God's method of provision. Because in dark times, in troubling times, God won't always show up, speak up, and manifest things in our life like he did before the storm, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Right.

SPEAKER_03 21:21

And we've got to learn what he's doing in the now, right, and be okay with the method that he's using to provide.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

Oh, that's that's that's that's that requires a great deal of maturity.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

So we have to grow up, we have to grow in God, absolutely grow in our understanding.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

Because what was their question? They were like, What is this? Right, and how many times have we found ourselves in situations like somebody, you know, out of the blue want to sow a seed, and you like, what's this? Hold on, wait a minute. Because maybe you're used to being the giver, you're used to being the one who can provide and do whatever, and and God puts you in a situation where now someone you don't even expect shows up and does something for you. You're like, wait a minute, right? And it makes us uncomfortable, and we say, What is this? Right, but the beauty is God is showing us that I'm still here and I'm still providing.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

That's so good.

SPEAKER_03 22:19

We have to adjust to receiving food from the sky.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

That's a great principle for spiritual growth and development.

SPEAKER_03 22:27

Amen. Oh my god, amen. And I think that's so beautiful. So we've got to learn how to how to adapt to the God of when we're finding ourselves in uncertain times because he shows up differently than when we were really certain about things, when things were a little bit easier and it wasn't so dark. But we've gotta be willing to adjust to the God of our uncertain times.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

That is so good, Jesus. That is so good, Jesus. You know, you're reminding me of Paul when he had gone before the Roman council, and he was in Rome, if I'm getting my facts correct here, and Paul was justifying his preaching and teaching of Jesus Christ. And he said before that council, they they were saying Paul was basically saying, I'm presenting to you the unknown God. He said, I see you have a subscription written on the wall here to the unknown God. And he said, That is the God that I have come to talk to you about, the God that you do not know. Come on now, the unknown God, the God that is really important.

SPEAKER_03 23:42

Boy, they're so good right now, sir.

The “Unknown God” and New Methods

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Jesus. So he has to be revealed, he has to be revealed, and from what you're saying, we have to get to the point where we accept he is the unknown God. Come on now, he is beyond finding out. Come on now, and we have to understand since he is the unknown God, he will do an unknown thing.

SPEAKER_03 24:04

Ah, he will.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

That is so good, he will.

SPEAKER_03 24:08

That's so good. I don't even know if we need to move from that. Wait a minute. I need a minute. That's so good.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

My God, thank you for bringing us that revelation.

SPEAKER_03 24:18

That's so good.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Don't forget, he is the God that we do not know.

SPEAKER_03 24:22

Yes, and he's revealing, he wants to reveal himself. That is so good in a way that we have not yet seen nor mentioned.

The Power of One: Joseph and Leadership

SPEAKER_00 24:33

I think even the psalm says, David says to the Lord in the Psalms to God, your ways are past. Find God. Come on, that's the word. Oh my god, absolutely. He even said it's at another point, teach me your ways, oh Lord, yes. Oh my god. Even Moses didn't know him, who had seen him face to face, because I believe it was Moses, if I'm getting this right. No, it was Elijah that said, Show me your goodness, and then God passes by Elijah, Elisha, and he sees God's goodness. Is that correct? That he was the one that God put in the cleft of the rock. I believe it was. If I'm if I'm not getting my people off, yeah. I think that was the one put in the cleft of the rock. And God passes by and shows all of his goodness, yeah, and covers him. That's one of them. This one, this one. Yes, this one. It's uh I got I got a preacher, I know a preacher that says it's in your Bible. Go look, read your whole Bible. Just read it, you'll find it. I you know, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not Google or Chat GPT, I can't tell you everywhere it is, right? You know, anyway. So let's go then and look at this thing in Exodus, because in Exodus we see, and you know, I rejoice in the reality that the enemy hasn't learned yet in all these you know years and years and years that he centuries that the enemy has been in existence, he still has not learned that God uses oppression as a tool to grow his people. He uses oppression as a fertilizer, yeah, to cause his people to prosper, grow, and mature. So here in uh Exodus chapter one, starting in verse eight, what is happening here is uh the children of Israel, the descendants of Jacob, under Joseph have begun to prosper in the land of Egypt. And as they're prospering, you know, verse eight says, Now there arose a new king over Egypt. Watch this, who did not know Joseph. Now, watch this. And he said to his people, Look, for the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we are. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them. Oh, it's so much in this teaching, lest they multiply, and it happened even in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land. Therefore, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Python and Ramses, but the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, and there were and they were in dread of the children of Israel. Isn't that powerful? It is now let me make this relevant to this day and time. We have had statements made by leadership in America that has said, if you don't do to a certain group of people in this country, if you don't do a certain thing, you won't have a country anymore. If you don't stop the certain growth of a particular race of people, you won't be the dominant race anymore. Do you not see how this which happened way back in the old testament, thousands of years ago, is repeating itself right now? This is what Pharaoh said.

SPEAKER_03 28:10

I was gonna say that spirit is still in the land.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

That spirit of Pharaoh is still in the land, the spirit of an evil Pharaoh, the spirit of a taskmaster, the all led by a spirit of fear. Yeah, see, and we see it repeating itself right here and right now, and look at the strategy that was deployed back then and compare it to the strategy that is deployed right now, and you will see that God is still sovereign, God is in control, and evil don't change its pattern, evil don't have no new tricks, and evil will do the same thing over and over and over again. Look at what he said, let's suppress them. Do you see that? Let's go out and fight against them. You see what how they say, therefore, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with burdens. So there is this act of affliction against the people to suppress and dominate them, and the same thing is happening in our day and time. There's a set of affliction that is happening to people to dominate and control them. But the same God who dealt with this Pharaoh and caused the children of Israel to multiply, first of all. Oh my god, the more they went through, the more they multiply. And and what evil leaders don't understand is that the more you suppress people, the more you cause them to dig deep inside and find a new fight, and a new way of winning, and it causes them to anchor in their focus, in their goals, in their objectives, and in their survival. And they come out better than worse. So even though there is a struggle, but you learn and you adapt and you grow. And when God is with you, He will bless you to prosper even. In dark situations. Go ahead. I've been saying a lot.

SPEAKER_03 30:02

No, no, you're fine. One, I was gonna say that it was Moses that he put in the cleft of the rock. I looked at it really quick so we would we would have that information. But also, I thought it was Moses.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 30:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

I'm sorry about that.

SPEAKER_03 30:16

It's okay. I forgot the other thought. It's okay, though. It's okay. So go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

And it's we pray that comes comes back to you. Amen. It was Moses that was in that cleft of the rock. But what we were talking about was this oppression and this growth and multiplication that comes out of this oppression and how time repeats itself and how even then, when evil reigned back then, God ruled even as evil reigned. Amen. And when we look at this, we see here that God often produces growth through resistance.

SPEAKER_03 30:50

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I was just gonna highlight the fact that they still multiplied, you know, and I think that that has to be, as children of God, that has to be our focus that we continue to multiply.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

That is so good.

SPEAKER_03 31:10

And understand what that means for each one of us. What does that multiplication look like for me?

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Right.

SPEAKER_03 31:20

You know what I'm saying? It looked, it could look different for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 31:24

It could look different for everybody.

SPEAKER_03 31:26

But I think I think that we have to go back. I think one of the things you said really for me, it's like the premise is that God uses affliction to birth this greatness out of us that we don't even know that's in us. And even touching on the fact that oftentimes when you oppress a people, you cause them to dig deeper to survive.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Yep.

Isaiah 45: Cyrus as God’s Instrument

SPEAKER_03 31:52

You know, yep. The goal, of course, is always to get us to crumble, but the majority press in deeper. Come on. And we may do it through the tears and the heartbreak and all of that, but there is a resilience that God, I am convinced, that is in us, and that most of us tap into and activate that is so good. Can I say just put it like this on our porch?

SPEAKER_01 32:23

That's so good. You know what I mean? Yes.

SPEAKER_03 32:25

Where where we we handle our corner of the world and do what we have to do.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

Wow. That really suggests as encouragement to our audience that even when you're going through some of the hardest times in your life, absolutely, God is working it for your good. He is creating growth in you like never exponential growth. Because they didn't just grow, they multiply. Absolutely. Multiplication is a factor of exponential growth. That's right. It's it is it's it's it's addition on steroids. That's right. Come on, somebody. That's right. Yes, absolutely. We grow we grow much faster in our worst conditions than we do in our best. We absolutely do. That is amazing. That's the absolute God. It is, but I'm gonna tell you something else that I noticed in this text in Exodus chapter one. I noticed the power of one, one man, Joseph, was the reason all the favor was on the people of Israel because the scripture says there rose up a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. That's right. If he would have known Joseph, he wouldn't have mistreated them. That's good. That is so powerful. That is so powerful. But I want to show you the another power of one, one king. Because this one king did not know Joseph, this one king made life hard for all of the nation of Israel. So don't you ever count your opinion out? Listen to me, audience. Don't you ever count out your gift, your voice, your vote, your destiny, because you could be the one person to make good happen for a whole nation.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 34:07

Listen, it all it takes is one president to make all the world mourn. Just like all it takes is one president to make all the world be full of glee. Amen. One person, and we see this kind of stuff in our world today. One leader, you know, cause a whole nation to suffer, like one person can cause a whole nation to prosper.

SPEAKER_03 34:32

Absolutely. Your it is, it's very good. Your mention of Joseph being the one with the favor that created blessing for this for a people. Yes, right? Yes, it made me think about what if Joseph would not have made it through his journey of pick, prison, and whatever else. Whereby he wouldn't have made it to the palace. Yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah, he wouldn't have made it to be that second in command. When there is, when God has chosen you to be the one.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

That is so good. I love where you're going. I love where you're going.

SPEAKER_03 35:25

When God has chosen you to be, oh Lord, you to be the one. Oftentimes, it is the way that we know that, yeah, is because of the level of hate and hell that we go through.

SPEAKER_01 35:43

Yeah.

Wrestling With God: Psalms, Jeremiah, Habakkuk

SPEAKER_03 35:44

Because there is there are so many connected to our destiny, yeah, that the enemy's trying to fight us with everything and the kitchen sink to keep us from matriculating to the place that God has designed for us. So if we if if you have an inkling that you are the one, you understand what I'm saying, right? That God wants to use in a way that's going to change a culture. Don't allow what you're going through to deter you from your destiny.

SPEAKER_01 36:24

That is so good.

SPEAKER_03 36:25

And the truth is that's easier said than done.

SPEAKER_01 36:28

Right.

SPEAKER_03 36:28

But I'm hoping that what you just helped to bring out of that, that these people were blessed because Joseph made it. He made it to the spot.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Glory to God. Look here now.

SPEAKER_03 36:47

And so they were blessed. He there were people he hadn't even met yet that was connected to him, right? That were blessed because he made it to the spot. Oh, that's good. And so we as the children of God, we have to keep making it to the spots. Yes, because we have no idea.

SPEAKER_01 37:13

No idea.

SPEAKER_03 37:14

This is so good right now of the multitudes that are connected.

SPEAKER_00 37:19

That is so good, Angela. Oh my god, you know, I don't call you Angela. You don't good God Almighty. That is beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 37:26

The multitudes that are connected to us getting to the spot.

SPEAKER_00 37:34

That is so good. Okay, so you have got you, you you are flowing in the spirit of God right into this next example that I want to give because we started out talking about when evil reigns, God still rules, God is not dead. And we talked about how God will use evil and turn it around for his purposes. Yes, he will put evil people in place to do his will, he will use the corruption, corrupted systems for his glory. Just because a system is corrupt doesn't mean God is powerless at all, or that God is not in control or sovereign at all. But I want you to see this, it is in Isaiah chapter 45, verse 1 through 7. And I'm gonna give y'all a background just a little bit about this, Isaiah chapter uh 45, verse 1 through 7, and ask Angela to read it for you. But but God is using the prophet Isaiah to prophesy about a Persian king by the name of Cyrus that he was gonna raise up. And so God now is raising up a pagan king by the name of Cyrus, and he's gonna use this king to go against the armies of Israel to restore Israel. So here this is a pagan king that does not worship God, that does not worship Jehovah, that does that does not uh favor the Jehovah God and live by his statutes and his laws and his principles. But God is gonna use this very evil king with his corrupt ways to fight a battle to free Israel from their captivity. Don't tell me God don't control evil. So come on, Angela, if you could just unless you got a revelation. Can you read that?

SPEAKER_03 39:13

I can. Am I reading? Am I starting at verse 15? 45, verse 1 through 7 in Isaiah 45. Got it. This is what the Lord God says. I'm sorry, this is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 39:29

To subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him, so that gates will not be shut. I will go before you and will level the mountains, I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel, my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. I am the Lord and there is no other, my God. Apart from me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting, people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster. I the Lord do all these things.

Trusting God Daily and Seeing the Bigger Plan

SPEAKER_00 40:48

Selah. Wait a minute. Salah, pause and think on what Isaiah prophesied and said about King Cyrus. Jesus. Look at what God said to him. Let me go to a couple of things and then you can go. You won't go before me. It doesn't matter. But look at what God he says, oh my God. He says, I call you by name. Yep. And I am the God of Israel. He said, I call you by name and I put you in place for Jacob, my servant's sake. My God. So I am I am prophesying that I'm gonna raise you up for the sake of my people, Israel. Oh my god. He says, I have named you Cyrus, even though you don't even know me. So God allowed, prospered. He made this, he made Cyrus rich, he made Cyrus powerful, even though Cyrus did not worship him. This was a king in another foreign land in Persia that God was slowly raising up over the years until he got powerful enough to go and free Israel out of their captivity and out of their bondage. He said, I am the Lord, and there is no other beside me. And he says this, and mine says, I will gird you though you have not known me. My God, so you don't even know me, I'm gonna give you riches. You don't even know me, I'm gonna give you power. You don't even know me, I'm gonna give you a name. You don't even worship me, I'm gonna give you authority. But you don't have given all this to you because I need to use you to flee my people.

SPEAKER_03 42:18

Come on now. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 42:20

Oh my god, yeah, that's powerful. Do you you do you want to look at some of this as well? Okay, then he says, I'm doing this verse six, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is no God like me. Think about the testimony when when Cyrus the king says, Your God told me to come and free you. A pagan god, a pagan king releases the righteous people, and it becomes a story in history that God made him do it. Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 42:54

Oh, I hear you, my God.

Closing Exhortation and Support Invitation

SPEAKER_00 42:55

And then God says this verse seven, I form the light and I create the darkness. And that's sometimes what we forget. Absolutely. Because evil has to be has to exist in order to separate the goat from the sheep. Evil exists to separate the righteous from the unrighteous. So there are some who will who will go into eternal life and some who will not. God uses evil to weed out who is and who is not his own. Yeah, he says, I form the light and I create the darkness. And watch this: I make peace and I create calamity. So while the children of Israel are over in Babylon and Babylonian captivity, mining their Babylonians minding their own business, subjecting Israel, subjecting the people of Israel, going out each day, enjoying the sunshine, farmland, and walking in their authority and subjugating the children of Israel. What they don't understand is that God has created calamity because Persia and Cyrus is on the way. God calls that war between Persia and Babylon. God calls that war between Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus. God calls that war. It was Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus. God calls that war. So God will cause a war just to get you out. Oh, y'all better pay attention because this these historical occurrences that happened thousands of years ago are repeating themselves. And what we need to be prepared for is a war that may be coming. But the war will be of God's doing to release his people from the terror of the unrighteous and evil leadership and rulership that's over them. Oh my god, see, we're getting really heavy right now, y'all. And then he says, I the Lord do all these things. God works evil. This is what he means when it says, I the Lord do all these things. He worked good for his purposes, and he works evil for his purposes. That is so good. It is. We're almost out of time. It's it's beautiful. And lobby, you up to something. Come on, drop some nuggets, drop some revelations.

SPEAKER_03 45:07

I'm good over here. I'm good over here.

SPEAKER_00 45:08

Well, let's then look at there. Are moments when Israel begins to question God because they're not sure what he's doing. And so one of them is in Psalms 74 and 10. And the psalmist says, How long will the enemy mock you, God? My Lord. These are people who have seen God bring plagues and fire and floods to get them free. These are people who were fed manna out of the sky, something they had never seen before. These are people who God delivered from the most powerful king known to man, Pharaoh, and gave them a land that flowed with milk and honey. And they're still saying, How long will the enemy mock you, Lord? Wow. Look at Jeremiah 12 and 1. Jeremiah asked the question, Why will the wicked prosper? My God. As if God is not in control. So questioning God is not abnormal, it's not unhuman, it's not evil.

SPEAKER_03 46:02

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 46:04

Oh my God. It is a process of trying to understand. It is a process of going through pain. Look at Habakkuk. Remember Habakkuk? He said, He said, I'm sick of this, God. I'm gonna study praying this mountaintop and see what you're gonna say to me because the evil are doing this and that, and they're and they're suppressing your righteous people. And Habakkuk chapter one, verse 13, he says, Why do you tolerate all this treachery? These treacherous acts against your people, God. And that's what people are asking God right now. God, why are you allowing these people to do what they're doing? If you're a God, why are you allowing this? How could it be possible that you're a good? Why are you allowing this? God says, wait a minute, I know the timing of all things. Of all things, I know what things have to happen in order for the second coming of Jesus Christ. I know what things have to happen in order for me to cast the wicked into the lake of fire. I know what has to happen to separate the goat from the lambs. I know what have to happen to separate the wheat from the terror.

SPEAKER_03 47:01

These things must come into play, but I'm still in control, but I'm still in control because their cries mirror ours when governments falter and injustice abounds.

SPEAKER_00 47:14

Absolutely. Yet through every empire, God is still sovereign. Amen. What did God tell Habakkuk? He said, I'm gonna show you something, Habakkuk. He said, Write the vision and make it plain and write it on tablets that when people read it, they may run. He said, Wait a minute, though it may tarry, it may be a little while longer that evil reigns. He said, Wait on it, for it shall speak and not lie. God's promises, every one of them, though they may tarry, they are going to come to pass in their lives. Evil may reign, but it doesn't rule. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 47:55

It does not. Amen. And you know, as I'm listening and I'm taking all this in, and you know, hoping the listeners are taking it in, it really boils down to we have to decide if we're gonna trust God. And sometimes that process has to happen every day. Every day, sometimes it has to happen multiple times a day.

SPEAKER_00 48:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:22

To remind just, I mean, sometimes it's just like, okay, God, I trust. We just have to keep going back to that space. Yes. Because often looking at things, listening to things, yes, can become so burdensome and overwhelming. But we've got to get back to our word and say, God, I trust you.

SPEAKER_00 48:44

God, I trust you.

SPEAKER_03 48:45

I don't understand it, but God, I trust you.

SPEAKER_00 48:47

I trust you.

SPEAKER_03 48:48

And you know, as I as you were talking, and I thought about where we are in the world and this time, and I thought about the posture that I'm gonna say that God has graced me with is that waiting and I'm listening. I'm waiting and I'm listening. I see things that are there, uh, you know, my first thought, that's ridiculous. And then I'm leaning in. God, what do you say? God, what are you doing? Show us, show us so we can see the plan, so we can see what you're doing. Absolutely. Because if not, I just feel like it can become so heavy that that we even as children of God can throw in the towel.

SPEAKER_01 49:33

Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_03 49:35

But we've got to get keep going back to that place of God. I don't understand, but I trust you.

SPEAKER_00 49:42

I know you're a sovereign.

SPEAKER_03 49:43

Exactly. Show we we have to keep running to the word. How about that? We just gotta keep running to the word to the word. I love it, and declaring out of our mouth, God, I trust you, man, and realizing his ways are not ours, my God, his thoughts are higher, and we have to remember that. Yeah, that that he has to be revealed to us, yeah, and we're in a space that we've never been in before, maybe a lot of us, right? Right, God is revealing himself to us. We just have to make sure we're paying attention.

SPEAKER_00 50:20

There is a bigger picture at play, it is there is a bigger plan at work. At work, that's right, and that is a plan of an eternal God, amen. And that God ends a thing from its beginning, amen. God knows the end of a thing from its beginning, absolutely, and God is an eternal God, so we must understand that in injustice, in rebellion, in evil, wickedness, and darkness, think about it. Throughout history, Pharaoh, Babylon, Rome, every tyrant's story ends the same way.

SPEAKER_03 50:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:54

God wins every time.

SPEAKER_03 50:57

God wins that's such a reason. That's like a good closing note. God wins. God wins every single time.

SPEAKER_00 51:05

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have had an amazing time. Amen. Spending time with you in this series, God is not dead. And today we wanted you to know and understand through the word of God, the power of his Holy Spirit, that when evil reigns, God still rules. Amen. He is not dead, he is alive. If you want to continue to support Daily Bread and Angela and I, please go to covenantgracechurch.org. That's covenantgracechurch.org. Please, please, please sow a seed of grace and love. Enter our podcast. If you would like to become a sponsor, let me tell you some great things that we're doing. We are now planting a church, the beginning of seven churches in the Dallas Fort Worth area. And we are taking sponsors and partners. You can go online to covenantgracechurch.org and you can become a sponsor or a partner and help us to plant not only this church, but it will have a community resource center and a Christian academy all on the same property, all on in the same building. It is a massive 32,000 square foot facility. We need your help. We are trying to raise$2.2 million. And we know as you are out there as a listener that God will touch your heart, amen, to give into great kingdom work. So please, please, please go and sow your gift of love. Become a sponsor. If you're an entrepreneur, a business owner, you have business owners in your family that love God. They're truly people who are about the kingdom. Listen, we have been planting churches for 25 years, and now we're in the Dallas Fort Works area. Please, please, please go and give and become a sponsor of what we are doing. Listen, God bless you. And remember, God is not dead. We'll see you next time on Daily Bread.