No Fear - God is Sovereign

Our future is not a "neat" and "tidy" straight line that is easy to see and follow. Instead, our future is often an unpredictable mess with various twists and turns that we don't see coming. For many, the future is a source of fear and anxiety because it's mysterious. In this new series we're unpacking Scripture's promise that we don't need to "worry about tomorrow," by learning to place our faith and hope in the Sovereignty of God. 

For more info about RPYA check us out on Instagram @rpyoungadults or at our landing page on rockypeak.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

How is it going, RPYA? Are we doing good? I'm Ryan. If I haven't met you, come and say hi after. But before we go into our time of teaching, uh I'm gonna read uh from Ezekiel 37. We're gonna go into God's word first. Uh so if you have your Bibles, your apps, open them up to Ezekiel 37 starting in verse 1. Uh and I'll give you guys some time. Uh if you don't know, it's after Isaiah, after Psalms in the Old Testament, so I'll give you guys a sec. Almost there. Almost there. Ezekiel 37 starting in verse 1. Of course, of course. Okay, I'm gonna get on it. The valley of dry bones. The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley. Bones that were very dry. He asked me, Son of man, can these bones live? I said, Sovereign Lord, you alone know. Then he said to me, Prophesy to these bones and say to them, Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones, I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you, and make flesh come upon you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to it, This is what the sovereign Lord says, Come, breathe from the four winds, and breathe into these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them. They came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast army. Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is gone, we are cut off. Therefore prophesy and say to them, This is what the sovereign Lord says. My people, I'm going to open your graves and bring you up from them. I will bring you back into the land of Israel, then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord. When I open up your graves and bring you up from them, I will put my spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land, then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

Amen. Thank you, Ryan. Hey, it is great to be back with you, RPY. We took a break for Easter, but we're excited for what the Lord is up to as we head into this series, as you head into this brand new series. And so, for those of you that are here for the very first time, I want to take a few moments to welcome you because it's not always easy to be able to walk into a new environment, to walk into a new room where seemingly everybody knows each other. But welcome to RPYA. If we haven't had a chance to meet yet, my name is Dre. I'm the young adult pastor here at RPYA. That's me when I was in kindergarten, still one of my favorite Halloween costumes ever. And I want to tell you a little bit about what you got yourself into. RPYA stands for Rocky Peak Young Adults. We exist because we believe that Jesus wants to unleash a movement of passionate Christ-following 18 to 25-year-olds. We exist because we believe wholeheartedly that Jesus wants to change the world through your generation. There's a lot that's being written about your generation. You've been called things like the anxious generation, but we believe that God wants to unleash you to be the transformational generation for our area and the world around us. And so we exist to partner with the Lord in this. And one of the primary ways that we partner in what Jesus wants to do in your generation is our Sunday nights. We meet in this building every Sunday night at 6 30 p.m. And we design our Sunday nights to be a place of encounter. Because in a room this size, if you look at the full house we have, we are coming from various different parts of the spiritual spectrum and different backgrounds. Some of us are walking in as on fire, committed disciples of Jesus. Some of us are walking in going, I don't even know if I believe in this. And I think, frankly, you're all really crazy. There's a lot of us that are somewhere in the middle that maybe we're trying to understand what it means to walk with God, but we're tired. Circumstances have been kind of rough, and we don't really know what to think or what to do. Wherever you're at on that spectrum, our hope is that tonight is a place of encounter. That you encounter the resurrected Jesus exactly where you are at, and for him to then lead you to experience more of what he's got for you. And so we're gonna go into a time of teaching. There's a note sheet you sat down on that is gonna be helpful during this time. There is a card with a verse in Matthew that I'm gonna get to a little bit later, but I'm just gonna go ahead and pray for us as we head to this time. And so, as I often do, before we pray, would you go ahead and just take one or two deep breaths? And for those of you that are new, some of you have had to hear me say this a million times, there's nothing mystical or magical about that. I love the act of taking a breath because we have to actually pause to do it. It just focuses us for a moment. Would you go ahead and close your eyes? And before I pray over us as a collective, would you just take a few moments? And just one-on-one, would you just pray in the stillness of your heart to the Lord? And would you say, simply pray, Jesus, show me who you really are? Whatever that might mean in your season and in your life right now, would you just pray, Jesus, show me tonight who you really are. Jesus, I want to see you. I want to know you. I want to walk with you. And I know I'm not the only one here with that desire. So, Jesus, starting in my heart, as well as for anybody that's out there, show us who you really are. Show us that you're not some fantasy or myth. Show us that you are the only way to experience life and life to the full. Show us that you are the only way to experience salvation. Show us that you are the only way to experience forgiveness of our sins, the only way to experience purpose, value, and worth. Show us that you are the only one that can speak our identity. You've already done it. You have called us sons, you have called us daughters. Those are not titles that we've earned or worked to maintain, but they were given as a gift of undeserved grace and mercy, King Jesus. Wherever we're at in the spectrum, may this moment not because of me, but because of you, because of your word, because of this community, would this be a moment in which we experience the true King Jesus? And so I often pray when I teach Jesus the words of John the Baptist. John the Baptist in the Gospel of John said that you must become more, and I, as a communicator, must become less. And that truly is my prayer tonight, Jesus. I don't want people walking out of here talking about me and going, man, what Dre said, that was great. No, no. I want them walking out of here going, we have an incredible king. And I get to keep following him. So show us more of who you are tonight, Jesus. It's in your name. We all said. Amen. Amen, RPY. Hey, so I want to start off with a question. It's a rhetorical one, so you don't need to shout out an answer or anything. But it's also the very first question on your note sheet, and that's this how do you feel about your future? When you think about the future, when you think about your literal tomorrow, or you think about the next couple of months, the next couple of years, when you think about you and your future, emotionally, how do you feel about your future? And even though we're not talking individually, I'm willing to bet that for most of us, it's a mixture of emotions. That I'm willing to bet for the most of us, when we think about our future, there is some optimism, there is some excitement, there are some dreams, and so there are things that and experiences that we want to be able to see happen. For some of us, we've experienced some progress as we've taken some steps, whether it's been in work or in school or in relationships, to experience some of the things we want to see in our future. But also, if we're honest and hear me, church is not meant to be a museum for seemingly perfect people. Church is meant to be a home for honest, messy people. If we're honest, for many of us, myself included, when we think about our future, there's also anxiety, there's also worry, there's also confusion. And I would say that for a lot of us, there is a lot of straight-up fear, isn't there? Can anybody relate with me on that? And you are not alone. Look at the heads nodding. If you've ever experienced that, you are not a messed up person, you are not a bad Christ fellow, you are normal. Welcome. And you know why the future often produces anxiety, confusion, and fear in us? Because the truth of the matter is the future is a mystery. We can't see it. The future is a mystery. We can't see it until we're in it, until we're experiencing it, until we're living in tomorrow, when tomorrow becomes today. In fact, if you want to do a humbling thought exercise with me, do you want to understand how limited we really are? The only thing we know that is happening for sure is this moment right here. We have ideas and probabilities of what's gonna happen in the next 20 or 30 minutes, but do you realize there are a thousand variables that could change that? Now, not all of those lead into death, but some may. But we are so limited, I don't even know what the next 30 seconds is gonna hold, let alone what tomorrow and the next and the next. And can we be honest? Again, we're a place we're supposed to be honest. We as human beings, we are deeply uncomfortable with mystery, aren't we? We are deeply uncomfortable with mystery and not knowing. You know, in my pride, I am deeply uncomfortable with mystery because it reminds me I'm not in control. And I want to believe a myth that I am in control. I want to believe a myth that I am in control of my life, I am in control of the path, I am in control of what's going on. The future reminds me that I'm not in control. And this is the clash, this is the emotional conflict, so to speak, that all of us, our hope and our desire, whatever the specifics or the details are, we all want a good, great future, don't we? There's probably not a single one of us in this room that would go, man, I hope my future sucks. Man, I hope I end up in a dead-end job. I hope I end up in a loveless marriage and in broken relationships. Man, that would be awesome. No, we would all go, no, I want a great future, but the fear and the anxiety comes from, well, how do I get there? What's my map? And we talked about this in in our New Year's series when we were going through the Beatitudes. We ask when it comes to the direction in life, we ask when it comes to our future, what's my map? And whether we realize it or not, we often turn to our culture, we often turn to social media, we often turn to things around us, we often turn to anything other than God and go, if I want to have a good future, how do I get there? What is my map? And in particular, what is the map that's gonna help me avoid the what-ifs that could tank the good future that I want to have, right? Have you ever come down an emotional spiral thinking about the what ifs, all the things that can knock you off course when it comes to tomorrow? We could write a whole volume of things, right? What if school doesn't work out? What if I don't pass the class? What if I don't get my dream job? What if the world doesn't get better? There's wars springing up every left and right? What if my family falls apart? What if I never get in contact with my dad again? What if I can't pay for gas? What if I never find the one? What if this person I'm dating is not the one? What if I don't find connection? What if I move away? What if I never move away? Have you ever gone down that spiral as you sit there and go, oh my gosh, that spiral is real? And that spiral is in is scary, isn't it? I just freaked a bunch of you out, huh? And do you know what ends up happening? And again, this is real talk. What ends up happening is that the fear of tomorrow begins to become a leading authority in our lives. The fear of what if, or the fear of what could be, begins one of our biggest motivators, and unintentionally, we begin to live in fear. Unintentionally, what is motivating us to work harder, to find the right relationships, to heal faster or anything, is fear. And hear me very, very clearly, especially as somebody who walks and lives with a thorn of anxiety, when fear is our motivator, even if it's a good thing, it will never work out well. Because fear is a lousy king. And so let me give you a couple examples that a lot of us could probably relate with, right? Let's take the world of dating and romantic relationships. There are many of us that we sit there and go, I am not currently in a romantic relationship, and I'm afraid at 19, 20, 21 that it's never gonna happen. I'm afraid that it's never gonna happen. And that motivates me. That pushes me, that shapes the narrative. I believe about myself or I believe about someone else. Or there are some of you in that topic that you are in a dating relationship. In fact, maybe you've been in a dating relationship where even the word marriage has come up, and maybe your desire to get married is because there's love, but if you're honest with yourself, maybe your desire is also if I don't put a ring on this finger, what if it doesn't work out? And now fear has become a primary motivator, and fear is a lousy king. Hasn't been another example. What about school? Oh, some of you are surviving right now as we're getting to the end of a semester, right? And school can be a good thing, but sometimes again, the fear and the motivator, this has to work out. I have to pass, this has to end in four years, I have to get accepted to this school, I have to be able to get into this 101 or this 201. I have to, I have to. If this doesn't happen in this narrow way when it comes to school, then the rest of my life is gonna be ruins. And some of you can really relate with that, can't you? And those are just two examples. We could spend the rest of the night going through different categories and different topics, but here's why I start this way here. My intent is not to freak you out. I'm starting this way rather than praying and ending this way. Because the reason why we're here tonight, the reason why we're starting this new series is that Jesus has a very different vision for your life. Whether you know Jesus yet or not, what the Bible tells me about you and how Jesus sees you is very clear. Jesus has a very different vision for your life, and that vision is Jesus wants you and is inviting you into a life in which you don't live in fear anymore. In fact, in Matthew's gospel, Jesus says this, therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will worry about itself. And can I be honest with you? The do not worry part, I sit there and I'm kind of boggled by it because that seems impossible. How could I possibly live a life that is not worried about tomorrow? And the impossible is exactly what a resurrected king does. And he doesn't keep it to himself, but he invites us as his saints, as his sons and daughters, to live in a life that was seemingly impossible. But Jesus' vision for you is peace, not fear. And that's what this series is all about. And so tonight I'm really glad you're here. And I hope that this isn't the last time you're gonna be here because I really believe that God started something very special in RPO over the last series, digital reset. And I believe that he wants to continue to grow and build that as we go into the next couple of weeks. And so this series is called No Fear of the Future. And so we may not know what tomorrow brings. Tomorrow may bring good, bad, and everything in between, but we get to know who Jesus is. And that's how we find the peace that surpasses all understanding that Philippians talks about. When we learn to root ourselves in the character of God rather than ever changing circumstances, then and only then is we experience a supernatural courage to no longer fear when it comes to our future. And so tonight, what I want to do is I want to lay the foundation for why we can have no fear when it comes to our future, specifically an important character trait of God. So there in your note sheet, but as we lay this foundation, first of all, we need to talk about the fact that for a lot of us, the anxiety comes from the fact that when it comes to our future, we're trying to live in a myth. We're trying to live in a myth of what our future is supposed to look like. And so you gotta fill in there in your note sheet. Your fill-in is this. The myth is that the future is supposed to be a neat and tidy straight line. The myth is that the future is supposed to be a neat and tidy street line. And so let me illustrate what I'm talking about with this next picture here. So there's me, you're welcome. And so this is the myth of the future, that it is a very calm, straight line, always heading in one direction, and there are some very simple to see and understand milestones. So as long as I keep moving forward, I'm gonna graduate college, and then the next step is I'm gonna marry my college sweetheart, and then I'm gonna get a job exactly in the career that my degree is in. I'm gonna work there for the next 50 years, never change. We're gonna buy one house, we're gonna have 2.5 kids, a boy, a girl, and a dog. We're gonna continue to live our life. I know some of you are wondering where the point five comes from. The dog counts. We're gonna continue to live in our lives, we're gonna take one vacation every summer, we're gonna go to grandma's house for Thanksgiving, and then we're gonna retire and play pickleball. And that's our future. And you know what's really appealing about this myth is that it puts us in control. Do you know what's really appealing about this myth is because there's no surprises. Do you know what's not on this chart? Heartache, failure, pain, loss, not achieving the goals. It's easy to see what's coming, it's predictable. But again, the biggest problem in the temptation with this myth is that it puts us in control. As long as I keep moving in this direction, I am going to hit these milestones and I'm gonna have a future, a good future. And here's the biggest problem with this, and it's why I'm calling it a myth. This isn't real. None of you have experienced this life. What makes us think that we've been on this earth 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 years, and we haven't experienced this yet? And so, what makes us think that we're going to magically start learning and discover, oh, that's how I can go there. That is not how real life works. And one of the most beautiful things we need to understand about God is that God does not work in myth or fantasy. God works in reality. God works in the real world. And so, there in your note sheet, let's talk about reality. The future is filled with unpredictability. Twists, turns, and messiness, in which you vehemently circle the word unpredictability. So, can I show you a picture of what our futures actually look like? That. That is real life, isn't it? That is what our future looks like. That is the life we've already lived, isn't it? Twists, turns, ups, downs. Wait, where are we going? Why is this taking longer? How did we get here? I thought I was gonna be there. I thought this is what's gonna happen. Wait, where's this person? Why are you leaving? Where are you coming back? I thought by the time I was 18, wait, I don't understand twists and turns. Life is filled with unpredictability. And again, can I talk about my pride? Man, I don't like that. Man, that makes me uncomfortable. And so there's a temptation that comes with this. You know what happens? We try to do the impossible. We try to straighten the line out and go, nope, that's not how life is gonna work. I'm gonna make that myth, I'm gonna make the line, I'm gonna make the milestones, and how well has that been going for you? Because our fear is, well, if that's not one clean, neat life, then I'm never gonna have a good life. If that's not neat and clean and predictable and controllable and easy to be seen, then I'm never gonna have a good life. And again, why we need to be able to set the foundation is that Jesus is inviting you into more. Jesus is not inviting you into a fearless future because it's gonna be this beautiful little linear line. Jesus is inviting you to stop putting your faith in the ever-changing nature of your circumstances. Jesus is inviting you to stop putting your hope in what will always change, and instead to put your hope in what will never change, which is his character. Because in that linear line, the reality is there aren't three strikes, there's one, and if we screw it up, then our future's toast. But in the eyes of Jesus, he's bigger than all of this. And that's what it means to be never changing. And so I want to go back to the passage that Ryan read over us in Ezekiel chapter 37, and I want to set up a little bit of context. Ezekiel is a prophet for the Jewish people in the first half of our Bible, the Old Testament. And life in the future has not gone well for the Jewish people. See, years before Ezekiel, the nation of Israel infighting civil war split into two separate kingdoms. The northern kingdom remained, kept the name Israel, and the southern kingdom, in the southern kingdom went by the name of Judah. By the time we get to Ezekiel 37, the northern kingdom has been conquered and pretty much obliterated. The southern kingdom has been conquered and they've been exiled by the Babylonians. And hear me on this. The reason why they've been conquered is because of their sin and rebellion. God is honest, and God tells us that sin is only going to lead to one place and one place only, death and destruction. And Israel, man, they were told over and over and over again, and now they're experiencing the weight of sin, and yet God still has grace, God still has mercy, God is still not done with their story. Just like whatever you brought in with you, God is not done with your story at all. In fact, God wants to invite you to a new story, his story. And so the prophet Ezekiel, who's the namesake of this book, the Lord is giving them these visions, these oracles, as the Old Testament calls them. And this one is this valley of dry bones. And so Ezekiel is being led through these valleys, and you have to picture. Picture a vast valley that is full of death, that is full of dry bones. And what is the dry, what is the fact that they're dry teach us? It teaches that they've been dead for a long, long time. And so as Ezekiel is walking through, actually, Ryan and I were talking a little bit earlier, that I have to imagine how emotionally painful that was for Ezekiel, because he's walking through a valley of what he knows are his countrymen, his people, and he's seeing death. There is no future here. And then in that, God asks a very unique question of Ezekiel. He says, Son of man, can these bones live? And I want you to put yourself in that position, walking through a valley of death, of no future, and God asking you that question. How would you respond? Me? Absolutely not. No. Game over. They lost. We lost. There is no future here. And Ezekiel was a human being, a man just like you and I. So I gotta imagine that's what he's feeling on the inside. And yet, his answer is so unique, and his answer is powerful and freeing for us this evening. He goes on to say, sovereign Lord, you alone know. And in particular, I want to emphasize that word, sovereign. That's a word that we've heard, especially in history classes, when we're dealing with like monarchies and royal families. But the truth is, it's not a word that's very common in our vernacular. We tend not to use that that often. And so we need a common definition there in your note sheet. To say that someone is sovereign is to say that they have supreme power and authority. To say that someone is sovereign is to say that they have supreme power and authority. Ezekiel, by saying that as a title to the Lord, he's basically saying, To me, absolutely not. But the Lord God, you can see what I can't see. You can do more than I could possibly imagine. And so what I love is his honesty. I don't know, but you do. I don't know if these bones could be anything more. But you do. And as we talk about supreme power, as we talk about supreme authority, the power of God, what makes God sovereign is that God is the only one in our lives, the only one in our world, the only one in our universe that has the power to give life. That is his why he is supreme. So to say, sovereign Lord, you are the one that is in control. You see what I can't see. You can do far beyond anything I could ever possibly imagine. I don't know, but I trust that you can see what I can't. And so as we go on, he said, the Lord says, Therefore prophesy and say to the bones, this is what the sovereign Lord says. My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them. So think about that image because it's really powerful image, as well as it's really disgusting image. What are you gonna face if a grave gets open in front of you? Death. And that is the symbol of sin. Sin is not getting sick, sin is not just going down a bad path, sin is experiencing death. Sin is experiencing separation from God the Father. And so he says, yes, my people, Israel, us included, they sinned and rebelled against me. But I'm gonna raise up those graves, I'm gonna open up the graves, I am going to confront the death, and I'm gonna do what no one else can. I'm going to call life out of where there was once death. And that's not just true when we first give our lives to Jesus. That's true when we're dealing with sins in our life, when we're trying to break the bondage of pornography, when we're trying to break the bondage of pride, when we're trying to break the bondage of insecurity, the voice telling us that we don't matter or we have no worth and we have no future. When we're trying to experience freedom from the darkness, this is what we need to remember because you and I cannot break our chains, but the one sovereign Lord can. And the emphasis is I am. I've talked about this before in YA. One of the biggest things that is hampering our growth as Christ followers is we speak in the first person. I need to do this, I need to change this, I need to take control, I need to stop sinning, I need to figure out, I need to start cleaning up, I need to care about my purity, I need to deal with my pride, I need to figure out a way, I need to do, I need to do, no, no, no. What's gonna grow us is to stay sovereign, Lord. You will. And only you will. Is it I? Or is it you? You will. And what does he go on to say? I will put my spirit in you, and you will live. Man, this is far bigger than Ezekiel could have imagined, right? This is far bigger than any of us couldn't imagine could have imagined. The sovereign Lord gives what only he can, which is life. And so hear me. Remember my picture of our future with all the twists and turns, good, bad, and everything in between? What this is reminding us of, there is no twist or turn that God can't call new life out of. There is no failure that God can't call new life out of. There is no breakup that God can't call new life out of. There is no family of origin wound that God can't call new life out of. There is no school hiccup or dumpster on fire that God can't call new life out of. Because God is not like us. We walk into our tomorrow surprised, confused, and powerless, but we walk into our tomorrow not only with the presence of God living in us, but the presence of God already there waiting for us. There is no part of our tomorrow that God cannot call life out of. And there's one thing that you need to understand. Jesus talks about this in the Gospel of John. He talks about that the devil only wants to steal, kill, and destroy, but that Jesus has come so we could have life and have it to the full. So not a trickle of life, not a meager portion of life, but to be overwhelmed, to live in abundance. And if you were listening when Ryan was reading the progression of that, do you did you catch that there was a progression? That the first time that Ezekiel prophesied, the bones rebuilt themselves. They had the appearance of life, but they were not yet living. And that's a warning for us today. That what God wants is more than you living in the appearance of life, that God wants you to have more than just the appearance of faith, that God wants you to do more than just show up on a Sunday night and raise your hands in the air. But God truly wants you to experience life from the inside out. God wants more for you than simply the appearance of life. He wants you to trust and live and experience hope and joy in His sovereignty. I don't know most of the time. But sovereign Lord, you alone do. And so there in Yochi, I like to put one phrase into what I call neon lights. As our pastor at Rocky Peak Michael likes to say, put neon lights around this. If you don't remember anything else from this teaching, this is the thing to remember, and it's this. Focusing on Jesus instead of the unknown is how we no longer fear the future. Focusing on Jesus instead of the unknown is how we no longer fear the future. Now, does that mean that we still don't fear, feel anxiety or confusion, or fear at times? Not at all. But it means it no longer has authority over us. Because whatever tomorrow may bring, sovereign Lord. I get to face that with you. And so focusing on Jesus instead of the unknown is how we no longer feel the future. And so what I want to do with the time we have left, just a few moments, is I want to invite you in your life to make that declaration, sovereign Lord, you alone know. And before I want to unleash you to be able to make that declaration, I want to give you three truths about Jesus that this declaration is saying. When we say sovereign Lord, you alone know, there are three important truths that build the courage, the supernatural courage in us to not have fear when it comes to our future. So you've got a section there in Enochi called that. The first fill-in is this. To say sovereign Lord is to focus on the fact that Jesus is big. And that's beautifully fundamental. And I think that's one of the first things we tend to forget. We tend to forget it because we fear the future, and we fear that Jesus isn't big enough when it comes to our future. And we need to be reminded: no, no, no, no, no, the sovereign Lord, the only one that can speak life where there was once death, he is bigger than anything tomorrow can tomorrow will bring. He is bigger than any twist in turn. He is bigger than my future. And in fact, when we begin to focus on the fact that Jesus is bringing, do you know what we realize? This beautifully freeing truth, that that linear myth that we want to live by, that's way too small. God's vision for your future is much, much bigger. Because when we learn to say, sovereign Lord, you alone know, then what Jesus is doing is he's taking that as an opportunity to grow us in our heart, to grow a character that is more like Him, to grow a dependence, to grow a love for you. Man, when the when the twists and turns and the unexpected are coming, those are beautiful moments to experience the love that God has for you in a way that nothing else could ever satisfy. Man, because of God's grace and mercy in my life, I don't want that linear line, because that linear line is way too small. Because I get to follow a big Jesus. And so when I say, when we say sovereign Lord, you alone know, we are saying, no, Jesus, you are bigger than my tomorrow. Jesus, you are big enough for my eternity. Sovereign Lord, you alone know. That's the first one. The second thing we're saying is that Jesus is trustworthy. Jesus' invitation is life. But Jesus is not gonna lead us on a linear path. Because that linear path is not gonna lead us to the measure of life God wants to give us. And so the twists, the turns, the unexpected, even the pain, as we're gonna talk about that next week, because the future hurts sometimes. It's purposeful. The Lord redeems it every step of it. But here's the commitment we have to make. We have to learn to trust, like I said earlier, in the character of God, not in ever-changing circumstances. Man, you are safe to say to God, I can't see where we're going. You are safe to say to God, God, I don't understand where you're leading. You are safe to say to God, God, I don't like this. This is too hard. I don't think I can do this. God, I don't want to do this. You are safe to say to God, God, I don't want to give this up. I don't want to stop this, I don't want to change this, I don't want to give this person up. You are safe to ask over and over again, God, where in the world are you leading me? You are safe to ask those questions. You are invited to ask those questions, but God's answer is rarely gonna be a pin on a Google map. And instead, he's gonna go, life. Trust me. Life. Where am I taking you to life? Or am I leading you to life? Why am I asking you to sacrifice this in your life for life? Why do you think this is too hard? Because you're trying to do it on your strength and not mine. And that's where you experience life. And I gotta be honest with you. Again, we're gonna talk more about this next week. But as I was reflecting on this, I've been reflecting on my life. I'm old, I'm about to be 44 years old. And as I was reflecting back on my life, some of the most beautiful blessings that I still have in my life is because God did not give me what I wanted. Back in March, I have three kids, my middle, my daughter, and my youngest, my my second son, they celebrated their birthdays. They're two years apart, but they are one day apart when it comes to their birthday. And so we had our families over to celebrate them. And before we prayed, and it's a beautiful opportunity because Megan and I, we don't come from Christ-following families. So when they come over for birthdays, they're a captive audience. So we got to share and celebrate what God has been doing. And Isaiah, my youngest, he knows this, so nobody be shocked by this, but he was not part of the plan. He was not part of the plan at all. Megan and I were done after two, and I was happy to be done. I was way happy, not just because, man, being a parent is hard, but some of you know a little bit of my story. I can't get into this right now. But I was I've spent I spent about a decade living through some significant health challenges. And so when the unplanned pregnancy happened, I was at one of my lowest points physically. And honestly, one of the most depressing days of my life was taking my wife to the hospital for them to confirm that she was pregnant. And I remember just praying the whole way there. God, please let that be like a false positive. God, please, please, please. I remember walking out of that hospital in tears, going, I can't do this. I'm not strong enough. I'm not healthy enough. I'm I literally am afraid I'm gonna die. I can't do this. I don't want to do this. And I'm sharing with my family that as I look at my third son and the joy he brings, God, I am so grateful you didn't give me what I wanted. But at the time, it felt like the most impossible thing you had ever led me into. I was sad, I was scared, I was angry. Oh, I yelled at God a lot in that season. And looking back, God, I am so grateful you didn't give me what I wanted because I would have missed out on life. You can trust Jesus. You're not always gonna know where you're going with Jesus. But you can trust that he's leading you to life. And that leads me to the third and the last one. That to say the sovereign Lord is to say that Jesus is present. Life is unstable. Have we figured that out yet? The future is unstable. And you and I are shaken every day of our lives, but the sovereign Lord is not. And not only is he not shaken, but he's present with us. The beautiful truth about the presence of Jesus is he doesn't say, Okay, you're a Christ follower now, I'll see you in heaven. He says, No, I'm in your story because I want to lead you into my story. His story is the one where we experience life. And there's a lot in life that shakes us up. There's a lot in life that we don't know. But one of the most beautiful things that God has had to teach me and humble me over and over again is there's so many times in life when I go, I don't know anything else in this moment, but I know that Jesus is presence. And that's enough. That calms my fears, that gives me a strength I don't have, and that gives me a very real hope. And as I wrap up, I want to illustrate it like this. I mentioned my two younger ones. I want to talk a little bit about my oldest kid, my oldest son Gabriel. So Gabriel is 14 years old now, which is wild to me that he's gonna start high school this fall. And one of my favorite things about all three of my kids, but it started with Gabriel, is I love theme parks and I love roller coasters and thrill rides. And even before I was a parent, I one of the things I prayed to God is like, please give me kids that love roller coasters. Please give me kids that love theme parks, and yeah, he came through. But that started with Gabriel. That started with him, and in fact, that started when he was two years old. So I don't think it exists anymore, but when Gabriel was about two years old, we would often go to Knott's berry farm. And Camp Snoopy, that was our jam. And Camp Snoopy had this like little kid roller coaster. I don't even remember the name if it was like themed off the peanuts gang or anything like this. But I remember taking video of Gabriel, experiencing it for the first time, and I actually have it. Do you guys want to see that? So a couple of things I need to point in that video. One, um, like, do you understand how impossible it is to explain a roller coaster to a two-year-old? So the thing is, Gabriel's getting on this ride having no idea what to expect. He's just getting on this ride because he's following dad into it. Did you catch at the beginning when we started moving and even before we hit a hill there was a bump? Did you see that he was a little shaken? And what did he do? He turned and he looked at me. He turned and he looked at me. And when he saw that I was there, he realized that it's gonna be okay. And he ended up having the time of his life. And the reason I share that is that's what it means that God is present with you. We're gonna experience those bumps and the twists and the turns. And we get to turn and see that Jesus is right here with you every step of the way. And when we begin to see Jesus there with us, it begins to calm the fear and anxiety. It begins to teach us what it means to have peace. It reminds us that we have a big God. We have a trustworthy God. And we have a God who wants life and life to the full when it comes to our tomorrow and the day after and the day after.