WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.520 Let's uh let's talk for a few seconds about about rolling with it. 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:04.799 That's what I said a few minutes ago. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:06.559 That's kind of the focus of our our message. 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:09.679 We've been in a series for the last several weeks called Faith Verses. 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:13.519 Because when you want to live by faith, you're always gonna live in opposition to something else. 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:16.320 There's all kinds of other options when it comes to how you live. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:18.079 There's faith, and then there's there's the other things. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.839 And so we started the first week by talking about faith versus foolishness. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:23.359 Faith versus foolishness. 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:30.079 That real faith, mature faith, is not just saying you're gonna do something stupid and saying, yeah, but I have faith, so it's gonna work out. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:33.840 Faith, real faith, is not a covering for foolish behavior. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:35.439 Faith and wisdom are really good friends. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:36.479 So we talked about that. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:40.240 The week after that, we talked about fear, how faith is not friends with fear either. 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:44.479 We have typical responses to crises in life is either fight, flight, or freeze. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:46.159 We have a fourth option, and that's faith. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:48.079 And we want to be people who respond by faith. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:50.719 Last week we talked about faith versus fragility. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:52.159 It was all about foundations. 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:55.200 Like what are you, what are you building your life on? 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:57.600 And so we want to make sure that our foundation is strong. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:04.400 And we're finding out right now, as we look at the world around us, that many of the things most people trust as their foundation can't take the weight. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:06.079 They're way more fragile than we thought. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:08.560 And so we want to put our faith in in Jesus. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:13.040 We want to put our faith in him because he's able to take the weight. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:15.200 And so that's what we've been talking about the last few weeks. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:20.319 Today we're gonna wrap this whole thing up uh with a conversation called faith versus force. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:21.840 Faith versus force. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:24.319 And so I wanna ask you a really simple question. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:25.760 It's rhetorical, but I know the answer. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:27.840 Have you ever forced something in life? 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:29.439 You ever you ever like force it? 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:33.120 When I got married, my dad gave me this as a wedding gift. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.840 And this is actually something really, really special to me. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:37.599 Um, this is like a family heirloom. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:38.879 It was passed down from my father to me. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:42.319 I will pass it down to to one of my children, and they will pass it down to theirs. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:47.519 This rubber mallet uh has been in my family for a while, and growing up, this thing was a fixture. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:51.040 Because this is how my dad and I forced things to fit when they wouldn't fit. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:55.920 So, for example, when I was in high school, we bought uh a portable basketball goal, and it was for our driveway. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:59.760 If you've ever bought something like that, you know that it's always way harder to put together than you think. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:08.479 And so we got it, and uh we start putting it together, and we get to the moment where you have to put the main post into the base, and it would not fit. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:16.159 And you look at the instructions and it looks like it should fit easily, and we're looking at it, and we're doing exactly what the instructions say to do, but it would not fit. 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:22.400 And so we think, okay, this one must be somewhat defective, but it doesn't matter because we have we have rubber mallet. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:24.879 And this is what we went to when all else failed. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:30.479 In fact, the words when all else fails used to be inscribed here, but they rubbed off, so I'm gonna have to write that back on. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:32.400 When all else fails, you go, you get this. 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:38.639 My dad was putting it together, and like a surgeon putting out his hand saying scalpel, my dad went rubber mallet, and I said, I got it. 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:44.080 I went, I got this to him, and uh, and we proceeded to make that post fit in the base. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:47.680 I mean, we hammered it over and over again until it was in there. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:54.800 And then we finished putting the gold together, but something didn't look right, and we realized we put that post in backwards. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.759 That's why it didn't fit. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:00.240 Uh, it was turned around the wrong way. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:11.840 And, you know, as much work as it took to force it in with the rubber mallet, the amount of work that it took to take it out because of the fact that we had forced it in, I'll just say that that was a very uh interesting hour of life. 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:15.039 Sometimes, sometimes forcing it feels like the only way to get through. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:18.719 Sometimes you just have to power through, you know, and you just got you gotta force it, you gotta make it work. 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.599 But but oftentimes, this is what's really interesting. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:25.439 Oftentimes, force is the opposite of faith. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:35.520 Oftentimes it takes more faith to recognize the season that we're in and sort of roll with it and trust God in it than to force our way out of it. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:39.199 I want to look at a scripture real quick, Ecclesiastes 3, 1 through 8. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:41.360 And understand as I read this that this is a poem. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:47.599 It's an ancient Hebrew poem, and so there's gonna be language you hear that sounds pretty harsh, like like kill and war and hate. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:49.919 Um, it's not encouraging those things. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:57.840 What it's doing is using extremes, it's using hyperbole to try to paint a picture for us of the fact that there is a season for everything in life. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:38.800 It says there's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth, a right time for birth and another for death, a right time to plant and another to reap, a right time to kill and another to heal, a right time to destroy and another to construct, a right time to cry and another to laugh, a right time to lament and another to cheer, a right time to make love and another to abstain, a right time to embrace and another to count your losses, or rather to part, a right time to search and another to count your losses, a right time to hold on and another to let go, a right time to rip out and another to mend, a right time to shut up and another to speak up, a right time to love and another to hate, a right time to wage war and another to make peace. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:54.800 In other words, there is a an appropriate season for everything in life, and it actually takes tremendous faith to recognize the season that you're in and trust God with it, versus trying to force your way through it, out of it, or into it, trying to live out of season. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:56.240 We see a lot of biblical examples of this. 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:01.120 For example, uh there's three kings in the Old Testament: King Saul, very first king of Israel. 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:09.279 There's there's King David, uh, he succeeded Saul, and then there's a person who's king for a very short period of time named Absalom. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:11.439 Absalom was David's son. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:17.040 In fact, there's sort of this uh fictional take on the three of their lives book called A Tale of Three Kings. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:17.759 It's a phenomenal book. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:18.639 I encourage you to read it. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:22.079 Really brings some interesting ideas to light in their stories. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:32.879 And the difference between the three is that one of them, David, recognized that God was the one in control, that God was the one who dictates what happens, and that God is the one who determines what season we're in. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:36.240 The other two, Saul and Absalom, they tried to force things. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:47.759 And so Saul is king, and pretty soon into his rule, it becomes clear that God wants David to be king, that God has chosen David, that God is with David, but Saul refuses to roll with it. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:52.879 Saul refuses to step aside and say, you know what, my time as being king is clearly done. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:56.959 God is with David, I'm gonna step aside and let God's person reign. 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:06.639 Instead, Saul tries to force things, he tries to hold on to his kingdom tightly, which is understandable, I guess, from a human perspective, but it doesn't go well for Saul. 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:08.160 It ends in his death. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.040 David doesn't force his way into the kingdom. 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:13.759 David doesn't force his way into kingship. 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:19.279 He doesn't fight, he doesn't wage war, he doesn't kill Saul to take it, he waits. 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:25.600 And he lets God give him his kingdom in the right season. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:30.160 And then he has this son named Absalom, and Absalom uh decides he wants to be king. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:32.240 He doesn't like the way his father is doing things. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:41.120 He's he's desperate to become king himself, and so rather than be like his dad and wait for the season that that would happen if it was God's will, he says, No, I'm gonna I'm gonna make it happen. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:42.079 I'm gonna force it. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:58.720 And so he takes out uh his rubber mallet, so to speak, he takes out uh an army basically, and and he creates a rebellion and he forces his father David out of Jerusalem and he takes over his king for a very short period of time, does it by force, and it doesn't work out well for him. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:00.959 And it just like Saul, it ends in his death. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:04.720 See, David, unlike Saul, unlike Absalom, he didn't force it. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.319 He didn't force his way into authority, he didn't force his way into power. 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:13.279 It was given to him by God, and when someone else tried to take it from him, he didn't force that person out. 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:15.680 He he trusted God. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:16.720 He rolled with it. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:22.160 He left Jerusalem and knew that if God wanted to restore him to the kingdom, he would, and God did. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:26.720 Jesus is someone who was incredible at living in the right season. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:33.120 In fact, in Luke chapter 2, verse 52, it tells us what Jesus was doing in the 30 years before he started his public ministry. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:37.279 It says he grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:42.160 Jesus waited until it was the right time, the right season for him to step forward. 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:48.399 And that didn't happen until he was 30 years old, but at 30 years old, he knew it was his season to step up, to step forward, and he did. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:52.319 And then three years later, it was his time to suffer. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.800 And when they came to arrest him, Jesus didn't run away. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:57.680 He didn't try to force his way out of that situation. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:07:59.680 He he rolled with it. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.639 He had faith because it takes faith to recognize this is the season I'm in. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:08.240 God clearly wants to do something with this, so I'm gonna trust him with it. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:09.759 We have a hard time with that sometimes. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:16.000 Sometimes we we even take scripture out of context so that we can just kind of power through and avoid difficult seasons. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:20.560 For example, Jeremiah 29.11, classic example of this, one of the most famous scriptures in the Bible. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:22.560 It's one of the most reposted scriptures of all time. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:26.240 Jeremiah 29.11, for I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:30.319 They're plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:35.279 It's an incredibly uplifting scripture, but it's it's it's almost always used out of context. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:41.519 People almost always use this to mean some type of immediate future, some type of thing that we're like, right now, God's gonna do something big for me. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:51.519 But the context of this scripture is God is making a promise to his people that 70 years from now, 70 years from now, he's gonna rescue them from their hardship. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:57.360 They've been conquered, they're in captivity, but 70 years from now, God is going to undo that. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:08:59.279 That's the context there. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:13.679 In other words, it took a it took great faith for Jeremiah and the people at that time to accept that, to accept, okay, the next 70 years is going to be a very difficult season, but we're gonna trust God with it and we're gonna let God shape us and teach us in the midst of it. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:19.600 Human nature is to just force your way out of it, to fight it, to say, you know, heck no, I'm not going along with this. 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:21.440 I'm not, I'm not surrendering to this. 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:24.240 I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna fight through it, I'm gonna power through it. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:29.840 But but oftentimes, not all the time, but oftentimes, that's the opposite of faith. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:36.559 That it takes greater faith to recognize the season that you're in and go with it. 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:38.960 Here's where that's so relevant to us. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:45.840 Guys, right now we're we're in the middle of a season that no one could have really seen coming just a few years ago, just a few months ago. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:49.039 All of our lives have been interrupted to some degree. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:52.720 And this is a season that most of us wouldn't have chosen, even if even if good things are happening. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:59.120 Like I'm spending so much more time at home right now, and I love my family and I love being home, but I'd also kind of like it to be on my terms. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:04.320 You know, not something I'm forced to do, not something that's dictated to me. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:09.519 Some of us have have lost jobs, and some of us that's temporary, some of us we're not sure. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:12.639 Some of us were just about to do some some amazing big thing. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:16.399 I have friends and no know people that are planning weddings in the short term. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:24.399 I have a couple of friends who who are having children right now, and you know, the husband's not able to go into the doctor to to see the ultrasound, to be there for those appointments. 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:31.039 I mean, there's there's so many different examples of how this whole crazy uh outbreak has forced all of our lives to change. 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:35.440 And you know, at the very beginning of this, I saw a lot of people trying to power through. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:41.600 A lot of posts online, and it was kind of like, I'm I'm not staying in, I'm going out, and I'm gonna do my thing, I'm not letting this change a thing. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:44.480 And and look, I'm not knocking you if that was your attitude. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:46.159 I'm like a lot of us were thinking that. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:49.279 I know I was in certain degrees for sure. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:55.360 But then you have to have the faith to recognize, okay, this is the way things are. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:57.759 This is the way things are. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:10:59.840 This is the season that I'm in. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.759 And whether or not I would have chosen this or not, this is the season that I'm in. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:08.240 Do I have the faith to recognize this season? 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:16.159 To kind of surrender to the season that I'm in, to surrender to the fact that this is my season in life and roll with it. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:20.799 And let God, let God teach me what he wants to teach me in it. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:22.480 You know, I'll go back to David. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:32.960 David recognized that it wasn't his season to be king, even though God had promised him that he would be, and he recognized that the season he was in for several years was to basically live on the run as an outlaw. 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:42.720 And it just so happens to be that in those those years of running for his life and those years of hiding, uh, those were the years that God he shaped David's resolve. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:44.960 He grew David's character. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:56.799 Many of the psalms that that we read today that were written by David that are the most precious to us, many of the psalms that we see such passion for God and such trust in God, those were written in that time. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:59.679 Because David, he rolled with it. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:07.600 He didn't force it, he he had faith to accept the season he was in, and he believed that God must have something he wanted to teach him through it. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:08.879 Can we be people like that? 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:13.200 Can we be people that right now say, God, what do you want to teach me in this season? 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:14.399 I wouldn't have chosen this. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:18.799 I don't really want to be in this situation, I don't want to be, you know, quarantined. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:22.080 I don't want to be away from work, I don't want to see my income drop. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:23.919 I don't want to see friends of mine get sick. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.039 I don't want to see any of this happen. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:30.879 I wish I could force my way out of it, but do we have the faith to say, God, you probably want to teach me something in this? 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:32.480 What do you have for me? 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:33.039 What do you want? 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:34.080 What do you want to do in this? 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:38.720 God, I surrender to you and I have faith right now, and I'm saying, God, I'm yours. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:43.679 I accept this season, I accept this situation, there's a time for everything. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:46.000 God, what do you want to teach me right now? 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:47.679 What do you want to have me learn? 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:50.080 What do you want to have me unlearn? 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:52.559 Lord, grow my relationship with you. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:58.480 Show me what what I haven't seen before in this season, because right now, God, I'm all yours. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:02.399 We have an opportunity to be like that right now, to practice faith. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:08.159 And it's not surrendering to our circumstances, it's different, but it is a surrender to the fact that this is the season we're in. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:09.120 We can't change it. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:12.720 So, okay, God, maybe you have something for me in this season. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:14.159 You know, maybe there's a reason. 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:17.039 Psalm 23 is one of the most powerful Psalms. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:19.039 And uh, it's one that David wrote. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:22.399 And it talks about God being our shepherd, and it says that he guides us. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:30.240 And right after it says that he guides us, there's the very famous line that though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid because I know that you're with me. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:36.559 And so it's interesting because walking through the valley of the shadow of death, that happens immediately after it says that God guides us. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:41.600 Which makes us ask the question is is he guiding us through the valley of the shadow of death? 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.600 You know, maybe following God means that you don't always go the easy route. 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:55.440 I think sometimes we like to picture faith being that, you know, I put my faith in God and he paves the road, and it's just smooth sailing, and that's just not the story of most people who have ever lived by faith. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:04.320 Maybe, maybe letting God lead us means that we will absolutely walk through some valleys, through some very difficult situations and seasons. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:07.120 Maybe that's part of the path that God has for us. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:11.120 Because maybe there's things that we can only learn in the valley. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:15.919 Maybe there's lessons that we can only only learn if we go through the valley of the shadow of death. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:21.919 And I'm not trying to make it sound more uh more epic or or whatever. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:25.360 You know, for some people right now this is the valley of the shadow of death, very literally. 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:32.159 There's a lot of people right now very worried and scared because of the fact that this sickness puts them at great risk. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:37.120 Um, for others of us, it's not it's not death, but it is change. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:42.240 It's it's loss for many of us in a variety of different ways. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:45.360 And we feel like we're walking through the valley of the shadow of death. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.159 Well, well, maybe, maybe God is leading us through this. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:49.919 I'm not saying God is the author of it. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:51.120 I'm just saying he's not. 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:55.919 I'm not saying God is the author of the bad things, but what I am saying is that he'll use them. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:02.320 And maybe it's his will that he takes us through this and teaches us things that we would never have learned if he hadn't. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:04.799 There's a scripture, Romans 8.28. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.919 It says we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.240 Very famous scripture, Romans 8.28. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:21.679 And, you know, I hear that, and it's always important for me to remember that this is not saying that everything that happens to us is good. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:25.679 It doesn't say that that God will only let good things happen to us. 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:27.519 It doesn't say that God will keep bad things from happening. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:33.519 No, it says that God will use everything, good and bad, for the good of us. 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:36.559 I I read this and I like to think about uh about chefs. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:48.399 Um my wife loves cooking competition TV shows, and if you ever watch those, it's interesting because they will take these master chefs and they'll give them horrible ingredients, and these chefs will still be able to turn them into something that looks amazing. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:51.679 You could give me the best ingredients in the world, I can't cook, I'm gonna mess it up. 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:58.000 But you take a master chef and you give them virtually garbage and they can somehow make something amazing out of it. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:00.159 God is like that, but to a whole other degree. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:05.279 God can take the worst of things and he can use them and shape them into something for our good. 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:07.360 That's the promise that he makes for us. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:10.000 But it takes faith to recognize that. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.480 It takes faith and it takes surrender. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:19.840 All of this is to say that right now we have to, we have to accept the fact that we cannot force our way out of this. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:20.879 We're not in control. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:26.879 Some of us think we're in control right now, some of us who have prepared the most for this are tempted to think that we're in control. 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:30.240 But but even those of us that have done that, nothing's guaranteed. 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.679 We we can't force this to go the way we want it to go. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:38.080 But what we can do is we can step back and we can have faith. 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:43.519 And we can say, okay, God, if you're leading us through this valley, lead us through the valley. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:44.879 We'll stay close to you. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:46.720 What do you want to teach us right now? 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:47.759 What do you want to show us? 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:49.039 God, we're we're yours. 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:50.399 In fact, let's just go ahead and pray. 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:53.679 Let's transition, we'll pray and we'll worship, and we'll just make this the prayer of our heart. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.879 So, Father, right now, we're yours. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:58.080 We trust you. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:01.120 God, we don't want to be in this season. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:06.559 Most of us, the vast majority of us, we do not want this to be the situation that we're in, but it is the situation that we're in. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:14.000 So give us the faith to accept what's happening and to trust you in the midst of it. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:18.720 Help us be people that don't force things when they don't need force. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:26.559 Help us be people that can surrender in our hearts and accept the fact that when we're out of control, we remember that you're in control. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.599 And Lord, we believe that you have a plan for this time. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:38.960 We believe, Lord, that you have a purpose for this time, that you will take this horrific situation that the world is facing and you will use it for the good of those who love you and who follow you. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:40.799 Because you do love us, Lord. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:41.920 You love us so much. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:44.319 Lord, we're so grateful for you. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:53.680 Lord, as we as we continue to worship this morning, I just pray that you remind us that you are faithful. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:08.400 Whether we feel good or not, whether we feel like everything's going the way it should go or not, regardless of our feelings, regardless of our thoughts, regardless of anything else, you are in control, you are good, and we just want to come to you and surrender to you. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:12.720 We want to cry out to you that we belong to you, that we lay it all at your feet. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:18.640 Lord, that we will accept whatever you give us and we will trust that you have a plan, that you have a purpose greater than what we can imagine. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:20.640 And so, Lord, we're not going to be people that force it. 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:25.359 We're going to be people who live by faith and who learn whatever lessons you have for us in this time. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:26.240 We love you, Lord. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:27.279 It's in your name we pray. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:29.359 It's in your name, Jesus, that we worship. 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:30.559 Amen.