Better Together

Start the New Year with Hope! - Episode 1130

December 26, 2025 | S7 E1130 | 52:34

Laurie Crouch, Victoria Osteen, Lisa Bevere, Chrystal Evans Hurst, and Hosanna Wong share how to start the new year anchored in supernatural hope, resting fully in God's arms of grace.

#Hope #NewBeginning #SeekGod #Blessing #Reap #Harvest #TrustGod #Determination #Stress #PromisesofGod #LaurieCrouch #VictoriaOsteen #LisaBevere #ChrystalEvansHurst #HosannaWong #ChristineCaine

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Better Together | Start the New Year with Hope! - Episode 1130 | December 26, 2025

God is our blessed hope and our redeemer.
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He walks through the fire with us.
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He is the only one who can quiet any storm.
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Today, we're standing on his promises.
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Come on, join us.
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♪♪
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I had to do a birthday greeting this week with my husband to a
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Very dear friend of ours, and i was just thinking about it.
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And when we, you know, it was just a little iphone thing
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There at the house.
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And he's a very prophetic voice in matt and i's life, and, and
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I just got this image of kicking the can down the road.
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You know, when you see a rock or a can and you kick it and
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You keep walking, you kick it.
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And i thought, that's what he does to us.
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That's what he does to matt and
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I, this prophetic voice in our life.
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He kicks our cans down the road.
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I was like, are you the can?
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Right? because he sees the big
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Picture and he has kicked our cans.
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And sometimes it's been a swift kick to where it's like, that
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Is impossible.
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That will never happen.
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And sure enough, god comes through and it happens.
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And it's those times where we can think back on and it renews
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Our hope and it renews god in our life, and hope is just that
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Spiritual expectancy that god is going to come through with
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Who he says he is and how he does it.
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We just trust in him, really.
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My desire is that people, when they tune in, women and a lot
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Of men tune in to this program, that you can hear a voice that
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Sits here, and we want to help, encouraging words and kick the
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Can down the road to the final goal, and not to quit, and to
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Keep going and to renew your hope and renew your faith in a
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God that says, i am everything
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That you need and to trust in that.
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And i think renewing our hope
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Is as easy as you're here this year.
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You might have not thought that
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You could get through last year.
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Last year was tough.
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You know what?
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We're still here.
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We're still going forward.
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I love that, too, because the bible says that iron sharpens
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Iron as one man sharpens another.
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And i guess that's why it's so important in this new year that
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We put ourselves in atmospheres that will sharpen us,
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That will strengthen us.
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Get around friends and
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Situations that will renew that hope
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Because we know that renewed hope brings strength.
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And i'm like you, i love the new year because i feel like
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It's a clean slate.
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I feel like, okay, what didn't happen last year has
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A possibility of happening this year.
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And i love the scripture
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In isaiah, it says that god says, forget the former things.
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You know, just let go of those things.
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And he says, i'm doing a new thing.
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But the key to that, to me
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Always is this, can you conceive it?
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Can you perceive the new things he says that i'm doing?
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And i think that's what the new year does for us.
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It allows us to feel like there's a clean slate.
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What can we perceive?
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Maybe the dreams that didn't work out last year,
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Could they possibly be in our future?
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You know, let's conceive it.
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But i think that is like what you were saying, laurie, that is
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Getting ourselves in an atmosphere where our heart is
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Open, where we can dream again.
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We can live again.
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We can hope again,
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Because that's what the new year represents to me is just
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New, fresh hope and new fresh strength.
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And hoping is seeing yourself with the promises of god.
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Yeah, that's the hope that we have, right?
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Yeah, and i love that it said abraham, who against hope,
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Believed in hope, which doesn't make any sense.
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But what i think is we hope in him.
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And i love what you're saying to me.
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There's an expectancy. yeah.
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Like, listen, god is going to do something and i
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Want him to astound me, so i'm not going to shrink it.
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I'm going to put my faith in
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The one who i can put my hope in.
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I can hope in god.
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David said, when i am afraid i will trust in you.
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He's my hope.
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And i think too many people put
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Their hope in things that can change,
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But we put our hope in the
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Unchangeable one and have that expectancy.
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I love the new year too.
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I love the new year,
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First of all, because christmas is over.
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I love-- i love christmas, i love christmas, but i'm usually
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Pretty tired by the end of it.
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A big family. you must be exhausted.
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I do have a big family, so the hope is
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I can lose my christmas food baby
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During the daniel fast and just all the different things.
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But no, it's a reset, and it's a
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Reset of where we place our hope.
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Yeah, i love that where we place our hope, because
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Certainly there's nothing magical or spiritual about the
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Calendar physically changing.
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But when we choose that this is going to be a reset,
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When we choose, we're going to have
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A renewed hope in jesus, when we choose--
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What i love is kind of this collective breath that the
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Whole world kind of takes.
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We all feel weary.
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We all feel tired.
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The last month was hard.
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The last season has been hard, and altogether we're thinking
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We can all take a breath together.
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We all feel a little bit lighter together.
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We have like a renewed sense of
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Hope, a renewed sense of joy together.
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It's kind of nice to have a collective breath together if
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We choose it, because the calendar is not going to
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Choose it for us, right?
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Our calendar isn't going to choose it for us, and god knows
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That other people aren't going to choose it for us, but we can
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Choose it for us.
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I love what's encouraging me right now in this reset
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Is galatians 6:9,
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So let us not grow weary in doing what is good, for at just
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The right time we will reap a harvest of blessing
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If we don't give up,
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Because i read that verse and i think that's right.
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Hope. sometimes we need to be reminded of hope.
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We can grow weary.
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We can grow tired of doing what is good, fighting for the
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People we love, showing up for people, trying to get our
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Routines back together after this hard season.
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And this verse tells us we will reap a harvest of blessing
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If we don't give up.
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And that's what i love about this season is that we all
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Together, everyone watching cumulatively, we can say
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Collectively we're deciding.
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We're not giving up.
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We're declaring there is hope.
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It's trusting in hope because we hope in someone.
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You know, ephesians 3:20, that god can do exceedingly above
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And beyond anything that we could ask or think.
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And you know, romans 5:5 says
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That hope will not disappoint.
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Yeah. but it's hope because we're hoping in someone.
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So when the collective sigh happens, it's because we have a
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New year ahead of us, and we are filled with hope about what
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The new time will bring.
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But when you're hoping and the god who brings hope, you're not
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Just hoping an empty time.
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You're hoping in a god who rules time and who can do
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Exceedingly above and beyond in
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The time that you've been given.
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So it takes the collective hope to another level
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When you're hoping in someone who holds both your time and
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Your future and what you can't
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Even imagine in his hands and time.
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God is never early.
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He's never late.
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He's always right on time.
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And you think about it.
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The three great forces of life are faith, hope and love.
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Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
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The evidence of things not yet seen.
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And that hope in god, that hope
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And trust that we serve a good god,
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That he's on our side, that he loves us, that he's
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Going to help us through,
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And maybe the difficult situation doesn't go away right
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Away, but he can help you
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Through the difficult situation.
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You can still bloom in the desert.
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You can still have a good life.
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It's that hope that rises up, that brings faith to move
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Forward, because we all know that we have to move forward.
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And that's what the new year is about.
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It's about looking at january and going, wow, i've got 12
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Months here that god can show out and show up, and i can
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Improve and i can grow and i can live the life that
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God wanted me to live.
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So it's that hope that produces
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The faith that we need to move forward.
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And i think that's what gets
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Everybody on that starting line.
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You know, they're on the starting blocks
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And it's like, let's go.
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You know, let's move.
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So that's what i hope everyone feels
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This new year is just a new sense of faith rising because
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Of the hope that they have in the lord.
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What you're saying is we major on faith and we major on love,
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But if faith is the substance of things hoped for,
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If people feel hopeless, then they don't have anything
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To grab ahold of.
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And i love what you're saying.
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For me, this, you know, the new year,
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I mean, we know that god's mercies are new every single
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Morning, so every single day is a reset.
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But i feel like on the new year, it's where we catch up
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With his idea that, okay, this is a new beginning.
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Okay, that was last year.
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I have this ability to step outside of a realm of what's
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Been and have an expectation of what could be.
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I think that god wants to
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Astound his people with his faithfulness.
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And i mean, and just what you said earlier, we are all here.
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We are all here.
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And god's faithfulness is evident just in that.
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Yeah. that's beautiful.
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I went through a season a couple years ago where i felt
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Convicted that i no longer truly believed in the power of
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Prayer. like i preached on it, and i could share on it, but i
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Wasn't praying bold prayers, as if i hoped that things
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Could change in my life,
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As if i hoped that the people i've been fighting for that,
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That god could show up in a new way in their lives,
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As if i hoped that god could do new things in my family.
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And i just felt convicted that as i was praying to god that i
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Wasn't praying bold prayers.
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I didn't have hope.
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I was just praying the prayers
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Perhaps that i was pretty sure god would answer.
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Like a minimal prayer.
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Yeah, like the basics.
00:10:04.450 --> 00:10:06.085
The basics. right?
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And i was just like, maybe because i had, you know,
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I had lost hope.
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And i remember feeling this
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Conviction of, ask me for anything.
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Ask me for, for your heart's desires.
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I've put those desires in you.
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Just this conviction of, pray bolder prayers.
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If you could ask me for
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Anything, what would you ask for?
00:10:23.536 --> 00:10:25.304
And it was a couple of years ago.
00:10:25.304 --> 00:10:26.338
And it was a reminder of what happened to my hope
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To see god astound me,
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For god to amaze me, for me to actually see the god that i
00:10:31.310 --> 00:10:36.115
Talk about be that god to me and in my family.
00:10:36.115 --> 00:10:38.751
I want to see god do miracles.
00:10:38.751 --> 00:10:40.119
When have i become so disillusioned that i'm just not
00:10:40.119 --> 00:10:43.322
Asking for god to show up in crazy, amazing ways?
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And i have had a renewed sense of hope these past few years,
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And i'm hoping to double down on that this year.
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And i hope that for everyone watching too.
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Man, what do you want to ask god for?
00:10:54.133 --> 00:10:56.936
Do you have hope?
00:10:56.936 --> 00:10:58.170
You know what bold prayers can you be praying this year?
00:10:58.170 --> 00:11:01.073
What ways do you want god to show up supernaturally in your
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Family, in your marriage, in your place of work and
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Your dreams, in your confidence?
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Can we be women of hope?
00:11:08.180 --> 00:11:10.116
Who will say, i'm going to pray bolder prayers than i've ever
00:11:10.116 --> 00:11:12.451
Prayed, and i hope anyone watching feels a renewed sense
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Of that this year.
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When you're a child, you have this expectancy of all the
00:11:16.422 --> 00:11:20.192
Things that can go right.
00:11:20.192 --> 00:11:21.660
You know, jesus said, let the little children come to me
00:11:21.660 --> 00:11:23.929
Because they're full of hope, full of expectation, and full
00:11:23.929 --> 00:11:28.400
Of the view that it's going to
00:11:28.400 --> 00:11:31.003
Work out and it's going to be great.
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Yeah.
00:11:32.638 --> 00:11:33.606
And of course, we live in a fallen world.
00:11:33.606 --> 00:11:35.007
And of course, in the midst of all the wonderful things that
00:11:35.007 --> 00:11:38.144
God can do and that he does, we're human beings, we're
00:11:38.144 --> 00:11:40.846
Frail, we're built like clay.
00:11:40.846 --> 00:11:42.414
And then you run into people's circumstances
00:11:42.414 --> 00:11:45.684
That can dull your hope.
00:11:45.684 --> 00:11:48.521
So when you were saying, we get to the beginning of the year
00:11:48.521 --> 00:11:51.423
And it's like we all have permission to hope again, i
00:11:51.423 --> 00:11:54.393
Think that's so key because i think whatever it is that we
00:11:54.393 --> 00:11:57.797
Latch on to at the beginning of the year actually should stay
00:11:57.797 --> 00:12:01.634
With us for the rest of the year.
00:12:01.634 --> 00:12:03.002
If we can do it at the beginning and hope that we're
00:12:03.002 --> 00:12:06.005
Going to lose the weight, or hope that we're going to meet
00:12:06.005 --> 00:12:08.374
The guy and write out the resolutions, or make the list,
00:12:08.374 --> 00:12:11.076
Or engage in the fasting of the prayer of all the things, you
00:12:11.076 --> 00:12:14.013
Know. because we are able to grab hold of that hope,
00:12:14.013 --> 00:12:16.749
If we can do it, then we can do it now.
00:12:16.749 --> 00:12:19.819
Then we have the power to hold on to that hope for the rest of
00:12:19.819 --> 00:12:23.756
The year, because that's where, as you were saying, that's the
00:12:23.756 --> 00:12:27.760
Stuff that faith gets in and produces in us.
00:12:27.760 --> 00:12:31.530
So the signal that we are walking with hope and the
00:12:31.530 --> 00:12:34.767
Signal that we're walking with faith is that expectancy, that
00:12:34.767 --> 00:12:38.771
Belief that despite what i could say, this could go wrong,
00:12:38.771 --> 00:12:42.675
This isn't going to change, that
00:12:42.675 --> 00:12:44.476
We choose to believe in what could happen
00:12:44.476 --> 00:12:47.580
Because that's what characterizes a
00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:49.048
Childlike faith in god.
00:12:49.048 --> 00:12:50.749
And the bible talks about, you know, putting your
00:12:50.749 --> 00:12:52.685
Anchor down in hope.
00:12:52.685 --> 00:12:54.420
But think about this.
00:12:54.420 --> 00:12:56.055
We can all be that anchor of hope for this new year.
00:12:56.055 --> 00:13:00.125
We can be a hope anchor for someone else.
00:13:00.125 --> 00:13:03.629
And it's like you said, that sometimes time disappoints us.
00:13:03.629 --> 00:13:07.233
Things disappoint us.
00:13:07.233 --> 00:13:08.367
People disappoint us, causes us to lose our hope.
00:13:08.367 --> 00:13:12.471
And so, you know, knowing that you can literally be an anchor
00:13:12.471 --> 00:13:15.808
Of hope not only for yourself, but for someone else can change
00:13:15.808 --> 00:13:19.011
Your perspective in the way you talk.
00:13:19.011 --> 00:13:20.980
That's right.
00:13:20.980 --> 00:13:22.281
The things you say to, to, to someone, especially the people
00:13:22.281 --> 00:13:24.250
That you love, you know, to be speaking hope to people.
00:13:24.250 --> 00:13:28.754
And you know, hope isn't just a cliche word.
00:13:28.754 --> 00:13:31.090
Hope has power.
00:13:31.090 --> 00:13:32.458
Hope has an anchoring ability, right?
00:13:32.458 --> 00:13:34.894
I mean, i've been down and discouraged before, and someone
00:13:34.894 --> 00:13:37.663
Has just spoken a word of of truth, of hope, of god's truth,
00:13:37.663 --> 00:13:42.268
Not the world's truth, but god's truth,
00:13:42.268 --> 00:13:45.037
And it's amazing what that'll do to your to your perspective,
00:13:45.037 --> 00:13:48.407
To your spirit, because your
00:13:48.407 --> 00:13:49.775
Spirit is searching for god's truth.
00:13:49.775 --> 00:13:52.111
That's what your spirit connects to.
00:13:52.111 --> 00:13:54.313
And so when you can be that anchor of hope for someone and
00:13:54.313 --> 00:13:58.050
Lift their spirits and give them that renewed strength, i
00:13:58.050 --> 00:14:01.353
Think that takes on a new perspective, a new purpose for
00:14:01.353 --> 00:14:04.256
This new year, you know, what are you hoping to accomplish
00:14:04.256 --> 00:14:07.326
This new year? well, i'm--
00:14:07.326 --> 00:14:08.527
I'm hoping to be a person of hope.
00:14:08.527 --> 00:14:10.896
I'm hoping to represent god in a hopeful, wonderful situation,
00:14:10.896 --> 00:14:15.868
Even when the situation looks bad.
00:14:15.868 --> 00:14:18.370
You know, you think about finding the silver lining.
00:14:18.370 --> 00:14:21.640
You know, i want to be that person.
00:14:21.640 --> 00:14:23.008
I want to be the person that finds that silver lining for me
00:14:23.008 --> 00:14:26.645
And for other people.
00:14:26.645 --> 00:14:28.380
But, you know, think about that, you know, because it's so
00:14:28.380 --> 00:14:31.116
Easy to talk about what's wrong.
00:14:31.116 --> 00:14:33.252
I mean, that takes no hope and no faith.
00:14:33.252 --> 00:14:36.021
But to find what's right, you know, that's a person that
00:14:36.021 --> 00:14:40.025
Has hope and faith.
00:14:40.025 --> 00:14:41.827
So that's what i want to be this new year.
00:14:41.827 --> 00:14:43.762
You know, everybody wants to know what's the word
00:14:43.762 --> 00:14:45.531
You got for the year.
00:14:45.531 --> 00:14:46.632
You know, what's that one word
00:14:46.632 --> 00:14:47.933
Or what's your new year's resolution?
00:14:47.933 --> 00:14:49.802
Well, i just decided, you know, i'm going to be
00:14:49.802 --> 00:14:52.137
That person of hope.
00:14:52.137 --> 00:14:54.139
I'm going to be a person of hope.
00:14:54.139 --> 00:14:55.374
I want to be that anchor to help other people
00:14:55.374 --> 00:14:57.476
Because i know always what we throw out there always
00:14:57.476 --> 00:15:00.279
Comes back to us. that's right.
00:15:00.279 --> 00:15:02.348
So we can just live in that hope.
00:15:02.348 --> 00:15:05.617
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00:15:05.617 --> 00:15:07.519
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00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:11.023
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00:15:11.023 --> 00:15:13.459
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00:15:13.459 --> 00:15:15.794
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I think a lot of times there's also a performance thing that
00:15:29.886 --> 00:15:32.756
Happens at the beginning of the year where people think, oh, if
00:15:32.756 --> 00:15:35.925
I do lose the weight. oh wait, i broke my resolution on a, b,
00:15:35.925 --> 00:15:39.929
And c, and so if my hope is in me, then i'm going to have a
00:15:39.929 --> 00:15:43.733
Problem and i'm going to think i failed by january 20th when i
00:15:43.733 --> 00:15:48.471
Broke the daniel fast or something.
00:15:48.471 --> 00:15:50.206
But if i hope in him, then i
00:15:50.206 --> 00:15:53.943
Know that that hope is anchored.
00:15:53.943 --> 00:15:55.779
It's not based on my performance. it's based on
00:15:55.779 --> 00:15:58.114
What he's already done.
00:15:58.114 --> 00:15:59.082
And i'm thinking about as we're talking,
00:15:59.082 --> 00:16:00.517
I'm thinking about when people have known so much
00:16:00.517 --> 00:16:03.720
Disappointment and so much loss,
00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:06.856
Hoping actually hurts, like
00:16:06.856 --> 00:16:09.092
They're scared of being disappointed.
00:16:09.092 --> 00:16:11.895
I'm thinking about sarah in the tent when the angels show up
00:16:11.895 --> 00:16:16.533
And she's listening in.
00:16:16.533 --> 00:16:18.735
She's not part of that conversation.
00:16:18.735 --> 00:16:21.438
And it said that she laughed within herself.
00:16:21.438 --> 00:16:24.107
And i just feel like this is a year where god is actually
00:16:24.107 --> 00:16:27.010
Saying to people, i'm going to dare you to step into that,
00:16:27.010 --> 00:16:31.915
A year from now, things could
00:16:31.915 --> 00:16:33.550
Be completely different for you.
00:16:33.550 --> 00:16:35.118
A year from now, that promise could be in your hands a year
00:16:35.118 --> 00:16:38.188
From now, or it can all be the same.
00:16:38.188 --> 00:16:40.090
But i would rather grab ahold of that hope.
00:16:40.090 --> 00:16:44.494
And again, it was never about sarah.
00:16:44.494 --> 00:16:47.130
You know, she tried to make it happen.
00:16:47.130 --> 00:16:48.998
It was never about sarah.
00:16:48.998 --> 00:16:50.200
It was always about the one who promised is faithful.
00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:52.769
And i think a lot of times we make the hope on if i can fast
00:16:52.769 --> 00:16:57.207
And if i do this and if i start reading my devotion every
00:16:57.207 --> 00:17:00.143
Single day, then god's going to reward my performance.
00:17:00.143 --> 00:17:02.979
And i think that if we just talk about who he is and that
00:17:02.979 --> 00:17:06.716
He is our hope and that he is our anchor, i think that takes
00:17:06.716 --> 00:17:10.053
The performance thing off, and it causes people to be
00:17:10.053 --> 00:17:12.589
Able to dream again.
00:17:12.589 --> 00:17:13.790
Those dreams that they put,
00:17:13.790 --> 00:17:15.158
That they threw away, are buried,
00:17:15.158 --> 00:17:17.260
I believe god is saying, no, no, i need those things back.
00:17:17.260 --> 00:17:19.963
I love the scripture in romans 15.
00:17:19.963 --> 00:17:22.432
Now may the god of hope
00:17:22.432 --> 00:17:25.969
Fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may
00:17:25.969 --> 00:17:30.907
Abound in hope by the power of the holy spirit.
00:17:30.907 --> 00:17:36.079
That's a lot.
00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:37.447
That's a lot right there.
00:17:37.447 --> 00:17:38.648
He is the god of hope.
00:17:38.648 --> 00:17:40.183
And hope again goes back to the spiritual expectation that no
00:17:40.183 --> 00:17:46.022
Matter what i go through right now, my hope is that god does
00:17:46.022 --> 00:17:52.128
What he promised, that he fights for me.
00:17:52.128 --> 00:17:54.998
He fights my battles.
00:17:54.998 --> 00:17:56.566
He's with me every step of the way.
00:17:56.566 --> 00:17:59.335
Every morning his his mercies are new.
00:17:59.335 --> 00:18:02.505
You know, i have the righteousness of god in christ.
00:18:02.505 --> 00:18:05.341
Everything that we have in him is ours.
00:18:05.341 --> 00:18:08.478
And that's why we can stay hopeful in every situation.
00:18:08.478 --> 00:18:13.516
And hope deferred
00:18:13.516 --> 00:18:16.085
Makes the heart sick.
00:18:16.085 --> 00:18:17.520
So when i don't believe that my prayers are going to be
00:18:17.520 --> 00:18:20.089
Answered, when i don't believe, that's when you get sick.
00:18:20.089 --> 00:18:23.092
That's when you get hopeless.
00:18:23.092 --> 00:18:25.161
But staying faithful in hope, you know, being a person of
00:18:25.161 --> 00:18:30.466
Hope, i am going to trust in the lord with all my heart.
00:18:30.466 --> 00:18:34.370
That is having hope.
00:18:34.370 --> 00:18:36.172
You know, i am going to every day know that i wake up with
00:18:36.172 --> 00:18:40.376
A new attitude, that i choose joy today,
00:18:40.376 --> 00:18:44.013
That i choose to walk in hope.
00:18:44.013 --> 00:18:46.482
What does jesus have to do to convince us that he is already
00:18:46.482 --> 00:18:52.622
Ruling and reigning? yeah.
00:18:52.622 --> 00:18:54.190
And if you think about that for a minute, you kind of
00:18:54.190 --> 00:18:57.360
Go, uh, nothing, you know?
00:18:57.360 --> 00:19:00.196
So if we take our world and live in the world that says god
00:19:00.196 --> 00:19:04.500
Is in full control, he is
00:19:04.500 --> 00:19:06.236
Ruling and reigning in our lives,
00:19:06.236 --> 00:19:08.504
He takes care of his own,
00:19:08.504 --> 00:19:10.139
He is a good father,
00:19:10.139 --> 00:19:12.242
I can rest in there.
00:19:12.242 --> 00:19:14.010
And i live by the fact that if i stay in that mindset and then
00:19:14.010 --> 00:19:20.149
Being busy about the lord's work,
00:19:20.149 --> 00:19:22.719
But if i seek his kingdom first, his rule and reign,
00:19:22.719 --> 00:19:26.356
Knowing that he's going to take care for nothing, i'll cover
00:19:26.356 --> 00:19:29.092
You, i'll clothe you, i'll feed you, i'll give you everything
00:19:29.092 --> 00:19:32.629
You need to do what i've called you to do, that that is rest,
00:19:32.629 --> 00:19:37.900
That is full supply.
00:19:37.900 --> 00:19:40.370
And then you kind of automatically do what
00:19:40.370 --> 00:19:42.905
He's called you to do.
00:19:42.905 --> 00:19:44.607
That's how i see it in my life, that if i keep my mind stayed
00:19:44.607 --> 00:19:48.878
On him, that automatically i know what to do next.
00:19:48.878 --> 00:19:53.016
I see the picture, and we just follow that.
00:19:53.016 --> 00:19:56.386
That's how matt and i kind of live.
00:19:56.386 --> 00:19:58.488
When my daughter was a senior in high school, she was in her
00:19:58.488 --> 00:20:01.557
Last semester and applications for college,
00:20:01.557 --> 00:20:05.094
She was sending them out.
00:20:05.094 --> 00:20:06.396
She was working so diligently on her essays, and they told us
00:20:06.396 --> 00:20:10.566
When she sent them out that it would be like maybe 2 or 3
00:20:10.566 --> 00:20:13.736
Months before they'd find out what school she would go to.
00:20:13.736 --> 00:20:16.773
And so she and some of her friends were, you know,
00:20:16.773 --> 00:20:19.208
Engaging in this activity.
00:20:19.208 --> 00:20:20.743
And it was all consuming to them, you know, two months
00:20:20.743 --> 00:20:24.314
Turned into three months.
00:20:24.314 --> 00:20:26.149
Every day they were checking on their computer, you know, is
00:20:26.149 --> 00:20:28.851
There any notification, any posts that we got, you know,
00:20:28.851 --> 00:20:32.955
Accepted to this college?
00:20:32.955 --> 00:20:34.924
And i watched how this carefree life the last year of high
00:20:34.924 --> 00:20:40.229
School, the last semester of high school, turned into a very
00:20:40.229 --> 00:20:43.800
Worrisome and stressful situation.
00:20:43.800 --> 00:20:47.303
And stealing all the joy that was there.
00:20:47.303 --> 00:20:50.139
It was because she was focused on this one particular thing
00:20:50.139 --> 00:20:53.443
That was going to change or something she was waiting on,
00:20:53.443 --> 00:20:57.080
And it was so obvious to me that i do that in life as well.
00:20:57.080 --> 00:21:01.818
And through every season of life, we're going to be waiting
00:21:01.818 --> 00:21:05.021
On something, you know, we're going to be waiting on
00:21:05.021 --> 00:21:08.157
Something like i looked at her and i thought, well, as soon
00:21:08.157 --> 00:21:11.194
You're going to be waiting on getting married, waiting on
00:21:11.194 --> 00:21:15.465
Having a baby, waiting.
00:21:15.465 --> 00:21:17.667
I mean, we're waiting on something all the time.
00:21:17.667 --> 00:21:20.503
And i was like, how do we wait well?
00:21:20.503 --> 00:21:22.372
And i found that scripture about the farmer.
00:21:22.372 --> 00:21:26.209
The farmer who waited, he planted his seed.
00:21:26.209 --> 00:21:30.146
The bible says that he waited with great expectation.
00:21:30.146 --> 00:21:34.317
He looked for the signs of the seasons changing for the
00:21:34.317 --> 00:21:40.056
Autumn, for the spring, for the rains to come
00:21:40.056 --> 00:21:42.658
And water is crop.
00:21:42.658 --> 00:21:44.293
And i thought, isn't that interesting?
00:21:44.293 --> 00:21:46.596
He didn't go out and dig his seed up to make sure
00:21:46.596 --> 00:21:48.798
It was still there.
00:21:48.798 --> 00:21:50.299
You know, he didn't stop everything.
00:21:50.299 --> 00:21:52.668
He waited with expectation, with great expectancy, that his
00:21:52.668 --> 00:21:56.439
Crop in due time was going to come up.
00:21:56.439 --> 00:21:59.175
And i thought, why do we do that sometimes?
00:21:59.175 --> 00:22:01.511
Why do we forget to embrace the season we're in right now?
00:22:01.511 --> 00:22:05.748
Because we're waiting for something to change.
00:22:05.748 --> 00:22:08.751
Or waiting for something to happen.
00:22:08.751 --> 00:22:11.020
And i don't know about y'all, but sometimes in the waiting, i
00:22:11.020 --> 00:22:14.557
Watched my daughter question.
00:22:14.557 --> 00:22:16.726
The longer the wait, the more questions came.
00:22:16.726 --> 00:22:19.662
The more questions came, the more doubt came.
00:22:19.662 --> 00:22:22.365
Well, what if i don't get accepted to this college?
00:22:22.365 --> 00:22:25.401
And they do.
00:22:25.401 --> 00:22:26.903
Who am i going to live with?
00:22:26.903 --> 00:22:28.404
You know, i watch these questions come in.
00:22:28.404 --> 00:22:30.773
What if questions,
00:22:30.773 --> 00:22:32.041
What if this doesn't happen?
00:22:32.041 --> 00:22:33.209
And what if that doesn't happen?
00:22:33.209 --> 00:22:34.944
And that waiting can really demise our faith
00:22:34.944 --> 00:22:37.580
And cause us to lose hope?
00:22:37.580 --> 00:22:39.682
And that's what we're talking about.
00:22:39.682 --> 00:22:41.017
We're talking about keeping our hopes up, keeping our trust
00:22:41.017 --> 00:22:44.320
In god and his timing.
00:22:44.320 --> 00:22:46.522
But it's interesting.
00:22:46.522 --> 00:22:47.690
She finally did get her acceptance letter to the school
00:22:47.690 --> 00:22:50.059
That she had hoped to get into.
00:22:50.059 --> 00:22:52.962
And i thought, now look at all that time we've wasted.
00:22:52.962 --> 00:22:56.332
Yeah. lost, wasted time
00:22:56.332 --> 00:22:58.768
Because we were focused on that one thing
00:22:58.768 --> 00:23:01.471
In the waiting.
00:23:01.471 --> 00:23:02.939
And so i just encourage myself, as i encourage everyone else,
00:23:02.939 --> 00:23:06.275
That waiting like a farmer, is not just waiting idly.
00:23:06.275 --> 00:23:12.181
It's waiting actively.
00:23:12.181 --> 00:23:13.916
It's preparing in the wait.
00:23:13.916 --> 00:23:16.252
What am i going to do in the wait?
00:23:16.252 --> 00:23:17.753
You know, if you're getting if you're waiting to get married
00:23:17.753 --> 00:23:19.655
Today, are you preparing to be
00:23:19.655 --> 00:23:22.024
The person that you'd want to marry?
00:23:22.024 --> 00:23:24.026
Are you are you growing?
00:23:24.026 --> 00:23:25.828
Are you changing?
00:23:25.828 --> 00:23:26.729
Are you doing everything that you can?
00:23:26.729 --> 00:23:28.731
If you're waiting on advancing in your career, are you
00:23:28.731 --> 00:23:32.034
Preparing yourself and looking for signs of change?
00:23:32.034 --> 00:23:37.206
And i think that's one thing that renews our hope is when we
00:23:37.206 --> 00:23:39.909
Look for signs of change.
00:23:39.909 --> 00:23:41.544
Like the farmer, he looked for the autumn and spring rains,
00:23:41.544 --> 00:23:45.147
You know, and i, i'm always looking for something to
00:23:45.147 --> 00:23:47.550
Put my hope in.
00:23:47.550 --> 00:23:49.018
You know, little things.
00:23:49.018 --> 00:23:50.286
What can i anchor my hope to in the wait?
00:23:50.286 --> 00:23:53.222
You know, because waiting wasn't meant to weaken us.
00:23:53.222 --> 00:23:55.324
It was meant to cause us to be strong and prepare us.
00:23:55.324 --> 00:23:59.262
Kind of like the butterfly who's struggling to get out
00:23:59.262 --> 00:24:01.497
Of that cocoon.
00:24:01.497 --> 00:24:02.698
I mean, there is a waiting period, but as soon as that
00:24:02.698 --> 00:24:06.736
Butterfly gets out of that cocoon, out of that waiting
00:24:06.736 --> 00:24:09.605
Period, it's poised to fly.
00:24:09.605 --> 00:24:12.074
And i think that's what i have to remind myself of
00:24:12.074 --> 00:24:14.810
Often when i'm in the wait is like, okay, this waiting is not
00:24:14.810 --> 00:24:19.282
Going to last forever, but i should be strengthening myself
00:24:19.282 --> 00:24:22.552
And getting ready for flight because what's coming is going
00:24:22.552 --> 00:24:27.156
To be greater than the wait.
00:24:27.156 --> 00:24:28.925
So i don't know about y'all, but i encourage myself in those
00:24:28.925 --> 00:24:32.695
Kind of things all the time, that don't waste where i am
00:24:32.695 --> 00:24:35.464
Right now, but embrace where i am, the season that i'm in.
00:24:35.464 --> 00:24:39.635
So good. i love that whole idea.
00:24:39.635 --> 00:24:41.504
And i'm thinking, as you're telling this story, like,
00:24:41.504 --> 00:24:43.639
What did she miss out on?
00:24:43.639 --> 00:24:45.641
And what i have found is if i can't control the outcome, like
00:24:45.641 --> 00:24:49.045
If it's going to happen, if i've turned it over to god,
00:24:49.045 --> 00:24:52.848
Then i might as well just enjoy the ride.
00:24:52.848 --> 00:24:55.017
I'm not going--
00:24:55.017 --> 00:24:55.618
I'm not going to be able
00:24:55.618 --> 00:24:57.320
To stress and make it happen faster.
00:24:57.320 --> 00:25:00.222
And, you know, looking back, that was her,
00:25:00.222 --> 00:25:01.958
That was her time with her mom.
00:25:01.958 --> 00:25:03.626
That was her time--
00:25:03.626 --> 00:25:04.660
Care free year. now i go to college.
00:25:04.660 --> 00:25:07.630
I know.
00:25:07.630 --> 00:25:08.864
And i think that we all do that at some level in some way.
00:25:08.864 --> 00:25:12.068
Like, hey, if when this happens, then i will do this.
00:25:12.068 --> 00:25:14.870
And god's like, no, actually
00:25:14.870 --> 00:25:16.639
Enlarge in the waiting.
00:25:16.639 --> 00:25:17.974
Grow in the waiting.
00:25:17.974 --> 00:25:19.508
You know, strengthen yourself in the waiting.
00:25:19.508 --> 00:25:21.644
The farmer,
00:25:21.644 --> 00:25:22.511
Farming is hard work.
00:25:22.511 --> 00:25:24.547
Actually, that waiting is a time of rest.
00:25:24.547 --> 00:25:27.450
He's done the plowing.
00:25:27.450 --> 00:25:28.484
He's done the planting, he's done the weeding.
00:25:28.484 --> 00:25:30.920
And i think about how jesus gives each and every one of us
00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:35.091
A talent and an ability.
00:25:35.091 --> 00:25:36.892
And then he goes away and we're waiting for him to come back.
00:25:36.892 --> 00:25:40.296
And the servant that just berries and just give him back
00:25:40.296 --> 00:25:43.399
What he gave me didn't multiply.
00:25:43.399 --> 00:25:46.369
The talent, which is our abilities,
00:25:46.369 --> 00:25:49.205
It's more than just money.
00:25:49.205 --> 00:25:51.073
It's our god entrusted gifting.
00:25:51.073 --> 00:25:53.576
If we don't multiply in a season of waiting, we end up
00:25:53.576 --> 00:25:58.414
Just maintaining.
00:25:58.414 --> 00:25:59.715
So i want to experience god every day.
00:25:59.715 --> 00:26:02.051
I want to be at peace and rest.
00:26:02.051 --> 00:26:04.520
And so for us to put our hope or our peace or our
00:26:04.520 --> 00:26:10.726
Satisfaction in a time that is going to happen, when i get
00:26:10.726 --> 00:26:15.631
Married, when i get my acceptance, when i-- then that
00:26:15.631 --> 00:26:20.736
Will bring such fulfillment and satisfaction.
00:26:20.736 --> 00:26:23.272
God's just saying, i am your satisfaction.
00:26:23.272 --> 00:26:26.609
I am your peace.
00:26:26.609 --> 00:26:27.910
I am your joy.
00:26:27.910 --> 00:26:28.911
And i'm right now. right.
00:26:28.911 --> 00:26:30.746
So i think having that expectancy of hope, but being
00:26:30.746 --> 00:26:34.550
Faithful to today, being faithful to seeing god at work
00:26:34.550 --> 00:26:39.288
Today. it's like not too long ago we were talking to a friend
00:26:39.288 --> 00:26:43.259
And he was giving us this testimony.
00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:46.062
He said, i had some guy come into my office a year, year and
00:26:46.062 --> 00:26:50.766
A half ago and showed me something, and he said, i
00:26:50.766 --> 00:26:54.670
Thought, yeah, great, okay, how much do you need?
00:26:54.670 --> 00:26:57.373
And he said, i need, you know, $200,000 or something.
00:26:57.373 --> 00:27:00.342
He said, okay, well, call my guy in the morning.
00:27:00.342 --> 00:27:02.378
And he said, i totally forgot about it.
00:27:02.378 --> 00:27:04.613
And i'm thinking, you forgot about it.
00:27:04.613 --> 00:27:06.716
You know, he said, i totally forgot about it.
00:27:06.716 --> 00:27:09.251
And he said, that was last year.
00:27:09.251 --> 00:27:11.353
He said, i got a phone call just before i came here.
00:27:11.353 --> 00:27:14.323
And he said, my money manager guy says, well, you've got a
00:27:14.323 --> 00:27:19.161
Good day today.
00:27:19.161 --> 00:27:19.895
And he said, what?
00:27:19.895 --> 00:27:21.163
He said, well, remember when you told that guy to get ahold
00:27:21.163 --> 00:27:23.632
Of me that morning? we gave him $200,000.
00:27:23.632 --> 00:27:26.068
That turned into two point some million dollars.
00:27:26.068 --> 00:27:28.804
And he said, i had forgotten about it.
00:27:28.804 --> 00:27:31.173
And i thought, you know what?
00:27:31.173 --> 00:27:33.476
That's kind of what we need to do.
00:27:33.476 --> 00:27:35.544
When we sow a seed or when we--
00:27:35.544 --> 00:27:38.547
God, help me just forget about it and not be thinking about
00:27:38.547 --> 00:27:43.018
When i'm going to get that back.
00:27:43.018 --> 00:27:44.386
Let me just be faithful today.
00:27:44.386 --> 00:27:46.689
Let me just experience you and your peace and your joy and
00:27:46.689 --> 00:27:50.893
Your rest today, and see you do what you want to do today.
00:27:50.893 --> 00:27:55.297
You know? i love that.
00:27:55.297 --> 00:27:56.599
I think the idea of the farmer, i'm thinking, okay, so he's got
00:27:56.599 --> 00:27:59.435
To trust that the seasons are going to cause change,
00:27:59.435 --> 00:28:02.972
That change will happen as the seasons.
00:28:02.972 --> 00:28:05.775
But the first time-- like, i'm just thinking about me.
00:28:05.775 --> 00:28:08.344
I'm not a farmer, you know what i mean?
00:28:08.344 --> 00:28:09.979
In my head, at maybe one point i thought i wanted to be, but
00:28:09.979 --> 00:28:12.248
Then i, you know, i got a packet of something and then it
00:28:12.248 --> 00:28:14.884
Was a lot of work, and then it was dirty and i was like,
00:28:14.884 --> 00:28:17.052
That's okay.
00:28:17.052 --> 00:28:18.354
But i had a little backyard and i tried to dig, make a raised
00:28:18.354 --> 00:28:23.259
Bed, you know, and i didn't think about the fact that i'm
00:28:23.259 --> 00:28:25.528
In a suburban neighborhood.
00:28:25.528 --> 00:28:26.629
So i was hitting pipes and stuff, and it was just
00:28:26.629 --> 00:28:28.364
Not a good situation.
00:28:28.364 --> 00:28:30.466
But i didn't know anything about anything.
00:28:30.466 --> 00:28:32.268
So i was just trying to figure that out and whatever i decided
00:28:32.268 --> 00:28:36.172
To plant, i remember i had to, you know, i got a seed packet
00:28:36.172 --> 00:28:40.342
And not knowing how long it
00:28:40.342 --> 00:28:41.877
Would take or knowing what to expect,
00:28:41.877 --> 00:28:44.814
I had to read the packet. you know what i mean?
00:28:44.814 --> 00:28:46.982
It was either that or talk to somebody else who did know
00:28:46.982 --> 00:28:49.118
What they were doing.
00:28:49.118 --> 00:28:50.286
And the first time you're anxiously awaiting because
00:28:50.286 --> 00:28:53.189
You've never seen it before.
00:28:53.189 --> 00:28:55.024
Yeah, but an experienced
00:28:55.024 --> 00:28:57.126
Farmer, they know what to expect.
00:28:57.126 --> 00:28:59.428
We all have to wait.
00:28:59.428 --> 00:29:01.831
And the faith walk brings with it another set of waiting
00:29:01.831 --> 00:29:04.767
Because i've now prayed about this.
00:29:04.767 --> 00:29:06.335
I've planted something.
00:29:06.335 --> 00:29:07.503
I'm believing on god to do something,
00:29:07.503 --> 00:29:09.338
So but at the beginning of your christian journey, you
00:29:09.338 --> 00:29:12.842
Believe what the packet says, that god is going to be
00:29:12.842 --> 00:29:16.212
Faithful to his promise, and you have to bank on
00:29:16.212 --> 00:29:18.414
What you can see
00:29:18.414 --> 00:29:19.582
And when you read, or you talk to someone else who's
00:29:19.582 --> 00:29:22.151
Experienced and they say, well,
00:29:22.151 --> 00:29:23.986
Let me tell you, the season has changed.
00:29:23.986 --> 00:29:25.688
You know, i told my son just recently in college because he
00:29:25.688 --> 00:29:28.090
Doesn't know what he wants to do.
00:29:28.090 --> 00:29:29.558
And, you know, he's like these these classes are just whack.
00:29:29.558 --> 00:29:32.261
You know, it's just a waste of my time.
00:29:32.261 --> 00:29:34.096
It's not a waste of your time.
00:29:34.096 --> 00:29:35.397
Even if you take classes, then you switch your major, if you
00:29:35.397 --> 00:29:38.100
Invest and you're excellent and you put in the work, that will
00:29:38.100 --> 00:29:41.537
Cause something to grow.
00:29:41.537 --> 00:29:43.105
It may not grow in that major, but it will grow in your life.
00:29:43.105 --> 00:29:46.709
He doesn't believe that.
00:29:46.709 --> 00:29:48.277
You know what i mean? at the time.
00:29:48.277 --> 00:29:50.679
No, right now, you know.
00:29:50.679 --> 00:29:52.514
But all things in life at the time, even if they're
00:29:52.514 --> 00:29:55.084
Unpleasant, require faith to trust and believe that
00:29:55.084 --> 00:29:58.487
Something will grow.
00:29:58.487 --> 00:30:00.022
You know, when you look at the bible, if you just google or
00:30:00.022 --> 00:30:02.925
Look in a commentary or look in a concordance or the word wait,
00:30:02.925 --> 00:30:05.728
There's a lot of talk about wait.
00:30:05.728 --> 00:30:07.463
There's a lot of wait. it's a four letter word.
00:30:07.463 --> 00:30:09.665
It's a four letter word.
00:30:09.665 --> 00:30:11.267
And it's a lot of stuff.
00:30:11.267 --> 00:30:12.568
I mean, if it's okay, i just want to read a couple of these
00:30:12.568 --> 00:30:14.670
To you because i think they're encouraging.
00:30:14.670 --> 00:30:16.772
Lamentations 3:25 says, the lord is good to those who wait for
00:30:16.772 --> 00:30:20.776
Him, and to the soul who seeks him.
00:30:20.776 --> 00:30:23.312
Psalm 27:14 says, wait for the lord.
00:30:23.312 --> 00:30:25.781
Be strong.
00:30:25.781 --> 00:30:26.916
Let your heart take courage.
00:30:26.916 --> 00:30:28.150
And then it repeats, wait for the lord.
00:30:28.150 --> 00:30:30.686
Isaiah 40:31,
00:30:30.686 --> 00:30:32.087
Many of us know that one. they who wait for the lord will
00:30:32.087 --> 00:30:34.523
Renew their strength.
00:30:34.523 --> 00:30:35.858
You wait long enough, you'll get strong.
00:30:35.858 --> 00:30:37.860
Hang in there.
00:30:37.860 --> 00:30:38.794
You'll mount up with wings like eagle.
00:30:38.794 --> 00:30:40.229
You'll run and not be weary.
00:30:40.229 --> 00:30:41.163
You'll walk and not faint.
00:30:41.163 --> 00:30:42.431
Habakkuk 2:3, for still
00:30:42.431 --> 00:30:44.600
The vision awaits its appointed time.
00:30:44.600 --> 00:30:47.336
So that's the thing.
00:30:47.336 --> 00:30:48.437
And if you don't believe there's an appointed time,
00:30:48.437 --> 00:30:50.239
You'll rush and you'll not be ready.
00:30:50.239 --> 00:30:52.942
It hastens to the end.
00:30:52.942 --> 00:30:53.976
It will not lie.
00:30:53.976 --> 00:30:54.877
If it seems slow, wait for it.
00:30:54.877 --> 00:30:57.980
It will surely come.
00:30:57.980 --> 00:30:59.348
It will not delay.
00:30:59.348 --> 00:31:00.316
Here's the thing i love about that verse.
00:31:00.316 --> 00:31:01.984
If it seems slow--
00:31:01.984 --> 00:31:03.452
It always seems slow.
00:31:03.452 --> 00:31:06.288
But, you know, here's the thing about this.
00:31:04.386 --> 00:31:08.190
So, you know, i believe in the crock pot.
00:31:08.190 --> 00:31:10.826
I was just telling my friend about this this morning, and let
00:31:10.826 --> 00:31:13.662
Me tell you, i can cook, i can cook, and i can get it together
00:31:13.662 --> 00:31:17.666
In 45 minutes if i have to.
00:31:17.666 --> 00:31:19.735
But there is something that happens in the crock pot that
00:31:19.735 --> 00:31:22.404
Doesn't happen when i do it in 45 minutes.
00:31:22.404 --> 00:31:25.274
The flavors have melded together.
00:31:25.274 --> 00:31:27.509
It's more tender, the meat falls apart.
00:31:27.509 --> 00:31:30.212
And so, you know, when my sons and my husband, because that's
00:31:30.212 --> 00:31:33.048
Who's at home with me right now, when they smell dinner cooking,
00:31:33.048 --> 00:31:36.218
They want to rush it.
00:31:36.218 --> 00:31:37.219
You know, my husband will open the top.
00:31:37.219 --> 00:31:39.054
The steam is going everywhere.
00:31:39.054 --> 00:31:40.689
He's putting a fork in there.
00:31:40.689 --> 00:31:41.790
I'm like, it's not done yet.
00:31:41.790 --> 00:31:43.225
And when you let some of the steam escape now, it's going to
00:31:43.225 --> 00:31:45.494
Take longer to cook. yeah.
00:31:45.494 --> 00:31:46.762
And i'm like, wait for the appointed time.
00:31:46.762 --> 00:31:49.298
Wait. i'm going to say it again.
00:31:49.298 --> 00:31:50.866
Wait, i say on the lord.
00:31:50.866 --> 00:31:52.701
So there's something sweet that happens when we just believe
00:31:52.701 --> 00:31:55.704
Waiting actually is a common phenomenon.
00:31:55.704 --> 00:31:57.873
And because we commonly
00:31:57.873 --> 00:31:59.375
Experience the frustration with waiting,
00:31:59.375 --> 00:32:01.810
You're not the only one
00:32:01.810 --> 00:32:03.278
You ought to know that there's got to be something good in it
00:32:03.278 --> 00:32:06.415
If god talks a lot about it, and if he's written plenty
00:32:06.415 --> 00:32:09.385
About it on his instruction packet, or if other people who
00:32:09.385 --> 00:32:12.388
Know jesus are saying, honey, just wait. just be patient.
00:32:12.388 --> 00:32:16.558
Keep praying about it.
00:32:16.558 --> 00:32:17.393
Don't rush it.
00:32:17.393 --> 00:32:18.660
Something good comes when you just take your time and know
00:32:18.660 --> 00:32:20.562
That somebody's done it before.
00:32:20.562 --> 00:32:21.997
Beautiful. that is so powerful.
00:32:21.997 --> 00:32:23.265
That is so important
00:32:23.265 --> 00:32:24.533
What you're highlighting that all throughout scripture we
00:32:24.533 --> 00:32:26.635
Have verse after verse and example after example of how
00:32:26.635 --> 00:32:30.005
Important it is to wait on god.
00:32:30.005 --> 00:32:32.307
They who wait on the lord, he will renew their strength.
00:32:32.307 --> 00:32:36.211
We are in a culture
00:32:36.211 --> 00:32:39.214
That praises rushing, praises hustle, praises
00:32:39.214 --> 00:32:43.052
Being busy, praises platform, praises
00:32:43.052 --> 00:32:46.789
Um, things expedited, things rushed.
00:32:46.789 --> 00:32:49.024
We know we live in this culture.
00:32:49.024 --> 00:32:50.426
And here we see in the bible that they who wait on the lord,
00:32:50.426 --> 00:32:53.162
He will renew their strength.
00:32:53.162 --> 00:32:54.797
Does anyone feel weak today?
00:32:54.797 --> 00:32:56.865
Is anyone watching that feels i feel weak, i feel weighed down?
00:32:56.865 --> 00:33:00.769
Well, we're living in a culture where we're rushing and running
00:33:00.769 --> 00:33:03.272
To please, to please the world
00:33:03.272 --> 00:33:05.741
That we can't get our identity in.
00:33:05.741 --> 00:33:07.342
Do we remember the importance of waiting?
00:33:07.342 --> 00:33:10.012
It may not be the stuff you see people posting about all the
00:33:10.012 --> 00:33:12.881
Time, or you see the world glorifying all the time,
00:33:12.881 --> 00:33:16.485
People who wait.
00:33:16.485 --> 00:33:17.619
And yet god says when you wait,
00:33:17.619 --> 00:33:19.088
That's how you're going to be strengthened.
00:33:19.088 --> 00:33:20.923
I would encourage anyone today that's saying, i'm feeling weak
00:33:20.923 --> 00:33:23.759
To say, have you been waiting on god to stop the hustle and
00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:27.996
Pause and not to rush according to the standards of the world,
00:33:27.996 --> 00:33:32.034
But to wait according to the truth found in god?
00:33:32.034 --> 00:33:35.037
So good.
00:33:35.037 --> 00:33:36.338
You know, i keep thinking, if people say, well, i'm waiting
00:33:36.338 --> 00:33:38.440
Till i get married or i'm waiting till i get the job, or
00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:40.509
I'm waiting till i get the house, or i wait till i know
00:33:40.509 --> 00:33:42.678
What's actually going on, then
00:33:42.678 --> 00:33:44.046
They're putting their weight in the wrong place.
00:33:44.046 --> 00:33:46.915
We wait on the lord.
00:33:46.915 --> 00:33:49.051
And i think what we're talking
00:33:49.051 --> 00:33:50.319
About is, what does that look like?
00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:53.322
And you're describing it.
00:33:53.322 --> 00:33:54.756
It's the farmer.
00:33:54.756 --> 00:33:55.591
It's the-- it's a, what do i grow?
00:33:55.591 --> 00:33:58.060
What's my area of growth in this season of waiting?
00:33:58.060 --> 00:34:01.997
I had an unusual experience a little while ago.
00:34:01.997 --> 00:34:04.266
We're all waiting in line at an airport.
00:34:04.266 --> 00:34:07.269
And, you know, they always ask for people with disabilities,
00:34:07.269 --> 00:34:10.239
And then they'll say active military.
00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:12.741
And i noticed that they forgot to say active military.
00:34:12.741 --> 00:34:16.912
And i'm kind of like, i know i'm not active military.
00:34:16.912 --> 00:34:19.748
I'd like to think maybe i could be, but i'm not.
00:34:19.748 --> 00:34:22.284
Uh, nobody's ever mistaken me for that.
00:34:22.284 --> 00:34:24.086
And so they're like, okay, now we need the group number one.
00:34:24.086 --> 00:34:28.023
And this one woman had been waiting, waiting for them to
00:34:28.023 --> 00:34:31.827
Call active military, and she
00:34:31.827 --> 00:34:33.095
Said they never called active military.
00:34:33.095 --> 00:34:35.097
And i looked at her and i thought, no, i know i'm not.
00:34:35.097 --> 00:34:37.065
And you don't look like your active military either.
00:34:37.065 --> 00:34:39.201
But what happened
00:34:39.201 --> 00:34:40.435
Unbeknownst to everybody else, i said, you can
00:34:40.435 --> 00:34:44.206
Go on first.
00:34:44.206 --> 00:34:45.140
And she said, i just buried my husband.
00:34:45.140 --> 00:34:47.409
My husband is a hero.
00:34:47.409 --> 00:34:49.678
I just came from arlington cemetery, and i think they need
00:34:49.678 --> 00:34:53.582
To call active military.
00:34:53.582 --> 00:34:55.417
And i said, baby girl, you just go right, right on there.
00:34:55.417 --> 00:34:59.054
And i think sometimes so many people are waiting for
00:34:59.054 --> 00:35:02.524
Somebody to call.
00:35:02.524 --> 00:35:03.792
And her son had actually gotten in the line ahead of me, but
00:35:03.792 --> 00:35:07.896
She was waiting for the call.
00:35:07.896 --> 00:35:09.064
And she said, my son knows that that was his place.
00:35:09.064 --> 00:35:12.167
And so he went first.
00:35:12.167 --> 00:35:13.368
And i think a lot of times we're waiting for people to
00:35:13.368 --> 00:35:16.805
Call us when god is saying, i just need you to step up to
00:35:16.805 --> 00:35:20.275
What i want you to do in this season.
00:35:20.275 --> 00:35:22.644
Don't wait for somebody to tap you.
00:35:22.644 --> 00:35:24.179
Don't wait till you get married.
00:35:24.179 --> 00:35:25.247
I have so many young girls say, you know what?
00:35:25.247 --> 00:35:28.183
If i never get married? what if i--
00:35:28.183 --> 00:35:29.785
Well, then you better live now, right?
00:35:29.785 --> 00:35:31.653
Like there's things you can do in a season of in between that
00:35:31.653 --> 00:35:36.291
You'll want to do regardless.
00:35:36.291 --> 00:35:38.026
You know, i wasn't single long because i've been married
00:35:38.026 --> 00:35:39.995
So long now.
00:35:39.995 --> 00:35:40.996
I've been married 39 years, which is crazy.
00:35:40.996 --> 00:35:43.465
But i remember when i was in that season where everybody
00:35:43.465 --> 00:35:48.036
Else called, oh, i'm waiting to get married,
00:35:48.036 --> 00:35:49.838
I thought, i'm doing everything i can do right now that i
00:35:49.838 --> 00:35:53.575
Couldn't have done.
00:35:53.575 --> 00:35:54.843
So i can flip on the lights in the middle of the night and
00:35:54.843 --> 00:35:56.945
Dance if i want to.
00:35:56.945 --> 00:35:58.213
Or i can read, or i can listen to music, or i can go to bed
00:35:58.213 --> 00:36:00.882
Whenever i want to.
00:36:00.882 --> 00:36:02.150
And i think a lot of times-- tv turner. i didn't have a tv
00:36:02.150 --> 00:36:05.420
Because i was so poor.
00:36:05.420 --> 00:36:06.521
But the thermostat where you want to put it, sorry.
00:36:06.521 --> 00:36:10.092
Turn it down to 65.
00:36:10.092 --> 00:36:11.893
Yeah, but i think too many people don't know what it
00:36:11.893 --> 00:36:15.464
Means to wait on god. yeah.
00:36:15.464 --> 00:36:17.165
And i think in that season of waiting on god, we
00:36:17.165 --> 00:36:20.535
Remember his faithfulness.
00:36:20.535 --> 00:36:22.070
We remember who he is.
00:36:22.070 --> 00:36:23.538
We read the word of god.
00:36:23.538 --> 00:36:25.173
We say, okay, i'm going to
00:36:25.173 --> 00:36:26.475
Renew my strength in this season.
00:36:26.475 --> 00:36:29.077
And just that whole loss of joy. you know, the joy of the
00:36:29.077 --> 00:36:31.980
Lord is our strength, not the joy of our final
00:36:31.980 --> 00:36:34.116
Well, i got what i was waiting for.
00:36:34.116 --> 00:36:35.817
Yeah, because the lord, in the end of the day, is what
00:36:35.817 --> 00:36:38.020
We're waiting for.
00:36:38.020 --> 00:36:39.187
So you don't want to ever put your hope in something
00:36:39.187 --> 00:36:40.489
You can lose, right?
00:36:40.489 --> 00:36:41.623
In second peter 3:8-9, it says, but do not forget
00:36:41.623 --> 00:36:45.560
This one thing, dear friends, with the lord
00:36:45.560 --> 00:36:48.997
A day is like a thousand years,
00:36:48.997 --> 00:36:51.133
And a thousand years are like a day.
00:36:51.133 --> 00:36:53.635
The lord is not slow in keeping
00:36:53.635 --> 00:36:56.371
His promise, as some understand slowness.
00:36:56.371 --> 00:37:00.142
Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
00:37:00.142 --> 00:37:05.314
Perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
00:37:05.314 --> 00:37:09.885
So there is a reason for the slowness.
00:37:09.885 --> 00:37:13.722
And if we trust god, his timing
00:37:13.722 --> 00:37:15.957
Is never slow and it's never late.
00:37:15.957 --> 00:37:19.728
It's like, what if you're waiting on god when in reality
00:37:19.728 --> 00:37:23.632
God is waiting on you?
00:37:23.632 --> 00:37:24.900
He's like, i'm trying to sort this out, lisa, so that we
00:37:24.900 --> 00:37:27.102
Can move forward.
00:37:27.102 --> 00:37:28.370
Or he's waiting on someone else because our view is so small
00:37:28.370 --> 00:37:33.075
Sometimes, and we think that because we're ready,
00:37:33.075 --> 00:37:36.912
Everything should be ready.
00:37:36.912 --> 00:37:38.647
But we're a part of this bigger fabric, and god is preparing
00:37:38.647 --> 00:37:42.284
Someone else for what he's doing in you.
00:37:42.284 --> 00:37:44.486
He's preparing something else, because what he's preparing in
00:37:44.486 --> 00:37:47.556
You is supposed to fit into a different season.
00:37:47.556 --> 00:37:50.125
And so when you think that if you bottom line, do you trust
00:37:50.125 --> 00:37:52.928
God or not? and then if you do, you just wait, knowing that he
00:37:52.928 --> 00:37:56.932
Will, will and work in you for his good pleasure,
00:37:56.932 --> 00:37:59.234
For his glory, and for your good.
00:37:59.234 --> 00:38:01.069
Always perfect. amen.
00:38:01.069 --> 00:38:04.706
Join the conversation on our
00:38:04.706 --> 00:38:06.241
Better together youtube channel.
00:38:06.241 --> 00:38:08.310
Subscribe today and never miss a new upload!
00:38:08.310 --> 00:38:13.000
Three years ago, when my cousin winter passed away, she was in
00:38:15.984 --> 00:38:20.422
Her early 30s and it was sudden and unexpected.
00:38:20.422 --> 00:38:23.158
She wasn't ill, and the day of her funeral was the same day as
00:38:23.158 --> 00:38:28.463
Our women's conference.
00:38:28.463 --> 00:38:30.165
And i looked at my mom and i
00:38:30.165 --> 00:38:32.167
Was like, so we still do in the conference?
00:38:32.167 --> 00:38:34.736
Shut it all down.
00:38:34.736 --> 00:38:35.804
I can't do any of this.
00:38:35.804 --> 00:38:37.806
And we went through it.
00:38:37.806 --> 00:38:39.007
But i remember thinking, and i led worship that day,
00:38:39.007 --> 00:38:42.744
One of the songs that we sang was, it is well with my soul,
00:38:42.744 --> 00:38:45.614
And someone commented to me after that, after it, because
00:38:45.614 --> 00:38:48.650
You're just thinking in the middle of things, how do i get
00:38:48.650 --> 00:38:51.620
Through this moment?
00:38:51.620 --> 00:38:52.988
She said, i've sung that song a million times, but it was
00:38:52.988 --> 00:38:55.757
Singing it on that day. yeah.
00:38:55.757 --> 00:38:57.659
And you singing it sometimes, not singing it
00:38:57.659 --> 00:39:00.495
Because you couldn't get through it.
00:39:00.495 --> 00:39:02.230
Yeah. the tears falling
00:39:02.230 --> 00:39:03.765
Knowing that after you left this conference today, you were
00:39:03.765 --> 00:39:06.935
Going to go bury someone you loved.
00:39:06.935 --> 00:39:10.439
That song has never meant more to me than any other time than
00:39:10.439 --> 00:39:14.242
In that moment when i saw you choosing to rehearse what you
00:39:14.242 --> 00:39:18.079
Believed about god. right.
00:39:18.079 --> 00:39:19.781
So i think we often mistake what strength looks like or
00:39:19.781 --> 00:39:24.519
Even what it feels like.
00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:26.455
Strength is not operating when you feel like you're strong, or
00:39:26.455 --> 00:39:30.492
When you feel like you're all put together, or when you feel
00:39:30.492 --> 00:39:33.495
Like you look your best, or when you feel like everything
00:39:33.495 --> 00:39:36.264
That you'd planned to happen
00:39:36.264 --> 00:39:37.632
And the way you planned it to happen
00:39:37.632 --> 00:39:39.334
When it happens. the strength of god often makes itself known
00:39:39.334 --> 00:39:42.971
When you feel like you just
00:39:42.971 --> 00:39:44.606
Can't handle not one more thing.
00:39:44.606 --> 00:39:47.375
And then grace slides in and says, but i can.
00:39:47.375 --> 00:39:50.345
Yeah. and you just ride that.
00:39:50.345 --> 00:39:52.981
I know we all know,
00:39:52.981 --> 00:39:54.249
You know, second corinthians is a scripture that talks about
00:39:54.249 --> 00:39:56.284
God's strength being perfected in our weakness,
00:39:56.284 --> 00:39:58.286
But i'm also reminded of david saying, my flesh and
00:39:58.286 --> 00:40:02.057
My heart may fail,
00:40:02.057 --> 00:40:04.659
Like they actually will fail.
00:40:04.659 --> 00:40:07.062
Like it's not even weakness, it's just failure.
00:40:07.062 --> 00:40:09.931
I cannot, but god is the strength of my heart.
00:40:09.931 --> 00:40:14.669
God is my portion forever.
00:40:14.669 --> 00:40:18.006
And this idea that when we get to the end of ourselves, that
00:40:18.006 --> 00:40:22.911
God has always been there, but that's when we run out of gas,
00:40:22.911 --> 00:40:27.482
That that's where his strength full on continues to carry us.
00:40:27.482 --> 00:40:30.585
I love to sit and just listen to just the strength that comes
00:40:30.585 --> 00:40:36.324
Out of you, just because you've lived so much life.
00:40:36.324 --> 00:40:41.396
I mean, you guys have had a lot of deaths in your family over
00:40:41.396 --> 00:40:46.067
The last few years, and we've watched you guys from afar and
00:40:46.067 --> 00:40:51.406
Close, and our whole christian faith is built on one of those
00:40:51.406 --> 00:40:56.778
Weak moments where they thought that jesus was going to kick
00:40:56.778 --> 00:41:02.117
Butt and take names, and he was going, and he didn't.
00:41:02.117 --> 00:41:05.120
His weakness-- not saving himself.
00:41:05.120 --> 00:41:08.290
I mean, that was-- it was all about him not saving himself
00:41:08.290 --> 00:41:11.826
Because he could.
00:41:11.826 --> 00:41:13.094
When we are at our lowest, i think that's when god gets the
00:41:13.094 --> 00:41:17.465
Greatest power, because i know, corrie ten boom said,
00:41:17.465 --> 00:41:20.302
We know that christ is all you need, but it really all boils
00:41:20.302 --> 00:41:24.205
Down to when christ is all you have.
00:41:24.205 --> 00:41:27.142
Yeah.
00:41:27.142 --> 00:41:28.343
How when you said jesus, he didn't save himself,
00:41:28.343 --> 00:41:31.947
And so what that looked like
00:41:31.947 --> 00:41:33.114
To other people was apparent failure.
00:41:33.114 --> 00:41:34.916
Yeah. right.
00:41:34.916 --> 00:41:35.784
It's like literally nothing.
00:41:35.784 --> 00:41:37.485
It's weakness, but it's like, lower than that.
00:41:37.485 --> 00:41:41.222
Yeah. when you are at your absolute worst, when you have
00:41:41.222 --> 00:41:45.427
Nothing left, when you cannot pick yourself up off the floor,
00:41:45.427 --> 00:41:49.230
When there's nothing good that you can even think of to say
00:41:49.230 --> 00:41:51.700
Because you have no idea how god is going to fix this, how
00:41:51.700 --> 00:41:54.703
He's going to bring you to the next step, how he's going to
00:41:54.703 --> 00:41:56.871
Carry you through, that even then, especially there
00:41:56.871 --> 00:42:00.775
That's where his grace is most fully known and experienced.
00:42:00.775 --> 00:42:04.813
You know, i did an interview with the amazing catherine
00:42:04.813 --> 00:42:07.649
Wolfe recently, and she was sharing with me they have done
00:42:07.649 --> 00:42:13.455
Studies and that young people or generations that experience
00:42:13.455 --> 00:42:18.360
Suffering are always stronger
00:42:18.360 --> 00:42:20.829
Than generations that have eased.
00:42:20.829 --> 00:42:23.198
And i would echo what laurie said, your family has navigated
00:42:23.198 --> 00:42:27.302
It with grace and strength, but you don't find out who you
00:42:27.302 --> 00:42:30.138
Really are until you're in that season where there is a
00:42:30.138 --> 00:42:34.009
Strength, and struggle is strengthening.
00:42:34.009 --> 00:42:35.677
I don't like that.
00:42:35.677 --> 00:42:36.778
I wish he would say spas are strengthening, but he
00:42:36.778 --> 00:42:39.681
Says struggle is strengthening.
00:42:39.681 --> 00:42:41.216
And when you actually have something where life comes
00:42:41.216 --> 00:42:44.853
Crashing down on you and yet you lift your hands and you
00:42:44.853 --> 00:42:48.790
Say, yet will i praise him, when
00:42:48.790 --> 00:42:50.425
You declare the faithfulness of god--
00:42:50.425 --> 00:42:52.694
That was that joseph moment.
00:42:52.694 --> 00:42:54.329
I've not seen it, but i'm going to continue to interpret other
00:42:54.329 --> 00:42:57.932
People's dreams, and i'm going
00:42:57.932 --> 00:42:59.968
To keep saying that god is good.
00:42:59.968 --> 00:43:01.369
When i've seen none of it, i've seen nothing but betrayal,
00:43:01.369 --> 00:43:04.105
Imprisonment, lies about myself,
00:43:04.105 --> 00:43:06.441
That moment i think god is
00:43:06.441 --> 00:43:08.376
Like, oh, i can trust chrystal now.
00:43:08.376 --> 00:43:10.812
I can see that i'm the strength of her life.
00:43:10.812 --> 00:43:13.815
And i think we avoid the very things that god wants to use in
00:43:13.815 --> 00:43:18.553
Our lives to build strength in our lives.
00:43:18.553 --> 00:43:20.922
I know for my life i can look back and see my seasons of
00:43:20.922 --> 00:43:24.559
Hardship were the seasons where i learned the most about myself
00:43:24.559 --> 00:43:29.130
And the faithfulness of god.
00:43:29.130 --> 00:43:30.699
And so i love that we're talking about this, because i
00:43:30.699 --> 00:43:33.568
Feel like we're coming through a major season of struggle and
00:43:33.568 --> 00:43:38.640
Where people feel like i'm weak.
00:43:38.640 --> 00:43:40.775
I don't know what's going to happen. i don't,
00:43:40.775 --> 00:43:43.111
But yet i'm going to believe that god is my strength in
00:43:43.111 --> 00:43:46.314
All of this season.
00:43:46.314 --> 00:43:47.482
And i think that all of us have found him to be that.
00:43:47.482 --> 00:43:50.051
But he will continue to be that.
00:43:50.051 --> 00:43:51.653
And i just feel like this is a season for all of us to sing
00:43:51.653 --> 00:43:55.023
And declare the faithfulness of god, even if we haven't seen
00:43:55.023 --> 00:43:58.526
It, because it's who he is.
00:43:58.526 --> 00:44:00.261
I think people need to see it.
00:44:00.261 --> 00:44:02.163
I think for a watching world that isn't sure if god can
00:44:02.163 --> 00:44:06.868
Interact in their real lives or their real situations, their
00:44:06.868 --> 00:44:10.905
Real suffering, their real mess,
00:44:10.905 --> 00:44:13.374
It is a game changer when they see someone else going through
00:44:13.374 --> 00:44:17.445
Real stuff, um, struggling with real hope, struggling with real
00:44:17.445 --> 00:44:21.649
Loss and real sufferings, and seeing god's light shining
00:44:21.649 --> 00:44:24.886
Through the cracks of their lives and god's light shining
00:44:24.886 --> 00:44:27.722
Through real darkness
00:44:27.722 --> 00:44:28.890
Because it shows people how god can interact with their
00:44:28.890 --> 00:44:31.392
Real lives, too.
00:44:31.392 --> 00:44:32.827
And in a culture where we're not praised for being weak or
00:44:32.827 --> 00:44:36.131
Vulnerable, or sometimes even honest or authentic, here we
00:44:36.131 --> 00:44:40.101
See that the truth is that
00:44:40.101 --> 00:44:42.270
People don't want to be impressed.
00:44:42.270 --> 00:44:44.672
People want to be seen.
00:44:44.672 --> 00:44:46.674
People want to be known.
00:44:46.674 --> 00:44:48.476
People want to know they're not alone.
00:44:48.476 --> 00:44:50.311
People want to know that
00:44:50.311 --> 00:44:51.312
God can interact with their real lives.
00:44:51.312 --> 00:44:53.314
So as we share the truth about what we're really struggling
00:44:53.314 --> 00:44:56.117
With, we're sharing with people the truth about how jesus can
00:44:56.117 --> 00:44:59.521
Interact in our real lives, even in the struggling.
00:44:59.521 --> 00:45:02.891
And people need to see the truth about how jesus can be
00:45:02.891 --> 00:45:05.860
With us in the dirt of our lives.
00:45:05.860 --> 00:45:07.896
I think it's so important that people see it, that we're not
00:45:07.896 --> 00:45:10.732
Faking what we're going through, that we're not putting
00:45:10.732 --> 00:45:12.734
On a facade or pretending like everything's okay, but we're
00:45:12.734 --> 00:45:15.470
Showing the truth of what we're really going through and how
00:45:15.470 --> 00:45:17.272
We're still having hope in jesus, even when it's hard.
00:45:17.272 --> 00:45:20.975
Yeah. in isaiah chapter 40 and verse 1, it says, comfort,
00:45:20.975 --> 00:45:25.747
Comfort my people, says your god.
00:45:25.747 --> 00:45:28.449
And our english word comfort actually comes from two latin
00:45:28.449 --> 00:45:32.821
Words that mean to strengthen and to give strength and relief
00:45:32.821 --> 00:45:38.026
And affliction, to make strong or to fortify.
00:45:38.026 --> 00:45:42.831
And he has sent the holy spirit to comfort us, that is to be
00:45:42.831 --> 00:45:47.836
Strong when we're at our weakest. when we think we can't
00:45:47.836 --> 00:45:51.406
Make it, we have the holy spirit that just works.
00:45:51.406 --> 00:45:56.211
Yeah. he does the work.
00:45:56.211 --> 00:45:57.912
I'll say this, so many times going through the thing and
00:45:57.912 --> 00:46:02.717
It's like, i can't hardly even pray about this.
00:46:02.717 --> 00:46:05.353
I just got to get through it.
00:46:05.353 --> 00:46:06.654
God, you just got to help me.
00:46:06.654 --> 00:46:07.789
I don't even know what to say.
00:46:07.789 --> 00:46:09.224
You just got to help me get through this time.
00:46:09.224 --> 00:46:12.460
It's normally down the road a ways where we turn back and we
00:46:12.460 --> 00:46:17.165
Look back and see the faithfulness of god.
00:46:17.165 --> 00:46:21.135
In those times when you just thought, this is it.
00:46:21.135 --> 00:46:23.638
I remember living up in hollywood and we had a film
00:46:23.638 --> 00:46:27.609
Production business, and i remember my husband saying,
00:46:27.609 --> 00:46:33.348
We're probably going to go
00:46:33.348 --> 00:46:34.382
Close the doors at generation entertainment.
00:46:34.382 --> 00:46:36.618
You know, we're at the end.
00:46:36.618 --> 00:46:38.519
We're just at the end of the line.
00:46:38.519 --> 00:46:40.355
We're just-- we just can't do it anymore.
00:46:40.355 --> 00:46:42.757
And he'd come back and
00:46:42.757 --> 00:46:43.758
He'd say, it's just like the wall moved.
00:46:43.758 --> 00:46:48.029
And it's just that one day at a time, it's that grace for the
00:46:48.029 --> 00:46:51.833
Day that you just get up.
00:46:51.833 --> 00:46:54.636
His mercies are new every morning.
00:46:54.636 --> 00:46:56.938
His healing is our daily bread.
00:46:56.938 --> 00:46:59.507
And it's just, can i do it one day?
00:46:59.507 --> 00:47:01.876
Can i make it through one day?
00:47:01.876 --> 00:47:03.244
And it's like the wall moves, right?
00:47:03.244 --> 00:47:05.413
And then the wall moves, and then the wall moves and all of
00:47:05.413 --> 00:47:08.249
A sudden you look back and you start going, man, i have
00:47:08.249 --> 00:47:11.052
Grown in my faith.
00:47:11.052 --> 00:47:12.220
Look how far i've come from.
00:47:12.220 --> 00:47:13.788
Look at how confident i am, because my confidence now is in
00:47:13.788 --> 00:47:17.525
Christ and my faith is built up.
00:47:17.525 --> 00:47:20.228
And i didn't die then.
00:47:20.228 --> 00:47:21.529
And i'm still alive and i'm still here.
00:47:21.529 --> 00:47:23.598
There must be more.
00:47:23.598 --> 00:47:25.533
And it just creates a hunger.
00:47:24.799 --> 00:47:27.435
But then you can see how you've grown too
00:47:27.435 --> 00:47:29.704
Which i think is amazing.
00:47:29.704 --> 00:47:31.539
You know, this idea of the one more thing, the one more year--
00:47:31.539 --> 00:47:35.643
Yeah. you know, sometimes for me, it's been one more day.
00:47:35.643 --> 00:47:38.813
Sometimes it's been one more minute.
00:47:38.813 --> 00:47:40.281
Yeah, sometimes it's been one more step.
00:47:40.281 --> 00:47:42.817
Sometimes it's been one more breath.
00:47:42.817 --> 00:47:44.719
Yeah. you know, and sometimes it literally is
00:47:44.719 --> 00:47:48.523
Take one more breath. yeah.
00:47:48.523 --> 00:47:50.491
You know, that for somebody it's so bad that they don't
00:47:50.491 --> 00:47:53.828
Want to live anymore. mhm.
00:47:53.828 --> 00:47:56.397
And it's just take one more breath. you know, just kick the
00:47:56.397 --> 00:48:01.069
Can kick the can just a little further down,
00:48:01.069 --> 00:48:03.871
Just a little further down.
00:48:03.871 --> 00:48:05.073
We're here to kick your can. yeah.
00:48:05.073 --> 00:48:07.342
Yeah. that's--
00:48:07.342 --> 00:48:08.776
And that's why this is so important,
00:48:08.776 --> 00:48:11.245
Because you will think that when you're at the bottom of
00:48:11.245 --> 00:48:15.149
The barrel, when you feel like all is failure, all is lost.
00:48:15.149 --> 00:48:19.087
I can't do one more thing.
00:48:19.087 --> 00:48:20.788
Where is god?
00:48:20.788 --> 00:48:21.622
When is he going to show up,
00:48:21.622 --> 00:48:23.992
That one more step or that one more breath doesn't count.
00:48:23.992 --> 00:48:27.161
Yeah. but it gets you further so that you can have
00:48:27.161 --> 00:48:30.898
Perspective, so that you can see later as you kept breathing,
00:48:30.898 --> 00:48:35.636
Kept moving, kept living, that god was carrying you,
00:48:35.636 --> 00:48:38.740
That he was faithful.
00:48:38.740 --> 00:48:40.241
It's a perspective thing. yeah.
00:48:40.241 --> 00:48:42.076
And so, you know, it's important for you who are watching,
00:48:42.076 --> 00:48:46.014
You know, to know that you got to just keep going.
00:48:46.014 --> 00:48:48.649
Yeah.
00:48:48.649 --> 00:48:49.917
I just think as we're going into a new year, there have got
00:48:49.917 --> 00:48:53.721
To be people who are watching us that are like,
00:48:53.721 --> 00:48:55.890
I don't even want to.
00:48:55.890 --> 00:48:57.825
I'm exhausted.
00:48:57.825 --> 00:48:58.860
There's been tons of hardship,
00:48:58.860 --> 00:49:00.328
Lots of grief, lots of suffering.
00:49:00.328 --> 00:49:03.598
And this idea that weakness and frailty and failure, even that
00:49:03.598 --> 00:49:09.504
Something good can come out of that, that god's grace,
00:49:09.504 --> 00:49:12.073
Actually experiencing the gift of his grace on the tail end of
00:49:12.073 --> 00:49:16.511
That hard season is something to have hope about,
00:49:16.511 --> 00:49:20.314
That i will live long enough, and i'm still living to see
00:49:20.314 --> 00:49:23.017
God's goodness in the land of the living.
00:49:23.017 --> 00:49:26.320
And i'd like to just pray for those who are struggling to
00:49:26.320 --> 00:49:30.458
Take even one more breath. yeah.
00:49:30.458 --> 00:49:32.393
You know, lord jesus, i just i'm so conscious that when
00:49:32.393 --> 00:49:36.531
We walk through our difficult circumstances, we don't even
00:49:36.531 --> 00:49:40.735
Know sometimes how we make it
00:49:40.735 --> 00:49:41.969
From one moment to another. we move--
00:49:41.969 --> 00:49:44.472
Some of us have been moving like in a fog, just barely
00:49:44.472 --> 00:49:49.610
Making it, and honestly, maybe even upset with you that you
00:49:49.610 --> 00:49:53.648
Have allowed hardship or
00:49:53.648 --> 00:49:55.650
Hardship upon hardship in our life.
00:49:55.650 --> 00:49:57.485
So lord, i just pray for the person who is just hanging on
00:49:57.485 --> 00:49:59.987
By a thread who is feeling extremely weak,
00:49:59.987 --> 00:50:03.624
Who is feeling extremely empty and who doesn't understand how
00:50:03.624 --> 00:50:07.395
They can make it one more day, one more week and are not
00:50:07.395 --> 00:50:10.398
Excited about going into a new year,
00:50:10.398 --> 00:50:13.101
I just pray that in this moment, in this hardship, lord,
00:50:13.101 --> 00:50:17.672
That you would encourage them through the power of the holy
00:50:17.672 --> 00:50:20.108
Spirit to hold on, to hope that you are doing something, and
00:50:20.108 --> 00:50:23.911
That when they look back, after continuing to trust you moment
00:50:23.911 --> 00:50:27.115
By moment, that they will see
00:50:27.115 --> 00:50:28.149
That your grace was greater still.
00:50:28.149 --> 00:50:30.685
Help us to trust you to keep moving, and help us to see your
00:50:30.685 --> 00:50:34.789
Grace and your goodness as we choose to hold on to hope.
00:50:34.789 --> 00:50:38.426
In jesus' name we pray,
00:50:38.426 --> 00:50:39.794
Amen. amen.
00:50:39.794 --> 00:50:42.597
Connect with us on social media, and let us know how
00:50:42.597 --> 00:50:44.932
Our team can pray for you.
00:50:44.932 --> 00:50:48.236
Watch better together on the go.
00:50:48.236 --> 00:50:50.538
Download the free tbn+ app
00:50:50.538 --> 00:50:52.807
To stream all of your favorite conversations.
00:50:52.807 --> 00:50:56.711
♪♪
00:50:56.711 --> 00:50:56.711

Start the New Year with Hope! - Episode 1130

December 26, 2025 | S7 E1130 | 52:34

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