Amen. If you've been here for the last few weeks, you will know that I've been kind of somewhat in a series dealing with suffering and grief. And this may be, I don't know, this depends on what the Lord does. I'm going to leave it up to Him. But this may be the last sermon in this series. Are you praying with me? This is a Amen, it's been a transparent time, been a very honest time, but I hope it's been beneficial to everyone who is dealing with things that they're going through and trying to seek the Lord during the time of grief or suffering or loss, amen? I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna go into Psalm 46, Sister Keisha, Psalm 46. Father God, we trust you. You are the God of comfort. You get us everything that we need right when we need it, God. You've been so faithful, so good. In our times of doubt, Lord, you reassure us, God. We pray, God, today that you would give us your eyesight today, Father, on everything. change our minds, change our perspectives, and help us to trust you even more, God. While we're walking on this earth, God, help us to know you, and to love you, and to refocus, and to take what you've already shown, Father, to us, and you're being faithful over and over again. Help us to apply that to our right now situations, God. You've never let us down, God. We really have no reason to doubt you. It's just that all the mountains that we climb and all the valleys that we get into, each one seemed to be a little deeper than the last one, God. So help us, God, to remember who you are, Father, your faithfulness and your goodness. Father, for you can only do what is right. You can only do what is good, Father. We just ask, Father, you would continue to be with us. Thank you so much for keeping us during this week. And spur us on today, Father. Spur us forward, Father. Keep us moving forward, God, because we know, Father, that you have an expected end for us, and that end is glorious, even if we cannot always see it right now. And we thank you for these things, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. I'm gonna read from Psalm 46, going back to my favorite version of the Bible, King James. The word reads, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear. Though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof, There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice and the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Salah. Come behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still. and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Amen. Father, please bless this word. You know what it means. Help me to say what it means and help it to bless our hearts today. Anoint this word, Father, to change us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I wanna speak to you today from the title, Victory Not Easily Seen. Victory Not Easily Seen. The word apparent is a word that I came across today. It was a friend of ours that was at the house and they were teaching our children a certain word because it was a joke that was put to that word. And the word apparent means clearly visible or understood. Another synonym for that word would be obvious. Something that is obvious. It's obvious that I'm black. I know in this time when everyone is identified as everything, you know, it's obvious that I'm not a millionaire. As soon as I write a check, you will know. There are some things that are obvious, amen? And there's some things that are not so apparent. In times of trouble and change, we as believers, even though we have placed our faith in God, we look for assurance. We look for assurance in our day-by-day trials. and the things that we face. And if we're honest, we would say that we prefer that the victory that God has definitely guaranteed or promised us, we prefer that it looks like from the beginning of the battle to the end of the battle that we're going to win. That's what we prefer. We prefer that there be no days, not even moments of doubt. Amen? Amen, but God already knows because his goal is different than ours. His ways are higher than ours. The way he thinks is higher than ours. He already knows that that is not in our best interest. Right? He knows that for us to grow in the knowledge of God, there must be trouble. God help us. The history of the Psalm in Psalm 46 kind of goes like this. The historical background is there was a man, a king, a ruler by the name of Sassanarab. He was basically nicknamed the Assyrian wolf. So Assyria was attacking Judah and Judah was outnumbered. They were surrounded and it looked like defeat was certain. Anybody ever been there? Amen. The victory was not apparent, not obvious, not clear. You can't have an amazing solution to a problem without an amazing problem. Come on, somebody. You get that? Amen. God doesn't get much glory out of little issues. Are you hearing me? Those where it seems like, oh, that's just a coincidence that that worked out. No. God gets glory out of, that was impossible. I don't know how you made it through that. That had to be God. Amen? Amen. If you desire to see God do great things, then you are going to be in or experience great difficulty. Amen? Amen. Psalm 46, just giving you some background, has been used as an inspiration for several famous songs and hymns. Songs like, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. Songs like, Be Still My Soul. Some of y'all may know that. And another song, one of my favorites, called Stand Still and Know. Written by this dude I used to live with. Okay. All these songs have this one thing in common. The presence of the Lord in your life will determine the posture, or your posture, as you walk through the circumstances of your life. I'm gonna say that again. The presence of the Lord in your life will determine the posture, or your posture, as you walk through the circumstances of your life. Did you hear that? Amen. Posture is important. Amen? Going through is one thing, but how you look like you are, how you're looking when you're going through, that's another. Amen? So here it is. Psalm 46, verse number one. Let's just go through this, don't have a lot of time. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, will not we fear. The word strength there means defense. So God is our refuge and defense, our strong tower. Amen? And a very present Help in trouble. That word present means always or abundantly available. So let's look at it again. God is our refuge and our strong tower, our strength, our defense. Amen. He is always available to help you when you're in trouble. Amen. Therefore, because of the fact that God is always available, accessible, to help when we're in trouble, therefore, we will not fear. Amen? Well, point number one, God is still God, even in unsettling circumstances. So though the earth be moved, when... And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, verse three, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swaying thereof, all of these things speak of unsettling circumstances. Though the earth be moved, or though the earth be removed, or though the earth change. The NLT says, though earthquakes come, Amen? When God decides that it's a good time in your life to shake things up. Amen? I will not fear even though God is shaking things up. Amen, I will not fear even though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. That word shaking right there is about fear. It's like it's a picture of the mountains saying, you know what? Y'all get the water is getting kind of hot. It's a picturesque kind of statement of basically saying you know that things are getting shaken up and The water is getting to a level that is threatening to submerge even the mountaintops Amen to the point to where the mountains are covered, and they said say la think about that What is he saying that there are times the songwriters saying that there's times when you feel like you're just in over your head and He ever felt like that where it's just like, you know what, if you get up any higher, I don't know if I'm gonna make it. You know, the earth, I'm shaken up by what's happening and I'm completely and totally overwhelmed. You know, I don't have enough hands to handle everything. It's just too much. Anybody been there? So here's the transparent moment about me saying it's what I'm dealing with right now. I told you I was going to be upfront and personal with you about this. Okay, so here's the truth. I'm facing times of uncertainty. The thing that I'm walking through right now, there's so many twists and turns. Grief is sneaky. You know, yesterday I was okay, and tomorrow I'm not doing so well. And then, you know, the next day after that I'm about, you know, 50% out of crawling out of not doing so well. And there's turns and twists, and it's hard for me to let alone to just keep dinner on the table for my kids every single night without sending everybody to the hospital. That's a miracle. You hear me? So in addition to things that are happening inside of me, when I should have been paying more attention to them Hawkins cooking instead of being in the studio, you know, I look at my children, I'm going every night, I'm like, y'all all right? Y'all still breathing? Go and check on them on that night, you know, after you pray for them when they, everybody going to sleep? Okay, they breathing. That's real for me. So in addition to that, I'm dealing with internal turmoil. Are you hearing what I'm saying? You know, where it's like at the end of the day, it just doesn't look like I'm going to make it through this. There's no light at the end of the tunnel. The light is not visibly or obviously apparent. You hear me? It doesn't look like I'm going to win from day to day sometimes. Amen. But to keep myself from going into a total depression, I have to have the light, you know, not come from outside. It's gotta come from the inside. The light has to be internal. I have to recognize this is how I get out of bed every day, saints. The light has to come from inside. When I look at the situation, I go, it doesn't look good. The victory is not apparent. It's not obvious. So the light has to come from inside. Somebody hear what I'm saying here? Okay. So, verse four. Just keep going, Jamie. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. Now, we go from things being shaken up and having confidence in spite of what you're dealing with in your circumstances to having the secret to why you have confidence. And the secret is there in verse five. God is in the midst of her. Amen? God is in the midst of her. The secret to having the posture of faith while you're going through trials or pain or issues or grieving is realizing that God is actually with you. That sounds simple, but oh, how often we forget. Amen? Is it just me? When you're waiting on God to show up, as we say, You know? Here's the thing. God is everywhere at the same time. When does he show up? Come on, theologians. It's not a matter of, where did he go? Think about that. I'm going through, God. Where are you? That doesn't even make sense with a God who is everywhere. Where did He go? Nowhere. We're the problem, not Him. Right? He's always there, somebody said, right? So it's not that we're really waiting for God to show up. God is there all the time. It's a matter of us wanting Him to do something. Right? The truth is we're waiting God to respond. You know, it's almost like, you know, sometimes if you understand that God is everywhere and you're in a situation, you're just like, God is just sitting there like this. God, don't you see this? Yes, I do. When are you going to do something? When I'm getting ready. That's frustrating, is it not? Amen. But here's the truth. God is there. And the secret to not losing your mind while you're dealing with situations that are in over your head or causing you to feel overwhelmed, where the water is rising, amen, the key to that is recognizing that he is in the midst. He is definitely in the midst. And then this last statement attached to verse five, God shall help her and that right early. That phrase means it's something that gives us a mental aid that kind of helps us to understand the time frame from when you get in trouble to when God responds. And even though it may not feel like it, the truth is that God does respond. God will respond right early. Amen. It may seem like you're going to be in your situation forever, and that it's not going to ever change. I'm going to be brokenhearted forever. I'm going to be in this place of sadness or grief forever, Linda. The truth is that's not true. The truth is God will help her, and that right early. You might be looking at your situation like it's never going to move or whatever. No, that's not true. The old folks used to have a saying that says, you know, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. What does that mean? Does that mean the next morning? No, it's a picture that kind of gives you help to understand this thing ain't going to last forever, sweetie. It's not gonna last forever. God will respond. Amen. Yes, he will. And then just to give you a little background in verses four and five, the theologian Moody just says it this way. The imagery in this section turns to the hope of intimate accessibility to God's presence. Everybody say God's presence. God's presence. All right. God's presence when? In the future. when the Messiah reigns from Jerusalem in the city of God, when he establishes his throne in Zion and ultimately remakes all creation in purity and all creation at rest in him. Then he says, the river whose streams make glad the dwelling places of the holy places, the temple compound and all its compartments, as is in the most high parallels of phraseology and specific concepts surrounding first in the Garden of Eden. Eden is described as having a river that flowed out of it, amen, where there was communion with, and then he says it again, God's presence. That's two, okay? Second, also similar to Eden, he says, is the reestablishment of, again, God's presence, Amen. Through the divine king and the most holy place where he will dwell among the sons of Israel and at which time the river will open up just below the altar and bring the gladness of life and healing to all who are in God's presence. Amen, and third, when creation is renewed, it will be God's holy tabernacle where people will commune with God's presence. What is he telling us? He's basically saying here that there's something that is beneficial when you're walking through tough times, when you can sense the presence of God being with you. That is how you don't lose your mind. God is in the midst of her. The saints recognize that the Lord is there. The saints are used to entering into the presence of God in spite of the storm that is around them and swirling around them, trying to distract you to come out of the presence of God and get with everybody else what they're losing their mind. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Moody's unlocking this. He's saying, wait a minute, wait a minute. That river that flows, there's blessings there for those of us who are in the presence of God. Amen? Psalm 36 and nine says it this way. God, for you are the fountain of light. The light by which we see. Remember talking about things that are not so obvious, things that are not apparent, the victory is not easy to see. He said, for you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. Getting into God's presence will change how you see your life and your problems. God is the light by which we see, which means that if I'm using my own eyes, I am looking into darkness. There is no in-between. I'm going to either get his perspective or mine. And one is going to bring me joy and peace, and the other one is going to bring me doubt and fear. Amen? I got one person back there clapping. Praise God, Pastor Rick. All right, God causes your situation, he causes you to see your situation from his perspective. Why is that important? Because if you're looking through the eyes of God, everything, everything, I mean everything is smaller to God than God. Think about it. Everything that you will ever face will never, from God's perspective, he will never go, whoa. He will never, oh, that's just too much. I don't know what you're gonna do. God never looks at anything. I don't care how big it is, how hard it is, he never goes, oh my. Now you've done it. You done got yourself into something now. I'll pray with you, because this is bad. It's always smaller to God. Why? Because he's God. Amen? Somebody's getting it. He's God. It's always smaller. So the light by which I see my situation, the light that I'm looking for to pull me out or to help me feel better or to help me hold on to faith, I can't use my own eyes, thanks. I've gotta use his perspective, amen? All right, moving on. Verse number six. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice, the earth melted, amen. Know how much I wanna do? Yes, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. The heathen rage. Okay, so we looked at circumstances that can shake us up. We looked at being overwhelmed. We looked at having the right perspective and seeing things from God's perspective. We looked at that. We looked at how things can get so bad that you are in fear. Now we're gonna look at when the enemy gets in people. Because it's not just your circumstances, sometimes it's them imps. The folks that get a W-2 from Satan. It's like, you must be on this payroll. I just don't know anybody that acts like that. You just got to be, this is ridiculous. We have those people. Amen? Some of them are difficult people and some of them people are just used by the enemy. Let's just face it. Okay? The kingdoms rage. The heathens rage, rather. The kingdoms were moved. Ultimately, this is about going against Christ. But here's the thing. The world is crazy. If you turn on CNN and you watch that too much, it will depress you. Right? All right, turn that joke off. Messing with my day. The government and the leaders are crazy. They're making decisions that are just like, what's wrong with you people? You know? It's getting worse and worse just when you, we have a two second revival and then it seems like they just spring back and go even further down the wrong road. You know? The world is sinning and they are against God. And then by, because we're connected to God, we get persecuted by the world. We go through because we are agreeing with God and not the world. Amen? You know, and it's all across the globe. But here's the thing, saints, they picked the fight against Jesus. Okay, I'm sorry if this is just too simple for some deep folks, but you don't win in a fight against Jesus. When you fight God, you lose. So what is the psalmist saying here? He's saying, since we're on God's side, no matter what's happening in this world, we're going to be okay. Amen? We'll be just fine. Amen? But here's the thing, saints. When you get in these situations, you can look at those things and you can start to feel overwhelmed. And it starts to mess with your mind, and it messes with your heart, and it messes with your posture. as you're walking through troubling times and grievings. Okay? So here's the thing, saints. It's always good for us to, you know, to check in on what's happening, but not to be so tuned in to the world and what they're having to the point to where we become fearful. Amen? And we start to look at God like, where are you? But he allows these things, saints, because the victory cannot always be so easily seen. Why? Because that stretches us. It helps us, amen? There are times when the victory will not be so apparent. For instance, talking about the heathens. God allowed Daniel's friends, we know the story, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Ooh, them some names, I'm telling you. He allowed them to be attacked. They refused to bow down to the world system or what was happening in King Nebuchadnezzar's reign. And so they weren't going along with the problem. And King Nebuchadnezzar had an ego fit and decided, you know, if you're not gonna do what I tell you, we're gonna throw you into the fire. You remember the story. Give me Daniel 3, 25. Daniel 3, 25, 27, yeah. There will be persecution when we don't fit into the world, and we're not supposed to fit into the world. There will be choices we'll have to make, amen? And this will be a form of going through in tribulation. And some of us in these situations, we will have losses. We will grieve opportunities, right? You got passed up on a promotion because you don't play ball, right? You're not gonna do what everybody else is doing. And since you ain't doing what everybody else is doing, we ain't gonna get you no money. You don't get, you know, you don't get involved, you don't get a chance to get along with the blessing, so to speak, that everybody else is experiencing, right? You get thrown out, you get isolated. You feel, you know, you feel bad because you missed your shot. I've been there where I had to say, well, I can't do all of that because what does that have to do with the job? Right? Well, if you're not going to go with the flow, Jamie, then you got to go. You don't want to flow, you go. Right? So this is what's happening here. They wanted to bow down, everybody else was supposed to bow down to the idol, and Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the fire. But what happened? Nebuchadnezzar said, you know what? I see four men, unbound, in the fire, unharmed, and the fourth one looks like a god. In the presence of God, if God is there with you, in the midst with you, if you are in the presence of God, then what hurts everybody else, come on, may not hurt you. Are you feeling what I'm saying? Then, verse 26, then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High, come out, come here. So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire. Wow. Then the high officers, officials, and governors, and advisors crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them, not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn't even smell like smoke. Have people ever told you because of what you're walking through and the fact that you're in the presence of God that you don't look like what you're going through? Where it's like, I don't know how you're doing this, but evidently there's somebody in there with you. What he's talking about is the presence of the Almighty God. When you get in the presence of God, that changes your posture. Well, people, here's the thing you don't realize. When they threw them into the fire, there were other guards that got burnt up for throwing them in because Nebuchadnezzar wanted the fire seven times hotter than normal. So they're throwing people in dying. But because Jesus is with you, y'all just walking around in your situation unharmed, just walking around like you don't look like what you're going through. Why? Because you're in the presence of God. Why? Because God is a very present help in time of trouble. In your trouble, he is available, always there. Amen? This is how God gets the glory. Amen. Your posture. Do you look like God is with you while you're going through? Amen. Psalm 37, one, two, three. Do I have time for this, Lord? Y'all like, yeah. Ain't nobody here got a class with me. Yeah, go ahead, page. Read faster, be 45 minutes late for you. All right, Psalm 37, one, two, three, says this. Psalm 37, one through three. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and here's our responsibility, and do good. You hear that? Trust in the Lord and do, you do what's right. while you're going through. Okay, I gotta go here. The tendency is to feel sorry for ourselves and decide we're gonna cope in some ways that are unbiblical. Amen? Folks are doing you in and you're going through troubles like that and you're like, you know what? You deserve a break today, Christian. At McDonald's, you remember that. Just fool the TV. You deserve it, Jamie. Just go ahead and just, you know, we'll all understand. Cause you know, do you? No, no. You do good and trust in the Lord. God will take care of the enemies. God will take care of the crazy folks. He will take care of the crazy government. You do what's right before God and watch God deliver you and be with you in your trouble. That is not a license just because you're going through something to do what the world does. Because the whole point is the glory of God. And how are we going to get the glory to God if we're doing what everybody else is doing? Okay, maybe that's just for me, okay. Here's the thing, saints, God doesn't help us because we're good. Here's the balance, I gotta give this to you. The victory is coming, it's not always easy to see. You're gonna go through some things. And while you're going through some things, don't think that God is helping you because you're good. There's the imbalance, okay? We wanna do what's right, but we don't have the legalistic mentality that says, I better do everything right or else. You hear me? People always compliment me on my kids. That's because they don't live with them. My kids aren't perfect, right? But here, watch the train of thought, I'm connected. God is in the midst of her and he will help her and that right early, okay? We are stable because God is here, amen? My kids are not good. God's kids are not good. God is helping us and faithful to us because he's faithful. See, I love, it's very simple. I love my children and I know that they need Jesus, okay? I know there's things that they do that are not quite right, just like me when I was growing up driving Walter and Tremaine crazy. I get it, okay? But lay a hand on my kids and see what happens. You feel me? As jacked up as they are, You don't fight family members you will lose Okay, God has grafted us into his family Not because we're most wonderful but because he's most wonderful and most loving and God loves his kids and Are you hearing what I'm saying? There's the balance of that thing, okay? So that gets us into verse seven. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob. Wait a minute, don't let that pass you by. The God of Jacob. You know what Jacob means? Jacob means cheap and supplanter. This is the guy that through the promise of Abraham, he chose Jacob, the sneaky one. I'm going to give you all the kids. Think about it. Abraham had a kid, Isaac had a couple, but it was Jacob when we start to see this problem. Okay, I see how you're going to grow the nation now. And Jacob was the worst. That dude was a thief. He was a liar. He was sneaky. Okay, the God of Jacob, here's the thing. It means cheater, supplanter, okay? God is the one who is faithful. The saints of God are still imperfect. We mess up, we fall into sin, we have to get cleaned up from time to time. God is not waiting for you to be totally faithful before he's faithful. He's saying, I am your helper. I am a very present help for you, even though you are not always on point for me. Oh, somebody ought to sign about that, because I'm telling you, I have blown it from time to time. And I said, you know what, God? I know good and well you're going to lead me over this one. And he still comes through over and over and over again. He says he's our refuge, the God of Jacob. And then he says, think about that. That means when you're thinking about that, not just think about him. He means think about you. Think about you and the fact that he's still faithful even though you are you. Wow. Wow, that blesses my soul. That blesses my soul. Almost done. Verse eight, come behold the works of the Lord. What desolations, which means destruction. What desolation or destruction he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow. He cutteth the spear in asunder. He burneth the chariot in fire. Again, this is a prophetic verse or set of verses, passages that tells about the future reign of the Messiah when Jesus comes to the earth, because there will be no wars. There will only be peace, amen. And he's saying, because Jesus is going to do that, and that is going, thank you, Lord. That is an absolute certainty. Based on that, while you're dealing with your issues or your trials or your pain, your grief, your losses. He's saying, knowing that Jesus is gonna fix all this stuff. Verse 10 says, be still. Be still. That phrase means let be. Let be, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted over Satan's imps, the heathens. I will be exalted in the earth over all the earthquakes and all these turbulence and all the things that could happen, all the horrible circumstances that you may face, he's saying, Saints, I'm gonna fix all this. Be still. Oakland version of that means relax. Wow. When you look at it in context, that's not a separate thought, it's a thought that flows. It's like saying the wars will cease, the chaos will end, I will rule over everything. Jesus is saying I'm coming back again, I'm going to make all of this right. Now, in the meantime, your posture needs to look like you can be still. Ain't the word of God something? Huh? Huh? Here's the thing. Why? Because you can't fix it anyway. Huh? Now, don't just be still. The assignment, saints, is, and know that I am God. in your situation, not just in, thank you Lord, teach Holy Spirit, not just in I know theoretically that there's a God out there. He's saying know that I'm God in what you're dealing with. He's God over what you are suffering right now. That is an experiential knowledge of God, not just head knowledge, that's heart knowledge where you have an understanding that in my trouble, in my pain, in my grief, I know you're God. I know you're here. Amen? Amen. Now, practical application and I'm done. Habakkuk, I think that's how you pronounce that, 220. Two scriptures and I'm done. Habakkuk 220. But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before Him. Keep silence before Him. And in Zechariah 2.13, they basically say the same thing. Zechariah 2.13. Be silent before the Lord, all humanity, for He is springing into action from His holy dwelling. I am convinced of this. And maybe you can kind of testify to this as well in your own life. When you need an answer from God, the best thing to do is to get quiet. You can't hear the voice of the Lord in all the noise of your heart and your mind. Somebody, huh? I'm learning this. When your life is filled with the noise of worry and complaining and concern and cares, you can't hear God. Where is God? Where are you? What are you doing? My heart is racing because of the concerns. Amen? Elijah the prophet. Remember when Jezebel was chasing him? Huh? He couldn't hear God in the thunder and the lightning and the earthquake and the fire and the wind. He could hear God in the still, small voice. That voice. God demands silence of the soul. during the times when we are trying to see where is this victory that is supposed to be so obvious? Well, you can't see it if your heart is just loud and your mind is loud and you're just been out of shape. Are you hearing me? Get quiet before the Lord and you will actually be able to get a sense of peace that he's actually there. Right, because you can't hear God crying and snotting and complaining and fretting and banging on the door, God, God, God, God. He's like, I'm here. God, I'm here. Are you hearing what I'm saying? That we get like that, we get so frustrated. I'm looking at my situation, I'm going, every now and then I go, woo, God, I made it to church today. And I don't know how I'm going to do it again next week, so my mind starts thinking about next week, and the next week, and the next week, and the next week, and then I get all bent out of shape thinking about what's going to happen, you know, on a day I might not even be here. Are you hearing me? We don't know. Jesus can come back tomorrow. And we fretting about what may or may not ever happen. But here's the thing, when you think about God's track record, He didn't let it happen before. Huh? He brought you through before, didn't he? And if something was allowed, you were actually able to get through it by his grace and his mercy, were you not? Right? So the deal is, if you want peace right now, you gotta quiet your heart, quiet your mind, so you can hear God say, I'm here. I got this. Amen? The Lord of hosts is with us. Verse 11 again, from going back to 46 and 11, Psalm 46 and 11. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob. He says the God of Jacob again, because sometimes we think we have to get it all together before he helps us. Sometimes we think that we forfeited his help in our trouble. And the truth is, is no, God is faithful, amen? So here we go. Last thing, the difficult places in our lives are just opportunities for God to stretch our faith. The victory may not seem very clear or obvious, very apparent, but don't be so quick to claim defeat. This is a pattern with God. He actually allows things to look strange and scary and weird and impossible so he can show us that he's God. Amen? All right. Amen. God knows everything. He's everywhere at the same time and he is still on the throne. And as long as he's on that throne and all power is in his hands, that means your situation or your grief or your pain can change at any moment. Amen. So God is our present help, a very present help in the time of trouble. But God is also saying, hear me when I say this, this is our application for today. If you don't get anything else, get this. God is present and available to us when we're not in trouble. A very present help in trouble but still a very present help when we're not in trouble. The problem is, is we're not very present and available when we're not in trouble. We're the ones that are not very present. When things are going well, that's when we're not knocking, when we're not screaming. Come on. Huh? So we might do a lot better in trouble and have more peace if we were present with God when we were not in trouble. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Sometimes we prepare for these things, saints. And we get ready for what may be inevitable. You see the writing on the wall. Are you present with God? Are you spending time with the Lord? Have you carved out what David said, Boston said a while back, that special time? Are you dating the Lord? That way when the trouble comes, we're not empty. Right? Because we've been spending time with him in his presence. We're getting to know the character of God. Be still. and know that I am God. Not just when the trouble is happening, before the trouble gets started. So that when it does happen, the victory will be more apparent. You hear me? Other than that, we'll be like, I don't know how to go make it. And I'm not just talking to you, I'm talking to myself. Okay, this is a lesson that I've had to learn. Okay? Dig deep now. Dig deep today. Spend the time with God now. Turn off the TV now. Get Facebook off now. Carve out that time for the Lord now because the test is coming. He's going to stretch us. He's just going to do it. Amen? But when that happens, the victory will be more clear because we'll be used to His character. We'll be like, you know what? You got this, Lord. It looks bad. But the victory is obvious to me. Why? Because you're right here with me. Amen? I'm done. you.