Wait on the Lord

As we make our way through the alphabet and looking at the letter W, we want you to understand what it means to wait upon the Lord. We are not really good at waiting on anything. Most of us have a very, very short fuse when it comes to waiting. We want everything immediately. And we get very anxious when things don't go our way immediately. We want our children to be obedient immediately. We want them to come out of the womb obedient. It doesn't work that way. We want our husband to lead the marriage now, not two weeks or three weeks, but now.

We want our wives to be submissive always and now. We want to get married now. We want to find someone to date right now.

You know, I get asked this question all the time about people finding a mate for the rest of their lives. And asking the question, you know, I haven't found one at this church, so I go to another church to find someone to marry. Well, why do you go to church? Do you go to church to worship the Lord or find someone to marry? And part of that has to do with learning to wait upon the Lord and understand, listen, maybe you haven't found anyone in this church because of you, not because of them. But we don't think about it that way.

And so we don't understand what it means to wait upon the Lord and learn to be of good courage. We want to be financially stable now.

We want to have a home like our parents now. We want to be able to have what our parents had that took them 50 years to get to. We want it in five months after marriage. It doesn't work that way. We don't understand what it means to sit and wait upon the Lord and to trust Him to accomplish His purposes in our lives. We want to be healthy now.

We want to lose weight now. What's the fastest way to lose weight? What's the fastest way to get healthy? What's the fastest way to get rich? We want it now.

We don't want to wait on anything. And so when it comes to waiting upon the Lord, it's just so hard for us to be able to sit back and say, you know what, Lord, I'm going to trust you. I'm going to wait upon you. I'm going to be patient as you do what only you can do. We find ourselves incapable of doing that. And yet the Psalms are filled with the words of the psalmist about waiting upon the Lord. For instance, Psalm 27 verse number 14, wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage.

Yes, wait for the Lord. Strength and courage are a byproduct of waiting upon the Lord. Now, when you think of the Hebrew word to wait, it can be translated trust, it can be translated hope. It's about wrapping yourself around, tying yourself around something, and you're tying yourself around the Lord. You're wrapping yourself up in the Lord. And the psalmist says that courage and strength come when you wait, when you trust in the Lord. Over in Psalm 37, Psalm 37 verse number 34, wait for the Lord and keep his way.

Learning to keep the way of righteousness, the way of holiness, the way of truth is a byproduct of learning to wait upon the Lord. And then it says, and he will exalt you to inherit the land. Over in chapter 40, I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and he set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.

How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust. In other words, when you wait upon the Lord, it's obvious to others around you. The psalmist makes it very clear. Many will see my waiting upon the Lord, my trusting in the Lord, and they will learn to trust the Lord. You see, this is very important for us as fathers. Why? Because we lead our families. So we have to lead our wives into learning what it means to wait patiently upon the Lord, to trust the Lord, to hope in the Lord. So that we can then model to our children how they learn to wait upon the Lord.

Not to be anxious, not to be fearful, but just wait upon the Lord. And then over in Psalm 62, Psalm 62, the psalmist says it this way, my soul waits in silence for God only, from him is my salvation. Verse 5, my soul waits in silence for God only, for my hope is from him. Psalm 130, Psalm 130, verse number 5, I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchman for the morning, indeed more than the watchman for the morning. Oh Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is loving kindness, and with him is abundant redemption, and he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Now you don't just wake up and wait upon the Lord. It's something that you learn to do over time, and learning to trust the Lord for everything. We like to trust the Lord for some things, but not necessarily for everything. We want to be patient and wait upon the Lord to incline his ear to my cry in some instances, but not in all instances. So if I'm sick, and I feel like I'm about to die, I want the Lord to do something right now.

I'm sure Job and all of his pain, and all of his sorrow, was wanting the Lord to act right now, but he didn't. In fact, Job had to wait days, weeks, before the Lord ever responded, and when the Lord finally responded, he never explained anything to Job.

He just revealed himself to Job, but that was all Job needed. But he learned to wait upon the Lord. Tonight, I want to give you six principles that will help you learn to wait upon the Lord. Just six. I could give you more, but time does not permit me to do that. I'm not even sure I'll get through these six tonight. I need to, because I need to finish your outline in two weeks, so I want to make sure that we get through them. So let me give you six principles that will help you learn how to wait upon the Lord.

So if you're a husband, a father, you have the opportunity to impact your wife and your children by teaching them how to wait upon the Lord. How to wrap yourself around the Lord and patiently sit back and watch Him do what only He can do. See, we don't like to do that, because we have a plan. We can do things, so we want to just run on ahead, so I'm going to show you an example of that tonight and how God came against Israel, because that's what they did. Let me give you the principles.

Principle number one is this. If you want to learn to wait upon the Lord, you must realize your Savior's provision. You must realize your Savior's provision. This is really eye-opening, and I'm going to share something with you tonight I have never shared with you in 30 years. I'm going to put something together for you tonight that I have yet to do at Christ Community Church, and you're going to see that. But before I get there, Psalm 84, verse number 11 says, For the Lord God is a sun and a shield.

The Lord God is a provider and a protector. The Lord gives grace and glory. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in you. How blessed is the man who trusts in you. Now, the Bible says in Philippians 4, verse number 19, My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus.

Our God is a provider. His provision is what's best for you. And because our Lord created you, he knows what his creation knows or needs better than the creation knows what it needs. He's the designer. He's the architect of your life. He is the great provider of man. In fact, over in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 9, Paul is talking to the church of Corinth, and he wants them to understand the issue of giving. You see, all of us want financial stability, but financial stability never comes unless you understand what it means to give.

And that's what Paul says. He says in verse number 6, Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So, he uses a metaphor grounded in agriculture to understand, you sow a little, you reap a little. You sow a lot, you reap a lot. We understand that. So, he says, Each one must do just as he purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that always, having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.

I'm not sure how else he can say it. If you want all grace to abound towards you in everything, that you might have all sufficiency, you need to understand you need to give not grudgingly or out of compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. He says, It is written, He scattered abroad, He gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever. Now, he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.

He wants them to understand that, listen, you need to realize behind your giving is a God who provides more than you can ever imagine. He does exceeding abundantly above all that we can ever ask or think. And so, he wants you to understand that in your giving patterns, you give out of a joyful, loving heart, not out of compulsion, not because you have to, not grudgingly with a frown, but do it joyfully. And when you do it, watch and see what God does because God is the great provider of man. Let me show you how he does that.

Go back with me, if you would, in your Bible to the book of Genesis, the 22nd chapter. Remember Daniel 11.32? Daniel says that those who know their God will display strength and do great exploits. But you got to know God. And so, in Genesis chapter 14, God is described as El Elyon, God most high, the possessor of heaven and earth. In Genesis 16, he's described as El Roi, the god of seas. In Genesis 17, he's described as El Shaddai, the Almighty. And in Genesis 21, he's described as El Olam. It says, in verse number 33, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba.

Beersheba is about 45 miles south of Jerusalem. And there he called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God, El Olam. And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days. Now, the Bible is put together in such a way that everything works in conjunction with everything else. And how many days Abraham was in the land of the Philistines, we don't know. Isaac is born in chapter 21, but in chapter 22, Isaac is a teenager. So, many days translates into several years. And yet, before you get to chapter 22, you must understand that God is the everlasting God.

Now, remember, in the book of Genesis, you got to realize when the first time something is mentioned in the scriptures.

So, this is the first time God is described as the everlasting God, the eternal God. In fact, you can read through your Bible and realize Isaiah 26.4 says, the Lord Jehovah is an everlasting rock. In Isaiah 63.16, our Redeemer is from everlasting to everlasting, that is his name. Jeremiah 10, verse number 10, Jehovah is the everlasting king. Psalm 90, verse number 2, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Isaiah 40.28, Isaiah wanting to encourage the nation of Israel because they thought God had deserted them and abandoned them.

He says, do you not know? Have you not heard that the Lord, the Creator, is the everlasting God? 1 Timothy 1.17, Christ is called the King Eternal. Isaiah 9.6, the son that's given, the child that's born is called the Eternal Father or the Originator of Eternity. So, the son that's given, the child that's born, the Messiah, is the Originator of Eternity. And only an eternal God can be the originator of something that's eternal. Why do I say that? Because you need to understand the eternal nature of God.

In other words, God, in his eternality, existed before time ever began. Time begins in Genesis 1. But God is an eternal God, so he existed before time ever began. God existed before time, and yet God is never limited by time. Do you understand that? Because the Bible is very clear about the eternal nature of God. God is the author of time, and God is the one who controls time. And yet God is the one who exists in the past, present, and future all at the same time. Now, think about that. Wrap yourself, wrap your mind around that.

God exists in the past, present, and future all at the same time. The best way I can explain that is that if you were high in the sky and there was the Rose Parade, and you were able to see everything about the Rose Parade from its beginning to its end and its middle all at the same time. When you're on the parade route, you see one float at a time as it passes by. You have to wait for it to get there. And then you watch it as it passes by at the beginning, at the middle, and then at the end. But if you're high above it, you look down upon it, and you see the whole thing all at once, but yet you don't exist in the past, present, and future all at the same time, but God does.

Why is that important? Because in the Scriptures, the Lord is called El Alam, the eternal God, the everlasting God, right before Genesis chapter 22. And Genesis chapter 22 is the great Old Testament passage on substitutionary atonement. And the way God is described in Genesis chapter 22 relates to how he's described in Genesis chapter 21. So the Bible says in chapter 22, verse number 1, now it came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, here I am.

He said, take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. Now, we all know because you've been here for many years what Moriah means. And Moriah means what? Foreseen. Who said that? Brand new car. It means foreseen. Go to the land of which I'm going to tell you. It takes you to the land of Moriah. Moriah is where the Temple Mount's located today, okay? That's called Mount Moriah, and it's called, defined by, foreseen.

Well, you know the story. He gets his son, Isaac, and they make their journey up Mount Moriah, and he tells his helpers and servants to stay here because I and the lad will go up, will worship the Lord, and come back to you once again. So he takes his son up there, and on the way up, the son says, Well, we have the fire, we have the knife, but we don't have a lamb. We need to sacrifice something. And so Abraham says to his son these words in verse number 8, God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering myself.

The word provide is yireh. Used 1,300 times in the Old Testament, 1,300 times. Every time but four, it's translated to see or be seen. Only four times is it translated provide. Every other time, it's translated to see or be seen. And so the text says, Abraham said, God will see for himself the lamb. And so they go up, he ties his son down. He's about to sacrifice his son. The angel of the Lord stops him, right? And then there, he provides a ram in the thicket because it's the symbolism of a substitutionary atonement.

And it says this in verse number 14, Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will provide or be seen. As it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord, it will be seen or be provided. So you have the eternal God who exists in the past, present, and future all at the same time, who exists outside the realm of time because he's the eternal God who's the everlasting God, right? Who knows everything and sees everything all at once because he existed everything all at once. That's the eternal nature of God.

And so in chapter 22, he brings Abraham to a place called foreseen, Mariah, because he's already foreseen it because he's already planned it. He's already planned the sacrifice of his son in eternity past. That's exactly what he's going to do. He's going to sacrifice his son on Mount Mariah. Remember in John chapter 8, Christ says, Abraham rejoiced to see my day.

What day did Abraham see and when did he see it? He saw it in Genesis chapter 22. He rejoiced to see my day. What day? The day where God would see himself as a lamb. Why? Because he is the eternal and everlasting God who sees and knows everything in the past, present, and future because he exists in the past, present, and future all at the same time. He is the God who was, who is, and who is to come according to the book of Revelation. So what you have in Genesis chapter 22, the word Yireh, so he says the Lord will provide Yahweh Yireh or Jehovah Jireh, if you want to say it as Gentiles say it, but it's really pronounced Yahweh Yireh.

The Lord will provide, the Lord will be seen in a place foreseen by God because he is the eternal God who sees everything because he exists in past, present, and future all at the same time. In other words, he's called Yahweh Yireh, the Lord will provide because he can only provide that which he knows because he knows that which he sees. That's why the Bible says in Matthew chapter 6 verse number 8, the Lord knows what you need before you even ask him.

How can he know what you need before you even ask him? Because he's the everlasting God who exists in the past, present, and future all at the same time. He knows your needs. He is your creator. He is the Lord of the universe. He knows everything. So he knows what you need before you even ask him. And yet he knows that when you ask him, he'll give you that which is necessary for you because he's the great provider of man. So when you want to learn to wait upon the Lord, you learn to wait upon the Lord when you realize your Savior's provision.

In other words, he is the great provider of man. He provides everything you need when you need it. That's why he says, take no thought for tomorrow for each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew chapter 6, be anxious for nothing. Why? Because with food and rain we are to be content. Why? Because he clothes us, he feeds us, he takes care of us, and we need to wait on his provision because he always provides what is best. Why? Because he's the eternal everlasting God called Yahweh Yireh, the God who provides.

In other words, he's the God who sees. He sees everything he needs to see in order to make sure you have everything you need to have. You want to begin to wait upon the Lord? You need to realize your Savior's provision. Number two, you need to recognize his steady and swift protection.

His steady and swift protection. Jeremiah chapter 20. Jeremiah chapter 20, Jeremiah is lamenting several things. It's the last of his laments. And Jeremiah is lamenting the fact, he's grieving the fact, and yet he's joyous. He's despairing certain things, and yet he's excited. I mean, he was a man who was up and down emotionally all the time. So this is what he says, Jeremiah 20, verse number 7. Oh Lord, you have deceived me. Now, our Lord does not deceive anybody. So it's a word that means induced or pressured or persuaded.

This is how Jeremiah sees his ministry. He says, Lord, you have persuaded me and I was persuaded. You have overcome me and prevailed. Now, we know that's not true. This is how Jeremiah sees it. If you go back to Jeremiah chapter 1, you begin to realize what really happened in Jeremiah's life. But sometimes when you get in the throes of hardship and difficulty, you have the wrong perspective on life. You have a wrong perspective on God and what God is doing. And this is Jeremiah. Remember Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 4.

Now, the word of the Lord came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I consecrated you. I've appointed you a prophet to the nations. Then I said, alas, Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak because I am a youth. But the Lord said to me, do not say I'm a youth because everywhere I send you, you shall go. And all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you. To deliver you, declares the Lord. Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth.

And the Lord said to me, behold, I put my words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. In other words, I've chosen you. I formed you in the womb. You're my prophet for such a time as this. Jeremiah, you're the guy. Jeremiah's like, but I know what to say. Don't worry. Put words in your mouth. Don't know where to go. Don't worry. I'll show you where to go. What if I get in trouble?

Don't worry. I'll deliver you. God says, don't worry about a thing. I got all things here. I'm in charge. I got it. And Jeremiah realizes as God speaks to him, you're going to go and you're going to share my word, but nobody's going to listen.

Nobody's going to respond. Nobody's going to care. But you just keep going. You just keep doing what I called you to do. Of course, Jeremiah prophesied right before the Babylonian captivity. So when you come to chapter 20, he's lamenting the fact that God induced him into service. God persuaded him, overwhelmed him to serve him, and now he's serving the Lord. I've become a laughing stock all day long. Everyone mocks me. Oh, now you see his problem. You did it so that everyone mocks me and laughs at me, Lord.

You put me here, Lord. And the Lord just listens. For each time I speak, I cry aloud, I proclaim violence and destruction because for me, the word of the Lord has resulted in reproach and derision all day long. I'm miserable. But if I say I will not remember him or speak anymore in his name, then in my heart, it becomes like a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I am weary of holding it in. And I cannot endure it. Lord, you pressured me to be here, and I don't want to say anything. But boy, if I hold it in, I just can't.

It's like a fire in my bones. So I got to say something. It's like Paul woes me if I don't preach the gospel, right? Because he was appointed for this. He was chosen for this. God had put him in this position. That's why he would go on to say later in Jeremiah 23, he's not my word like a fire, says the Lord. Like the two men on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, did not our hearts burn within us when he spoke the things about the Christ to us? Of course it does, because that's what happens in the life of the believer.

And then he goes down a little bit in verse number 10. For I have heard the whispering of many, terror on every side, denounce him. Yes, let us denounce him. All my trusted friends watching for my fall say, perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him and take our revenge on him. But then he gets perspective again. But the Lord is with me like a dread champion, like a fierce warrior, like a mighty warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed because they have failed with an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.

Yet, O Lord of hosts, you who test the righteous, who see the mind and the heart, let me see your vengeance on them.

For to you, I have set forth my cause. Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has delivered the soul of the needy one from the hand of the evildoers. Jeremiah had to kind of realize that God did not coerce him into service. God did not deceive him about his service. God did not induce him and pressure him and overthrow him. God chose him. God appointed him. And God promised to deliver him. When he gains perspective, he realizes that God is his dread champion, his fierce warrior, his mighty warrior.

He had nothing to fear. And he couldn't hold in the things that God told him to say. Why? Because Jeremiah, like all of us, have to recognize God's steady and very swift protection of his own. God wants you to wait up on him because he's going to protect you. He's going to take care of you. You have to trust him to do that. There are so many verses. Genesis chapter 15, verse number 1, the word of the Lord came to Abraham and said to him, Abraham, I am your shield. I'm your shield, Abraham. Read through the Psalms.

God's a bulwark. He's a rampart. He's a shield. He's a fortress. He's a refuge. He's a protector. He's a deliverer. He's a rescuer. Why? Because that's what God does with his people. He takes care of his own. And we need to learn to trust him for all that he says and all that he does. Nahum 1, verse number 7, says this, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knows those who take refuge in him. Read Psalm 18. Read Psalm 91. There are so many verses in the Psalms that speak of God's protection of his own.

When you learn to wait upon the Lord, you wait upon his strength. You wait upon his protection. You wait for how he's going to handle your enemies, your situation. So you realize your Savior's provision. You recognize his swift protection and steady protection. And number three, you rest in his sovereign and specific plan.

You rest in his sovereign and his specific plan. Listen to Psalm 57, verse number 2. I have so many verses. I can't get to them all. Verse 1, Psalm 57, be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in you, and in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge. Now remember, David's fleeing Saul. David's in a cave. The cave is not his protection. The shadow of the wings of the Almighty is his protection. Here I will take refuge until destruction passes by. I will cry to God Most High, to El Elyon, to God who accomplishes all things for me.

God accomplishes all things for me. And so, God wants us to rest in his sovereign and specific plan. And yet, we're like Israel. We don't. Isaiah chapter 30. Isaiah chapter 30, verse number 1. Woe to the rebellious children, declares the Lord, who execute a plan but not mine. You ever done that? Execute a plan but not mine, and make an alliance but not of my spirit, in order to add to sin, who proceed down to Egypt, without consulting me, to take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh, and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt.

Therefore, the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation. God says, what are you doing?

Hezekiah consulted some of his cohorts, and they had told him that the best thing to do against the invading Assyrian army, was to flee to Egypt, and make an alliance with Egypt. And the Lord says, wait, you never consulted me. You made a plan, but you never included me in your plan. You're setting out to do something, without ever asking me, why would you do that? That's exactly what they did. He says, so you're going to go down to Egypt. Psalm, Isaiah 31, verse number 1. Woe to those who go down to Egypt, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many, and the horsemen, because they are very strong.

But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord. Cursed are you, if you decide to take matters into your own hand, and do what you think is best, without consoling the Holy One, the Lord. Cursed are you. How dare you do that? Why would you even think about doing that? Because you don't want to wait on the Lord. You want answers now.

You want results now. You want a better future now. You don't want to wait on the Lord. And the Lord says, you going down to Egypt, that's going to be your shame and your humiliation. You're going to be absolutely distraught, because you took matters into your own hands, and did not rest in my sovereign and specific plan for my people Israel. So he goes on to say these words. The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev. You're going to make your way through the Negev. You're going to make your way through the desert.

And the desert is very dangerous. It's going to cost you. You think that you're going to Egypt, it's going to be better for you. But on your journey, you're going to experience disaster, distress, pain, difficulty, hardship. It's not going to be an easy journey. Why? Because it's never an easy journey when you go without seeking God. Ask Jonah. He got swallowed by a whale. Just simply because he didn't want to do what God told him to do. He rebelled against the Lord. Verse 8. God says, excuse me.

Get the placard out. Write this down. Put it on there. Walk throughout the streets of Jerusalem. Walk among your people Israel. Let them know that I said don't do this. And the consequences are going to be severe. Because you refused to listen to the instruction of the Lord. You did your own thing. So Isaiah would write it on the placard. Put it around his neck. Carry it around the city. So people would learn to follow the instruction of the Lord. And trust Him. They say to seers, you must not see visions.

And to prophets, you must not prophesy to us what is right or what is true. Speak to us in pleasant words. Prophesy illusions. Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel. We don't want to hear what God has to say. We want to know how can I be happy. Not about how I can be holy. What's best for me right now? Write it on the placard. Let them all know. Therefore says the Holy One of Israel, Since you have rejected the Word and have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them, therefore this iniquity will be to you like a breach about to fall, a bulge in a high wall whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant, whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter's jar so ruthlessly shattered that a sherd will not be found among its pieces to take fire from a hearth or to scoop water from a cistern.

You think you're going to make it? You're not. You're going to come crashing down. You're going to be like a shattered jar. You won't even have a piece big enough because you'll be so shattered to even scrape the coals out of a fire or to take water from a cistern. You're going to be shattered. So he says this, For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, In repentance and rest you will be saved. And quietness and trust is your strength. But you were not willing. You've got to wait on me. You've got to trust me.

You've got to rest in me. You didn't want to. And you said no. For we will flee on horses. Don't worry. We'll run. Oh, you shall flee. And we will ride on swift horses. Therefore, those who pursue you will be swifter. You'll run, but you won't run fast enough. You'll try to escape, but you can't. Why? Because I said you can. That's why. Therefore, the Lord longs to be gracious to you, verse number 18. And therefore, he waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice. How blessed are all those who long, wait, trust, rely on him.

Israel is that perfect example of somebody who would not wait upon the Lord, would not trust the Lord, would not wrap themselves around the Lord. They would not rest in his sovereign specific plan for them. Instead, they had another plan. They had another way. They went another direction. They thought they knew what was best for them. And God says, you have no idea what you're doing.

None. You're trying to play God. You're trying to take on my role. You're trying to do what only I can do. You can't do that. Instead of listening to my instruction, you rebel against my instruction. Instead of listening to my prophet, you rebel against my prophet. And yet you think you'll be successful. But way back in the book of Deuteronomy, God said, don't ever go back to Egypt. Why? Don't ever go back to your old lifestyle. Don't ever go back to the way it was. Don't ever go back to the place you were enslaved.

There's nothing back there for you anymore. Don't go back to your old ways of trusting your own mind, your own decisions, your own thought process. Don't do that any longer because you have me. I'm your provider. I'm your protector. And I have a specific sovereign plan for your life. Just wait on me. That's it. Just sit back and wait on me. Realize your Savior's provision. Recognize His steady and swift protection. Rest in His sovereign and specific plan. And I have so many more verses to drive these home.

Time does not permit me to do so. So let me finish the next three points. Rely on His Spirit's presence and peace. Rely on His Spirit's presence and peace. 2 Timothy 1, 7, God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but He has given us a spirit of discipline, a spirit of power, and a spirit that can rest only in Him. And that's why we had the Spirit of God who produces all kinds of fruit in us. And one of the fruit of the Spirit is patience, long suffering, learning to bear up under pressure, learning to wait upon the Lord, learning to trust Him.

That happens only through the presence of His Spirit. Back in Isaiah again, Isaiah chapter 26, verse number 1, In that day, in that day is what day? The day of the Lord. This song will be sung in the land of Judah. We will have a strong city. He sets up walls and ramparts for security. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the one that remains faithful, the steadfast mind, the focused mind, not the dual mind, but the one-thought mind, the steadfast mind. You will keep in perfect peace because He trusts in you.

Trust in the Lord forever. For in God the Lord we have an everlasting, eternal rock. The God who exists in the past, present, and future all at the same time, the eternal God is an eternal rock. He's not just a rock in the past and not a rock in the future. He's an eternal rock. He's an eternal refuge. And therefore, you keep your mind focused on Him for the steadfast mind, the focused mind, He will keep in peace, peace. In Hebrew, it's literally the peace, peace because there was no way to describe the absolute perfection of the calmness that God gives when our mind is focused on Him.

Our mind gets so easily distracted, so easily displaced, so easily out of sorts because we become so anxious about the events before us, wondering what to do next. How will I ever handle this? How will my family handle this? How will my wife handle this? The steadfast mind, the focused mind, He will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed specifically on the Lord because He trusts you. He waits for you. Romans 15.33, God is called the God of peace. Romans 5.1, we have the peace with God. Colossians 3.15, let the peace of God be the umpire in your hearts.

Let the fact that you're on God's side be the governing factor in every decision that you make. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Let it be the umpire in your hearts. The peace of God is so incredible, but we are the people who have to learn to rely on not just the Spirit's presence in our lives, but the Spirit's peace in our lives because the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, a peace that's invaluable, a peace that's inescapable, a peace that's unable to be mocked, or excuse me, modeled or imitated in the world.

My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives goodbye unto you, but my peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, Christ says, because my peace is your peace.

And that's why when he visited the disciples after the resurrection, he said, Peace be unto you. Peace. Why? I'm here. It's okay. I live just as I said, which leads to the next point, and that is you need to remember the sure and steadfast promises of God. Remember the sure and steadfast promises of God. I love what it says in Joshua 23, verse number 14. Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and ye know in all your hearts and all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed.

All have been fulfilled for you, not one has failed. Not one. Chapter 21, verse 45. Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed all came to pass. Do you remember the promises of God? Israel didn't. Psalm 106. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand your wonders. They did not remember your abundant loving kindness, but rebelled by the sea at the Red Sea. Verse 13, Psalm 106. They quickly forgot your works. They did not wait for his counsel, but craved intensely in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert.

Verse 21. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt. They would not remember.

Can't afford to forget. To forget is always to fail. Always. You can't afford to forget. And lastly, reflect on his significance or significant and substantial power. His substantial and significant power. You know, reflect upon that. The God who is a protector and a provider, who has a perfect plan, who gives peace and fulfills all of his promises, can do so because he's omnipotent. Power belongs to God. Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. To whom then will you liken me, that I would be as equals as the Holy One?

Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the one who leads forth their hosts by number, calls them all by name. Because of the greatness of his might and the strength of his power, not one of them is missing. Not one. So many of us have no idea of the power of the living God. And that's why it's important for us to look into the Word and reflect on his significant power. Because it's his. And the God who says, wait on me, trust me, hope in me, can do that because he's powerful enough to control everything.

In your life and mine. So the psalmist learned to wait upon the Lord, to trust the Lord, to be patient enough to see God work. Wouldn't it be great if as families we learned to do that? We would learn to sit back and say, you know what, let's just take a moment and wait upon the Lord. Let's don't make a decision today. Let's just wait upon the Lord. Let's look at what his plan is for us because obviously this is his plan.

It's a very specific plan. And to realize that in the midst of that plan he offers peace and has given us so many promises that we can trust in that all we have to do is look to him for those promises. And then watch the power of God at work, lead, guide, protect, take care of our family. To live like that is just the normal Christian life. That's what we're supposed to do. May God give us the grace to do that. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight. So much to say, so very little time to say.

But we are grateful that your words speak so clearly to us. May we, Lord, be the kind of people who trust you, who wait for you, who hope in you, who look to you, not be like Israel and just do what we want to do and not listen to the instruction of the Lord, only to experience the disasters and the difficulties that will come our way, but just to wait and watch you do what only you can do as a sovereign God of the universe. In Jesus' name, amen.