Thank you, Pastor, again, and thank you again for all the wonderful, wonderful music. It's been so Christ-honoring and so Christ-exalting. There's a lot of so-called Christian music today that sometimes it's awfully hard to tell if it's Christian or not. I mean, have you ever been listening to a song and you say, I think maybe that's a Christian song? I'm not sure. Now, how many of you ever had that experience? Well, I don't believe that ought to ever be the case with Christian music. I believe Christian music ought to be distinctive and clear and right on the button that you can tell clearly this is Christ honoring and Christ exalting. Thank you for all that food. Wow. That was some kind of great meal. If that meal didn't excite you and light your fire, your wood is wet. All right? I mean, I mean, that was super good. I'm going to put in for your ladies to do the marriage supper of the lamb when we get to heaven. I just thought it was phenomenal. I loved every bit of it. I ate right at probably conservatively 14,000 calories and loved every one of them. How many of you broke your diet up there? How many of you all did that? How many of you, like me, went up there with the resolve not to eat dessert and ate dessert anyway? I mean, I sure did and just loved it and enjoyed it. Thank you for all your kindness in doing that. Please keep the testimony of this church sharp and alive for Christ. People come up to me all the time and say, Brother Gibbs, what's the hope of America? The local church is the hope of America. Leading people to Jesus Christ. Remember, you're not going to change people on the outside until you change their insides. And the greatest need is for people to know the Savior, Jesus Christ, and then to be in a church like this, which is commanded of God. CLA is not the hope of America. What I give my life to, we defend the hope of America. That's my ministry. And so if you'd pray for us and please stay active in your church, thank you for coming and doing this. Turn in your Bibles, please, to the book of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1. And then also take some kind of a marker and go back to Exodus 14. 2 Timothy chapter 1. and Exodus 14. And in the next few minutes, I want to share with you some biblical principles that I promise you everyone here is, on occasion, going to need. I can probably dare say, based on my experience, most of you will need them fairly frequently. But everyone needs them on occasion, and that is, what do you do with situations where You need God to make a way where there is no way. Where you've got something on the plate of your life where you say, boy, now this is a fine fix to be in. How do I get this relationship fixed? How do I get this problem resolved? What do I do now? And you're going to need God to make a way where there is no way. Now, I want to share with you sometimes We as Christians get ourselves into predicaments that are just there because of our own foolishness. Now, how many of you here have ever done something stupid? Hold your hand up, will you? Sure, our own foolishness. By the way, if you didn't raise your hand, that was a stupid thing you just did, all right? Because we've all done something that was foolish. I mean, how many of you have ever said, how could I have been that dumb? How could I have ever gotten into that? Well, you know, I've discovered in life, boy, the more you live, it's easy to get into that. Preacher, I walked in and got on an airplane not long ago, walked back and sat down and was sitting there, and a lady came in and sat down next to me. And I don't know quite how to explain this, but people today, when they travel, are traveling at an ever more comfortable level, a casual level, and honestly not a very polite level. But this lady sat down and she proceeded to take off her shoes. And this lady's feet began to emanate an odor unlike anything I've ever experienced in my lifetime. I mean, it was unspeakably bad. Unspeakably bad. Now, you have to understand, I grew up on farms, and farm odors don't bother me. And my family was in the cattle slaughtering business, and slaughterhouse odors don't bother me. But that lady's feet, I mean, what was coming off of them was nothing short of deadly. I mean, it was odorific in the most unbelievable sense. And I'm sitting there thinking, that's amazing. How can one person's feet fowl that much air? Just unbelievable. Now what's happening is people in rows in front and back and around us, and they're looking at me like I'm doing it. And I mean, you can hear them talking. And then a flight attendant comes walking up, a lady flight attendant, and she's standing there. And she said, a gentleman would not do that, and walked off. And I'm like, I'm not doing anything. Man, it's this lady's piggies down here that are doing all of this. The lady turned to me and she said, you know, I have, and I've never heard of it, she said, I have a foot disorder, and sometimes my feet emit an odor, she said, it doesn't smell, does it? And how many of you men understand, sometimes it's very hard to be honest, all right? And I said, well, not all that bad, I guess. But what I'm thinking is, boy, it'd be a blessing if you'd put your shoes back on. It'd help a little bit. Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore. And I said, you know, I understand you got a problem. And I said, it is really an unusual odor. And I said, if it's all right, I'm going to just move up there. Well, I moved up and I thought I moved about like 10 rows. And I thought, there, that'll take care of that. Well, I'm not there five minutes and up walks a man. He's a pastor. He knows me. I don't know him. That can happen. And he said, oh, Brother Gibbs, Brother Gibbs. He said, I'm so glad to see you here. He said, our church just took CLA on for support. I said, oh, wonderful. And he said, my wife is your biggest fan. I said, oh, terrific. He said, come on back, let me introduce you to her. How many of you know where this story's headed, right? Out of a whole plane full of people, how did he have to marry her? And I mean, I walk back and I'm like, what do I say now? How many of you ever gotten yourself in a fix where you say, what do I say now? And life can just put unusual circumstances on you. Sometimes a dilemma in your life is going to come from somebody who's mean and nasty. And you know what I've discovered? There are some very mean people in this world. I mean, regularly in our lawsuits we have people say, I want to destroy that pastor. I want to make it where he never gets to preach again. I want to destroy his reputation. And they're dead serious. And boy, suddenly, I mean, we are in a dilemma. And you say, these people are really, really nasty, wicked, mean. In our ministry, we encounter people like that with frightening regularity. Some situations in your life, you're not even going to be able to figure out how you got into them. You're just going to say, somehow this befell me. A doctor is going to say, well, all of a sudden the tests are showing something. And you're going to be in a condition and in a moment where you're going to need God to make a way where the doctor's saying there is no way. It doesn't matter how you get into these situations. I believe the Bible clearly teaches that God makes ways where there are no ways. And if you're in need of God to make one, I beg you listen carefully to these points. Read with me what Paul said to Timothy. This is Timothy's understudy. 2 Timothy chapter 1, starting at verse 6. Wherefore, I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. Now, I hope this morning that God in some measure stirred you. I hope that everything the church is doing here is stirring up what God has in you. Now, when I was a boy, we would have family reunions. And one of the things we always did at our family reunions was make homemade lemonade. And we would have an enormous, enormous crock pot. I mean, the thing was that big around, probably stood three and a half or four feet off the ground. And we'd make lemonade in it, and hundreds of lemons would get cut and squeezed, and like 10 or more five-pound bags of sugar would get poured in, and then water. But you know what had to happen? Then it had to get stirred. Somebody had to get it stirred up. And all through the day, it would start resettling. And boy, we had this enormous like wooden ladle and you would take it and you'd stir it up to get it all mixed. And you know what I've discovered? If you're not careful, comfortable Christianity takes over. And you say, it's been some time since I've been stirred. My grandmother gave me a great word of caution once. She said, if you ever go to three consecutive church services, and something doesn't stir you, you're in real spiritual trouble." Did you hear me? She said, if you go to three consecutive church services and something doesn't stir you, she said, you're in trouble. And Paul is saying to Timothy, man, stir up that gift. Dad, I wonder if the kids would say, boy, does dad have it stirred up. Boy, does mom have it stirred up. When you look at Brother Gibbs, I wonder if you'd say, boy, does Brother Gibbs have it stirred? Does our pastor have it stirred? And by the way, your pastor does have it stirred. That's what excites me so much to get to be with this man of God. But God wants it stirred in your life and mine. He says, for God hath not given us, verse 7, the spirit of fear. Now, boy, when we get in these predicaments, if you're anything like me, a spirit of fear can set in. You start playing the what-if and what-now game. And, boy, you sit there and you say, well, how could they have said those things? And what's going to happen now? And what does this mean? And a spirit of fear. He says, but God hath not given us the spirit of fear. but of power." Now the word power, there circled in your Bible, was not the word for human power. That was the word for divine power. That was the word dynamis, the word that, the power of God. We get the word dynamite from it. And he said, God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. God wants to keep your mind through whatever the predicament is that you are in. Now, take these back again. No spirit of fear, power, love, and a sound mind. That's God's foundation block off of which He wants every impossible situation in your life handled. Do I have a spirit of fear? That's not to be there. Do I have God's power? That's commanded to be there. Do I have love there even when it's an egregious enemy? Remember, we're not just to love the brethren, we're to love our enemies. That's commanded of God. And do I have that sound mind? No one has a sound life without a sound mind. What's going on inside of you is always going to work its way to the outward manifestations of your life. Now turn back in your Bible, if you would, to Exodus chapter 14. And I want you to look at some really simple rules that God uses. You know this passage of Scripture. The children of Israel have just been released by Pharaoh, and Pharaoh has now changed his mind and is taking flight after them. The children of Israel have just spoiled the goods of the Egyptians. God has just visited all the plagues on them, and finally, Pharaoh's had enough. And the children of Israel are now going towards the promised land. They've escaped out of Egypt. But Pharaoh has just changed his mind. And Pharaoh is about to go after them with the mightiest military force on planet Earth. And bear in mind, the dynamic here is unbelievable. The children of Israel have no army, no training, and no armament. And Pharaoh has the mightiest warfare machine known to man. So to call this a disparity in the extreme is an understatement. God's people have no means of defending themselves, and Pharaoh has every means of trained warriors and an army, which is the most powerful known to man at the time. And he now is going after them. And you find the story of what happens in that chase in chapter 14 of the book of Exodus. Now I want to give you, and I'm going to ask you to write these simple rules down, because I find that God's people, most often when they get in a serious predicament, Pastor, God's people go to pieces just like the people who don't have God go to pieces. They come unraveled and unnerved and get an unsound mind identical to what the people who make no pretense of being saved have happened to them. In fact, unbelievably, sometimes people without God act with better composure than those who do know God. But it's because the rules are out of whack. And I want to give you some rules that God uses to make a way where there is no way that you're going to need in your life. Write the first rule down and we're going to find it in the first verse. The first verse in chapter 14 tells us that God put them exactly where God wanted them. Did you hear me? God put His people exactly where God wanted His people. And we sometimes forget this. God's never going to let you be where he doesn't want you to be. We say, I got into this mess of my own foolishness. I'm still telling you, you serve a God who's sovereign and omnipotent. And God wants you to give thanks for what you're in, because you are whereby His divine province He wants you to be. Read this verse with me. Chapter 1, verse 14. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, verse 2, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they should turn, and encamp before Phiharioth between Migdal and the sea, over against Baal-savon. Before it ye shall camp by the sea. Now wait a minute, Lord, this doesn't make any sense. Let me explain what you just did. On this side, there's a huge mountain range that's uncrossable. It meets a second mountain range that's uncrossable. On this side is the Red Sea, and at this point, the Red Sea is at a minimum eight miles across and 800 feet deep. and behind us is Pharaoh. God, this can't be where you want us. We're going up a gulch. We're getting hemmed in. Impenetrable mountain here, impenetrable mountain here, an uncrossable sea here, and the mightiest military power known to man back here mad at us. This is not a good place. Of all the places you'd like us to go, God, this should not be one of them. But you know what? It's exactly where God wanted them. Exactly. And in that situation in your life where you listen to me, God knows exactly where you're at and could have changed any of it. He's God. And what God wants you to do is recognize you are where He puts you and He wants you to start thanking Him for where He puts you. How good are you at thanking God for problems? How good are you at thanking God for trials? How good are you at thanking God for impossible situations? The Bible says in everything give thanks. Paul writing to the church from prison says rejoice and again I say rejoice. He said I want you to thank God for what's happening to me. He said, let your requests be made known unto the Lord with thanksgiving. Now, if you're not going to hear anything I say this afternoon, I beg you, just listen to this one point. If you are better at thanking God for your blessings than you are your trials, you're a shameful Christian. And I've been guilty of doing that. Do you thank God as much for your trials and your problems and your aggravations and your impossible situation as you thank and praise Him for your blessings? Oh, I just got a raise. Thank you, Jesus. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Boy, is God good. I just got an enormous tax break, big refund. Oh, thank you, Jesus. I just got a better job. Oh, thank you, Jesus. We just got a new car. Oh, thank you Jesus. I just got really bad news. I've been sued. And suddenly, thank you Jesus doesn't come. Because we've become a people who want to thank Him for the blessings. And then we want to say, what are you doing? Why me? Because we think that it's our blessings that are worth thanking Him for. Remember, most Christians are destroyed by their blessings. They're made by their trials. Most of the great spiritual growth is not done in time of blessing. Most of the great spiritual growth is done in time of testing. And God's looking for somebody who says, God put me right here and He put me here for a reason. And I am going to praise and thank Him for this. How many of you here have ever heard of Lester Roloff? Anybody? I'll never forget, I had the privilege to do 13 lawsuits, defend him 13 times in court. And one time I called him, we just got a vicious, vicious lawsuit laid on him. And I called him up and I said, how are you doing? He says, oh, he says, man, the Bible says I'm doing fine. And then he says, get down here right away. I'm holding a thanksgiving service. He said, I want everybody to thank God for this lawsuit. I said, you want to thank God for the I watched more lives get changed in that Thanksgiving service. Because what we said is, Lord, you could have made this lawsuit not happen. You knew who to entrust this trial to. And by your grace, by the way, God could have trusted your problem to anybody. And in grace, He chose you to represent Him in that. And he's looking for somebody to say thank you. Somebody with heartfelt praise. I've asked God, I want to thank You for my trials more than I thank You for my blessings. Now, I want to thank You for my blessings. But God, I want to thank You more for my trials. More for the disappointments that are only disappointments to me. Moses, this doesn't make any sense where God's putting us. We're like setting ourselves up to get caught. Man, we got all this desert we can run in, and you want to run us up? That was the only gulch for a thousand miles. Why would we run up there? Why would God lead them to a trap? because God understood it was only a trap in the eyes of man. God was about to do what would be preached on for generations to come. By the way, through your trial, for generations to come, God's going to show Himself mighty. In 1952, in my home, we had an event take place. My mother was the church pianist. I enjoyed listening to all these wonderful pianists you have here, all these great singers and musicians. But in 1952, my mother contracted polio and never walked again. It took away all of her leg muscles, half of her breathing, half of her back, and strategic muscles in her arms. She could never play the piano again. We were the people who were first to church because my mom rehearsed with everybody. We had our own key to lock the place up because after church she would practice. And yet one morning I came down for breakfast and my mom said, run get your dad, I'm really sick. And I went to get my dad and when I came down my mother was curled up on the couch, could hardly breathe, and she never walked again. I watched them take my mom to a hospital where she was for two years. I was eight years old. Two years is a long time when you're eight years old. And I remember thinking, this isn't fair. My family was faithful to God. I know families that didn't even go to church, they didn't have this. After a year in the hospital, because it was so highly contagious, they arranged for my sister and I to be able to see my mom. We were going to be separated by a glass hallway, and they were going to pull my mom to the edge of her door. My sister and I went down there, and they had a speaker there. We could hear my mom. pulled her cart, her bed, to the doorway and she asked the nurse, she said, turn my head so I can see my kids. And preacher, I remember thinking, God, you could have left her neck. You could have left that. To where she didn't have to have somebody turn her head. My mom looked down at us and then she sent a nurse down and she said, are you Davey? I said, yeah. And she said, your mom says you're not to think that. And I told the nurse, I said, tell her I'm not supposed to think what? How many of you know moms can read their kids' faces? And she came back and here's what she said. She said, she praises God for what He's done. And He's doing all things well. Tell my boy that. Would you do that? Are you thankful for the trials? You want God to make a way where there is no way. It starts with us saying, God put me here. That polio bug didn't find us by accident. Poliospinal meningitis, that's its name. God could have just as easily said no, not to Mrs. Gibbs. But God in His grace said, I know who to entrust this to. And God brought it to our house. By the way, God was going to use that to change everything. I stand in courts today because of what my mother went through. God's looking for somebody who's willing to praise Him as much for the trials as you are for the blessings. Write the second rule down. By the way, I rarely read a quote, but I love this quote by Tozer so much. A.W. Tozer, he said, to the child of God, there's no such thing as an accident. He travels an appointed way. Accidents may indeed appear to befall him, and misfortunes stalk his way. But these evils will be so only in appearance, and will seem evils only because we cannot read the secret script of God's hidden province." There's never been an accident in your life, my friend. It's been God's province. God put you exactly where He wanted you. I love what one evangelist said. He said, on the back script of life, God frequently writes, we'll explain later. And indeed, boy, when we get to heaven, we're going to see a tapestry in a totally different light that God will explain. I hope what I just preached on you being willing to praise God for your trials is your life. But in my experience, a very small percentage of Bible-believing Christians practice that principle. And then we wonder why we lack God's power. We wonder why our prayer life doesn't have meaningful results. We wonder why that effusive peace that God promised is not ours. I want you to hear me. God commands us to praise Him. God would just assume that you went home this afternoon and drank a six-pack of Budweiser as He would for you to go home and not thank Him for your trials. Now, don't leave here and say, I think Brother Gibbs said it's okay to drink Budweiser. I didn't say that. To drink the Budweiser would be a wicked sin, and to not thank God for our trials is a wicked sin. But we've gotten so comfortable thanking God for our blessings and saying, would you get this trial gone, never thanking Him for it. Remember, you are exactly where God wants you to be, and He wants you to praise Him and thank Him for it. Write the second rule down. Write the second rule down. God wants you to be in your trial, and I love this, more concerned for His glory than you are for your relief or deliverance. God wants you to be more concerned for His glory, for making Him look good, than you are for your relief or your deliverance. When's the last time you said in a trial, God, I want to make You look good in this? By the way, boy, does the world ever watch when we're in the middle of a trial? And are you more concerned for God getting glory? Read with me. Boy, I love this thing. Read with me verses 3 and 4. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are entangled in the land. The wilderness hath shut them in. That's exactly correct. They were in an inescapable gulch that it made no sense to go up. He said they've entangled themselves. And God says, and I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he shall follow after them. And I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so. Boy, you know what? God's interested in him getting honor and glory out of your trial. Out of what is unimaginable to you. I told you the story of my mother. After two years, my mother came home from the hospital. And I mean, here now is a lady who can't do hardly anything, can't dress herself, has to be strapped in a wheelchair to stay upright. And I remember vividly the day they came home, my dad and we, he said, we haven't had family devotions for two years. The minute mom comes home, I want us all to have devotions. Oh boy, they brought my mom in from the hospital and she was still so sick. And we had devotions and it was always our custom in devotions that everyone would give a prayer request one at a time and then we'd all in turn pray. And I remember my mom's prayer request. Here she is strapped in a wheelchair, can't hold her own head up. And she says, pray God lets me do something where I can serve Him and bring Him glory. And she's strapped in a wheelchair. And I'm like, boy, it's just amazing. You're alive, Mom. Most of the people who went in the hospital with you, we went to their funerals. She was in a ward with 60-some ladies only 11 of which survived. Polio was a deadly killer. And here she's saying, pray God uses me somehow, that I can do something for Him. In your trial, are you more interested in that God looks good and that you bring honor to Him than you are to honor for Him over your own deliverance. Now, that will never come naturally. I believe that comes when you ask God to let that be in your life. God, don't take this away until every way that you can be honored by it is satisfied and done. God, I want You to get glory. That's what they did here. Now, you'll never do that if you don't thank him in the beginning. God, I realize what I'm in is of your making, and God, I praise you for that, and I thank you for it. And God, I'm gonna praise you as much for my trials as any blessing. But God, number two, I want you to look good in this trial. More than I want deliverance, more than I want out, I want honor for your name and for your glory. Write the third thing down. Pray fervently. Jump down to verse 10 in chapter 14. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. And they were sore afraid, and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. The Bible says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. I think sometimes we forget God never said mere prayer avails much. He said fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Simple question. When's the last time you prayed fervently? You know what I've had wonderful Christians say to me, Brother Gibbs, I don't know that I've ever prayed fervent in my life. You know what it means to pray fervent? It means you really pour yourself into it. You pour your heart into the prayer. Pastor, have you ever heard a preacher stand up and he delivers a message okay, but he didn't pour himself into that. There was no fervency. And then you've heard a preacher stand up, and I'm telling you, he poured himself into that. And you say, that's fervency. When's the last time with God you poured yourself into the prayer? I've been to hundreds and hundreds of different churches' prayer meetings in my lifetime, and most of the praying that I hear I don't sense a lot of fervency. But boy, I have been to some churches where God's doing things and they pray with fervency. By the way, you have a pain in your chest this afternoon and we rush you to the hospital and they say, this looks like a massive heart attack and boy, this is serious. You know what you're going to want? You're not going to want prayer. You're going to want fervent prayer. You're going to say, don't just read my name praying. I'm going to want somebody to pour themselves into that relationship with God. And God says, I command fervency in prayer. And boy, if you want to see God do something, number one, praise and thank Him. And then number two, honestly in your heart say, God, I'm more concerned with you getting glory in this than my relief. And number three, I'm going to start praying fervently. I have never seen any believer put those three together that God didn't do miraculously incredible things. And God did for them. When my mom started asking God every time we had devotions, boy, I mean, with tears streaming down her cheeks, and she'd have to ask my sister and I to wipe her tears. She'd pray, God, let me do something. And I kept thinking, what can a lady in a wheelchair do? But she prayed fervently, asking God to make a way where there is no way. I wonder if I needed fervent prayer this afternoon, if you could say, I'll handle that. I have that relationship with God. I pour myself into it. I'll never forget, I was in Houston, Texas, Dr. Johnny Pope called me and he said, David, we have prayer for our men every morning at 5 a.m. And he said, I'd like to invite you just to come pray with us. I thought, prayer at 5 a.m.? Now, I'm not a morning person. How many of you mornings are not your best moments, right? I get up in the morning, but I'm just not a morning person. And he said, yeah, we call our prayer meeting alive at 5. And all I could think of is alive at five, dead at six. Boy, I mean, I don't see this working. But I said, sure. He said, good. He said, I'll pick you up at 430. You know what? I thought, we're going to walk in there. There's going to be three guys. There weren't three guys. There were 300 men. And at five o'clock, I watched those men start praying fervently like nothing I've ever seen in my life. I mean, men were crying. Men were crying out to God. I was so taken by it that literally at moments, I stopped praying, preacher, and was just watching. It so struck me. One man came up and he said, here's a list. He said, there's 400 names on it. We've been praying for their salvation. He said, we've been praying six months. There's only four to go. Wow. The most powerful thing on planet Earth is not an atomic bomb. The most powerful thing is not a nation. The most powerful thing is prayer. John R. Rice used to say, every failure in life is a prayer failure. And God's looking for somebody to pray fervently. I told you this morning about how my wife prays for our kids. It's an amazing thing. Most of the time, she's weeping while she's writing those prayers. because she's pouring herself into it. What would it take for you to say, I want to be that kind of prayer warrior? I want to be one who prays with that intensity. When I go in courtrooms, I promise you, I pour everything I have into it. I hope in hearing this message, you say, I believe Brother Gibbs did the best he could to pour himself into it. I sure want to. But I want that same relation with Him. Fervent prayer. Number one, I'm going to give Him thanks because He's put me exactly in the situation I'm in. Number two, boy, more than I want deliverance, I want to make God look good. Did you make Him look good last week? I want your honor to be exalted, God, way more than I want relief for myself. And boy, then number three, fervent prayer. Write the fourth rule down. And this is a hard one, especially for me. You've got to wait on the Lord. Now that's commanded all through Scripture. Read with me verses 13 and 14. And Moses said unto the people, fear ye not, stand still. Now, wait a minute. We're in a mess. And I mean, we've got impenetrable mountains on two sides. We've got an 8-mile body of water 800 feet deep on the other side. But I can promise you, the one thing we don't want to do is stand still. I don't know what we better do, but doing nothing doesn't sound... I want you to hear me. All through the Bible, God kept saying, wait on the Lord. And we have this notion that waiting on the Lord means to do nothing. It doesn't mean to do nothing. This is the period where God does the faith development. This is the period where you say, in spite of the fact that I don't see how, I promise you God is doing what I can't see. Remember, it's not impossible if you can figure out how to extricate yourself. But when it's impossible and you need God to make a way where there is no way, God wants you, because without faith it's impossible to please Him, God wants you to start building confidence that He's doing something even though you can't see it. Wow. With my mom, our home pastor came out This was really one of the most discouraging things that I've experienced in my life. Here my mom has been so sick. This disease has so devastated her. And our home pastor came and he was a fine man, but he said something that really hurt me. My mom said, pastor, would you pray? Here she is strapped in a wheelchair, can't dress or feed herself. And she said, pray God gives me something to do for him. And our pastor said, Mrs. Gibbs, you probably need to understand God's through with you. And I got mad. I mean, I really got mad. I have never taken a swing at anybody, but I was ready. I thought, listen, we didn't ask for this, and you don't need to say that to us. You could at least be polite and say you'd pray for it or something. And he said, never forget his words. He said, you need to understand God's pretty much written you off. And boy, my mom saw the well up in my eyes. I'll never forget. She said, Davey, you honor me and be seated. And my mom said to our pastor, she said, Pastor, I don't know what God's doing, but I'm waiting. And He's doing what I don't understand. But I promise you, He's building my faith. This is where God does the great faith development work. These trials are what God uses like treadmills for the soul. It's where God builds our faith. Remember, faith is the substance of things hoped for. And while you're sitting there saying, man, I'm trusting, hoping for God. That's what's building the faith. No hope. No faith. That, by the way, is why the devil wants to destroy your hope. Because if he can destroy your hope, he can destroy your faith. That's why people who come around who destroy your hope are so devastating because they're really destroying your faith. Have you ever met these people that their ministry in life is to suck the hope out of you? They're like little walking hoovers. They just want to vacuum you dry. And boy, you're around them and you say, my goodness, they like suck the hope out. Waiting on the Lord doesn't mean just sitting there Look at the rest of what God said. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today. For the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. By the way, after this incident, Egypt was never a military power even to this day. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Wow. Now, I just really have trouble because by nature, I don't like to stand still. I'm one of these guys that says, let's do something even if we have to repent of it later. How many of you understand what I'm saying? I mean, we want to do something. You know what God says? I am doing something when you stand still. That's why the command is be still and know. Because I'm building your faith. So God says, I want you to praise and thank me. I want you to be concerned for my honor and glory over your deliverance. I want you to pray fervently. And I want you to be willing to stand still and build your faith. Write the fifth and final rule down. Take the next step of faith. Verse 15, And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore, Christ, I want you to speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. They've waited. And now God says, I want you to take the next step of faith. Wow. Spurgeon said, our business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. You want to see God do the impossible. God's waiting for you and for me just to take that next step of faith. After we've praised and thanked Him, after we've honestly said, I'm more concerned for your glory than my deliverance, after we've prayed fervently, After we've waited for that faith building, knowing that God's doing something, then God says, take the next step of faith, whatever that may be. Yeah, but I don't know that my next step of faith is going to solve anything. God didn't say, take the next step that will solve everything. He said, take the next step of faith. You see pictures of this Red Sea Deliverance, Largely, totally out of character, a man with the United States Army Logistics Unit said that in one night to take two million people across eight miles in 800 feet of water, he said, if they walked consistently at a three mile pace, and he said that would be unlikely, he said to cross them in 12 hours, he said the cut of water would have to be 55 miles wide. to get them across. Wow. God's about to do what you can't imagine, but he wants you to take the next step of faith. A pastor who had just come to our area came to visit our family. Just to stop in and be nice and pray with my mom, And he said, I understand that you had a really hard time. And he said, I just want you to know I'm praying for you. And he said, our little church, he said, which is just starting, is praying for you. And my mom said, well, would you pray, God, give me something to do? I don't care what. And he said, you know, how would you like to come and sit in your wheelchair give a Sunday school lesson to the kids." And my mom said, that'd be wonderful. She said, adults just stare at me funny. But she said, kids come right up. They're not afraid of my wheelchair. And they're not afraid of me being strapped up. And he said, well, we don't have much in the way of kids, but he said, I'd sure be honored if you'd come do that. So all that week, my mom had us dress her and put her in front of a mirror. And from her wheelchair, she practiced giving a Sunday school lesson to kids. And I said, Mom, are you sure you want to do this? This was the next step of faith. We went that Sunday and there were no kids there except my sister and me. So you know what my mom did? She gave the Sunday school lesson to my sister and me. Now we'd heard it at home and all I kept thinking was, I'm doomed to go to Sunday school with my sister the rest of my life. This is crazy. But my mom gave that lesson. And the pastor said, would you come back next week? We'll try to have some kids here. And the next week, there were three other kids there. And week after week, my mom went and gave the Sunday school lesson to kids from her wheelchair. Finally, my mom said to me, she said, you know, we need more kids in our Sunday school. And I said, that'd be nice because I'm tired of going with my sister. And she said, what we need to do is try to get a bus or something to bring some kids. And I'll never forget, she said, tomorrow we're going to take a step of faith. I said, what are we going to do tomorrow? She said, you're going to dress me and drive me down to that big bus company downtown, and we're going to ask them to give us a bus so we can bring kids to Sunday school. And I remember thinking, Mom, I don't think they give them away down there. I just don't. And I said, we don't have money. And she said, by faith, I've been asking God for that bus. Let's go down there. The next morning, got her up, got ready, helped her eat. And we went out to get in the car. I accidentally dropped her. I caught my arm on the door trying to get her in and I dropped my mom and I really hurt her. I wouldn't do that for anything. She's on the ground. I'm on the ground. She's crying in pain. And I said, Mom, if God was in this, He would at least let me drop you. I'll never forget, she said, you just wait. Help me wipe my tears. By faith, we're going to get that bus. She said, this is just the devil fighting us. Finally got her in, drove down to the bus company. Huge place. Only one place to park. We parked and it was right in front of a window. We parked there, and man, when I got my mom out, she was still in a lot of pain when I got her in her wheelchair and all. And I said, you sure you want to do this, never forget? She said, dry my tears one more time. Let's go see what God's going to do. And I kept telling her, don't be disappointed. Because I didn't want her to be hurt. We went in, very nice receptionist met us, and my mom said, we've come so you can give us a bus to use to get kids to Sunday school. And the lady said, you mean like rent you want? And she said, no, I need you to give it to us. And the receptionist, really polite, she said, I don't know that we've ever done that here, but let me get one of the vice presidents down here. And next thing you know, here comes a vice president down. And a very nice guy, and he said, I understand you want us to give you a bus. And my mom said, yeah. And he said, well, I've been here 30 years. We've never given one away in 30 years, and I don't see us doing this, but thank you for coming. And the answer's no. And he was polite, but really kind of curt. And I thought, well, that's that. And my mom said, well, before I leave, can I ask you a question? She said, do you own the buses? And he said, what do you mean? He said, do you own them? He said, well, no. The owner owns them, but I'd been here 30 years, and my mom said, well, no wonder. You can't give me a bus. They're not yours. And that little secretary, bless her heart, shined up and said, yeah, he don't own them any more than I do. I don't own them. He don't own them. She just kind of got in the spirit of it. And to make a long story short, next thing you know, my mom said, could I talk to the owner? And he said, the owner's not gonna come talk to you, and he called up, and he said, I don't believe it, the owner's coming down. And the owner came walking in the lobby, nice man, and he said, I wanna tell you why I'm down here. He said, unbeknownst to you, you parked right outside my office window. And I watched you get out, and I saw the pain you were in. He said, I saw that boy dry your tears and strap you up. He said, I never saw a bus mean that much to somebody. And he said, the steps you took to get this, he said, that's why I'm here. Now he said, I'm not giving you a bus, but I wanted to tell you personally, I just never saw it matter to anybody that much. My mom said, well, thank you. But she said, I just want to say one thing to you. She said, one day when you stand before the Lord, I think he's going to be awfully unhappy. that you didn't help me get kids to Jesus when you could." The man said, what? She said, you have the power to help me do it. And you could do it. And I've been praying, God, it leads your heart to do it. But one day you're going to stand before the God that I serve. And that man looked at my mom and he said, wow, Then he said, well, I got a question. If I give you a bus, who drive it? You? Never forget what my mom said. She said, you know, I hadn't thought of that. You're right. I need you to give me a bus and a driver. I forgot I need a driver. The owner of that company said, I don't know why I'm going to do this. And the vice president, he said, now Al, we don't, he said, she's pointed out to you, I own the buses. He said, I'll give you one bus one Sunday, that's all. I said, I don't believe it, she got a bus. A lady who can't trust herself, who can't do anything, but thanked God for her trial and who made God look good. and who prayed fervently, and who took the next small step of faith. My mom said, oh, she says, thank you, thank you, but she said, I need to ask one more thing. She said, I was too afraid to ask for three, but there's three sides to town. Could you give me three? And that man looked at my mom, here's what he said. He said, lady, one Sunday, three buses, three drivers, but you gotta promise me you're gonna be dead sure God knows about this. That's what he told my mom. And my mom said, I will, I will. We wheeled back out in the parking lot. I said, Mom, I don't believe it. You got buses. She said, I didn't get them. God did that. She said, son, I can't do anything. But God did it. He only gave us three buses one Sunday. Because the second Sunday, He gave us four. And within the year, He was giving us 36 buses and 36 drivers every Sunday. And he gave us over 40 buses every Sunday for 20 years. Every one with a drive. The Sunday school with no kids in it, within five years time, never had less than 5,000 children in Sunday school. And it was all run by a lady in a wheelchair who couldn't trust herself. who couldn't hardly feed herself, whose rim ministry was the love of that piano, but wanted God to look better. When that man that owned it got ready to retire, he wrote my mom a letter. And he said, Mrs. Gibbs, best thing I ever did was give you some buses. He said, because of you, I'm saved. Every member of my family rode those buses and got saved. He said, almost all my drivers are saved. Every Sunday, my mom would have me push her wheelchair from bus to bus and she'd tell the drivers, now put out your cigarette and you're going to church. And they'd all follow her. And they would say, I don't want to go. She said, I'm not asking you. I'm telling you, put it out. You're going to church right now. Remember, you work for me today. And she'd take them in. And one after another, they got saved. She said, all my drivers got saved. And in that letter, he said, thanks for doing what couldn't be done. And then he said, thank you for taking what you call that step of faith. God's looking for somebody who He can show Himself strong through. This service is going to be over in mere seconds. My Bible says the Spirit of God is going to and fro through the whole earth looking for somebody He can show Himself mighty through. God wants that to be you. He wants it to be me. He wants it to be every one of us. I'm going to praise and thank you for my trial. God, more than I want deliverance, I want you to look good. Your honor is going to mean more than me getting what I want. And I'm going to pray fervently. I'm going to pour myself into it. And God, I'm going to wait and have my faith built. And then I'm going to take that next step of faith. Pharaoh, you can't imagine what's coming, buddy. Your army is going to get obliterated by the power of God. Because God's people did it God's way. I beg you for America. If there was ever an hour our nation, ever an hour our families need to see God make a way where there is no way, it's this hour. But you got to do it God's way. This service is going to be over in mere seconds. But you can make a decision that will change everything. I'm going to be the Christian. that God can use to make a way where there is no way. I'm going to be the one who does it God's way. Bow your head in prayer. Father, thank you. Such dear people, thank you for them. They've been so gracious, so patient. But Father, now, I don't know what it'll be or how it'll come up, But I know this, we have a God who loves to make a way where there is no way. Obliterated relationships, God can change every bit of it. Impossible situations, only impossible with man. For your Word says there's nothing impossible with you. And Father, we want to be the people who show this world. We want the privilege of making you look good. Heads bowed, how many here would say, David, God sure spoke to my heart. And God helping me, I want to be that kind of Christian. And helping me, I want to do it God's way. My heart's been touched this afternoon. If that's true, slip your hand up right now. Raise them quick, raise them high. You've raised your hand. I want to ask the piano to quietly start to play. I want you to get out of your seat and come to this altar right now. Without other invitation, don't delay. You raised your hand, you get up and come right now. David, I didn't raise my hand, but I should have. You come too. Watching God make a way for my mom where there was no way changed my whole life. And when someone says, I don't see how, I say, you don't have to see how. You just need God. He makes a way where there is no way. Would you come? Father, we bow. Oh, thank you. Without you, there wouldn't be a way. But with you, you delight in making a way where there is no way. And You didn't just tell us the story of the children of Israel for a historical significance moment. God, what You did for them, You delight to do for all of Your children. To make a way. Father, we want to be the ones who praise You and thank You. Forgive us where we've not. Where we've thanked You for our blessings, but questioned our trials. We want to give thanks. And God, we want to be the ones who Want to make you look good. And who wait and who pray, pouring ourselves in fervent. In fact, to the best we know how we do that this moment. God, we want to take that next step of faith. Hear our hearts cry. And God, it doesn't matter what it is. You're the God who makes a way where there is no way. We praise your name in the name of our Savior. Amen.