This morning, I'm going to continue kind of on the subject that Dan was talking about last week, which was how do we thrive in the desert? This morning, we're going to look particularly at how do we trust God and how do we continue to pray when it appears that God is silent to us, when we pray and we pray and we pray and nothing happens? You know, we read the Bible and we believe the Bible, do we not? We believe that this is God's word. This we believe that this is God's story. And yet it's hard for us many times. To look at what's going on in our lives and think that this is part of God's story, too. But indeed, it is. We get disappointed when our prayers don't get answered. And we get more disappointed when other prayers don't get answered. And over and over again, we feel like we're sitting out there and we're praying to God and we're giving Him our prayers and our needs and our requests. And we feel like nothing's happening. Does that happen to you? Sometimes God doesn't answer. Or sometimes He just answers in the total opposite way in which we asked it. God, that's not what I asked for. And yet you gave it to me this way. You gave me the opposite of what I asked for. The thing is, we have to fight this. This is wrong thinking. This is a wrong way of looking at our prayer. This is a wrong way of looking at God. We have to fight this by trusting in what God has promised us in His Word. God has given us these promises to give us hope, has He not? We don't live in a vacuum. He has given us His promises for a reason. They aren't just idle, empty promises. They are promises to give us hope and to encourage us to trust in the God who has created everything and is in charge of everything and is in control of every aspect of our lives. And we've got to go on living in the reality of where we're at, where God has us, and yet live in the hope of asking him for things to improve, for things to change. And we can pray with that hope. Because God has promised not only that he hears us, but that he cares for us, he loves us, and he wants what's best for us. And so when we pray, We have to believe that God is listening and answering, even when it would seem that he is not. So we need to start with the idea and the perception, even though it may just be our perception that God isn't answering, that God is silent, that our prayers are going on deaf ears. Because we live in that reality, do we not? I do. There are things that I pray for that it doesn't seem like anything's happening. If anything, it's going the other direction. So how do we deal with that reality? How do we live with the reality that says, I'm asking for this and I don't see anything happening. I don't see God at work. I don't know if God is listening. So how do we deal with this reality? living in that middle of that desert when it's dry and it's hot and it's barren and our mouth is parched and we long for water and thirst and something to quench our soul. And so I'm going to ask an opposite question of what I've been asking, and that is this. I'm going to ask if anybody's willing to share of a time or a prayer that you have seen go unanswered. And maybe for a long time. Anybody willing to share that. Of course, we have an obvious one, and that's Valerie's head pain. You can keep going. I think at first as we prayed about it, we thought maybe that there would be some type of medical thing that would be able to help her through that. You know, and as the years have gone on, we're at four and a half years now. and all the medicals and exhausted we are just you know at the mercy of God waiting for him expectantly waiting for him to answer but there are hard days and not to continue to pray when she just seems to be doing bad and bad and bad. Probably right now is Heather and her salvation. And even longer than that is my brothers and their salvation. We've been praying for many, many, many years. A long time for all of those. Anyone else? How do we keep praying when those prayers don't seem to be answered? There's nothing to do about praying, but so profitable business, blessing for a husband who works really, really hard. I think one of the, for me, the hardest things to keep to keep on praying is in my own mind, I see things like particularly with Heather. Oh, this is going to be it. I mean, this is just so bad. She's just not going to possibly be able to see anything but Christ in this. And she doesn't. And then when you hear the stories of other people being less of what God's used. makes it hard, not so much that I am hopeless in the Lord, but I think he's just not going to do it. His decision is no. And I have to keep reminding myself, as long as Christ hasn't returned and Heather's still alive, that there's hope and God may. I don't know what he's got planned, but I like to, in my own mind, I think, oh, well, okay, that's a no. It's not going to happen. And so it can be discouraging. I mean, these things are good prayers, are they not? I mean, these aren't selfish things. Give me a new car. I need another house. I need a vacation home. These are good things for our children. These are things that we think it's got to be better for them this way. These are important prayers. praying for someone's salvation, praying for their safety, praying for their health. Praying for their spiritual growth. All very good things, and when they. You ask for these things and they just don't happen and you just keep praying, you get discouraged because there's just nothing happening and you think, well, God is God really listening? Does he really care? How is he working this out? In other ways, you know, we go through Difficult trials. I mean, in the Bartosz's case, you know, Diane and Steve are praying for their daughter. Well, what about her? I mean, she's going through it. She has to every day deal with this. And she asks and pleads and begs God for relief. And then comes. Sometimes we pray and then the problem just gets worse. And worse. And harder. For those of you who are on the social media, you know that this week my uncle died. He was my father, my father's brother-in-law. He was my aunt's husband. They found out seven, eight years ago that she had Alzheimer's. His main prayer was that he would live one day longer than she did so he could finish taking care of her. It didn't happen. It happened suddenly. He was up and walking around in the morning. And by one o'clock in the afternoon, he was basically his body was at the point of shutting down already. I know that was his prayer. He mentioned it. He talked about it. Lord, I just need to make it one more day than she does. He always, as most of us probably do, as husbands and males, Fathers believe that we're probably going to go first. I mean it statistically is the way it goes, right? So he believed that he thought that was the way it was but you know, okay now look what I need you I need to trust you that this is gonna happen God not answer his prayer. I Believe he did Just not the way we wanted it to or not the way he wanted it to go. I Many times we give up because we keep praying and nothing happens. And so we you know what? It's not doing any good. It doesn't really matter. God isn't listening or he's not answering or he's answered in another way, so I'm just going to quit praying. You become disappointed, frustrated, angry. Sometimes we even become bitter towards God because of it. These are all the wrong way of looking at it. Think of Johnny Erickson. In one moment in time, in one summer afternoon, her whole life changed. And she became totally dependent on other people. She prayed for healing. Lots of people prayed for her for healing. Did God not answer that prayer? He didn't answer it in the way that they wanted. But she would tell you that God did answer it. And God had some other plan for her in it. Paul asked for his thorn to be removed. And God said, my grace is sufficient for you. So prayer can be hazy at best, sometimes. It can be difficult to understand how this works. Doesn't God promise to answer my prayers? Doesn't God promise these good things for me? Doesn't He promise that He cares for me? Doesn't he promise that he is doing everything for my good? How do I deal with that when it's not going what I perceive to be my good? Psalms are full of these things. The various psalmists all the time plead for God and feel like God is absent. Psalms 10, verse 1 says, Why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? And we all know Psalms 22 verses one and two, Jesus quotes it, does he not? When he's on the cross. Jesus felt that way. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. Oh, my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer and by night, but I have no rest. Doesn't sound like a guy who's. Feels like God's listening, does it? Turn with me one more for one more to Psalms. Psalms, chapter six. And we'll look at the first six verses. Psalm six, verse one. Oh, Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger nor chasten me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away. Hear me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed and my soul is greatly dismayed. But you, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord. Rescue my soul. Save me because of your lovingkindness. For there is no mention for you in death. In Sheol, who will give you thanks? I am weary with my sighing. Every night I make my bed swim. I dissolve my couch with my tears." Doesn't sound like a guy who has much hope. Every night. He's crying himself to sleep. He feels like he's drenching his bed every night because he can't stop weeping and crying because he doesn't have relief. A lot of times we make it out that because of this, that God's the bad guy. He's not listening. He doesn't care. He doesn't answer. In a sense, we separate the reality of what is, and what is, is that God is in control, and that God has us in whatever situation we're in. And that God is good, and that He does love us. And we separate that because it's hard to rationalize and understand and reconcile the two. We can blame God sometimes for not bailing us out. Sometimes the problems are really our own. Don't we contribute to them a lot of times? Sometimes God is very kind and gracious and bails us right out of our troubles. And sometimes He has other plans for different reasons and He doesn't. Sometimes it's our sin and sometimes it's not. I want to make it sound like, well, you know, the reason why this has got to be happening is because there's something going on in your life. Because that's not the case at all. Sometimes it might be. And we need to honestly evaluate what place we're in in our lives and what role we had to play in why we're in the situation we're in. But sometimes, like Job, it just is. Job was good. God made a point of pointing it out to Satan. There isn't anybody on this earth that's as good as this guy. Sure, we'll see. We'll see, Lord. So it isn't always the case, and we have to live in that reality, that that's where we are. That's where God has us, and yet God is good. Paul Miller says, the praying life is inseparable from obeying, loving, waiting, and suffering. So we when we live in this, we have to go on believing that and trusting in God that he has a plan. He has a story he's telling and we are part of that story. And we may not understand why we're in this part of the story that we're in. And why God would be good to us when we're going through this part of our story, whatever it is. But we got to trust that God has a plan. And we got to fight to continue looking and trusting God when our prayers don't go unanswered or when our prayers get answered in the ways we don't want or don't see as being good. Living in obedience. I'm sure Pastor Saeed is wondering why God has him and why it's not There's Christians around the world praying for him. And yet he languishes, imprisoned in Iran. In a hospital right now because of how badly he's been beaten. And he's loving the unlovable. He's loving the guys who are beating him up. Suffering through whatever God asked for us Waiting on the Lord for his perfect timing to give us relief one way or another See God has his story and it may be incomprehensible to us But it's woven into everyone else's story, too So not only does God have a plan for him. I But he has a plan for all the people that are around him. And all the people around this world who are praying for him. And it's a complex story that God is in control of. It is very, very detailed. Isaiah 41, 8 through 10 says, But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham, my friend, you whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and called from its remotest parts and said to you, you are my servant. I have chosen you and not rejected you. Do not fear. For I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Surely, I will help you. Surely, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. He's talking there specifically about it to Israel at that moment. But what is so different about us as God's children? Has he not chosen us? If God has chosen us, He has a plan for us. He is our God. We are not to be in fear or anxiety. And He is upholding us. What does Romans 8.31 say? What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? How is that true when a guy like Saeed, Pastor Saeed is in prison. Tortured and beaten. For his faith. Aren't those people against him? How does that true? How can that be true? There has to be an aspect that it is because God is for us. Before that, in Romans 8, he says that we need to wait on the one who is doing all those things for our good. Doesn't he say that in Romans 8, 28? All these things are for our good. Everything that God is doing in our lives is for our good. Do we believe it? Do we trust in it? We need to get passionate with our God. especially in the moments when we have those disappointments and those setbacks and those trials that last. If we don't do that, we're going to become cynical. We're going to doubt. We're going to become embittered toward God. So there are two ways of dealing with these trials in our lives. And Paul has this in his book. We can either go on thinking that we're not part of the story and that there is really no story, or we need to live in the reality of what God has promised and that God is weaving a story. That that story has a purpose and a plan. So we can either live Not thinking that we're in God's story and we can become bitter. Or the opposite of that is we can wait on the Lord. Because he has promised us and that we know he is loving us. Without a story, we become angry. Angry at God, angry at others. Angry at ourselves. Angry at everything. We believe in God's story, we watch and wait and look to see what glimpses of hope we might have. What things do we not see in the story? If we don't trust God, we walk around aimlessly. We have no purpose. We have no faith that we're going to get out of the situation. We just go on trying to hang on. Or we can live in wonder, wondering what God is going to do next. Even if it's hard and even if it's difficult. We either become cynical or we fall to our knees and pray all the more and plead with God all the more. We try to control the situations if we're hanging on to ourselves. Or we submit. And we give it over to God and say, you know what? It's yours. It's your deal. However long you want me to be in this. OK. Just give me grace. We are either hopeless or we're hoping. We are either thankless. Or we are thankful. We either blame God. Or we look and see where we're in error and where we need to repent. And we need to come back and do the right thing. And obedience. Oh, we really need to be content with the story God is telling and what he's telling through us. I don't know about you, but I believe I love a good story. I mean, I love movies. I love books. I love good storytellers. But good storytelling involves conflict. Involves one of three things. There is some form of tension. There is some form of conflict. or there is some form of adversity, or if it's really good, it's got all three. And what I love about a good movie is what I also hate about a good movie, or a good story, because it can drive me crazy when there are these things going on, or misunderstandings going on, or this person is going through whatever they're going through, And nothing goes right. Every time they turn around, it's just another roadblock, or it's another setback, or it's this or that. And it's frustrating. But it makes for a good story, because in the end, things turn out, don't they? God is no different. In fact, He's the best storyteller there is. Every story in this book is full of conflict and tension and adversity. Is it not? Why would we think that the story he is weaving and telling in our lives is any different? Isn't it great in this book to see how God is at work? How God sustained Job? Man. And yet we live in our life and we think, oh, man, I just can't deal with this any longer. Lord, why are you just being so cruel to me? If we didn't have these difficulties in our lives, would we ever trust God for anything? Would we need to? Where do we turn when things go bad? Where do we turn when things are good? How often do we not acknowledge and are not thankful? when those good things are happening. We quickly forget about God when things are good. That's a tendency, anyway. You've got to remember, too, that the other aspect of this is that God's trying to make us like Him. In order to make us more like Him, He has to get rid of all the bad stuff in our lives that we are doing, that we've got going on. All the wrong motives. All the wrong thoughts. All the wrong feelings. All the selfishness. So part of our story is what God is doing in our lives in order to accomplish that. So in order to live content within God's story, In order to rest in the story that God is weaving in our lives, there are three things that we need to remember and we need to do. The first one is don't demand that the story go your way. Isn't that way we pray most of the time? Lord, you've got to do this. It's what my uncle was praying in a way, right? There's no other way. It's this way. You've got to keep me alive now one more day than she's alive so I can take care of her. That's a noble thought, it's a noble request, but it's pretty demanding, right? It means that he has a better plan than God does. And obviously, God has a better plan somehow. Even though we might not see it right now, because God's plans are perfect, are they not? We've got to believe that what is said in Romans 8 is true. And that he is working all things, all things for our good. And so we need to completely surrender to him. And we need to trust him that he knows what's best. We may think we know, we may think we may have a good idea, and sometimes we might be right. And when we're in line with his thinking, but his ways are perfect and he knows best. Good thing to do in a situation like this is, okay, Lord, what are you doing? If you're going to keep me in this situation, what are you doing? Show me, help me to see what it is that you are trying to do. Second thing is to look for the storyteller. Sometimes we get overwhelmed with our situation and we look at what's all going wrong and all the bad. And we ignore and we don't look for what the good might be coming out of this. We don't look to see what God might possibly be doing and how he might be at work. We need to look at what he's doing, see his hand, and then pray in light of what we see him doing. We need to have an eye for what Jesus does. More than one time, God takes barren old people who prayed all their lives for children and surprises them at the most unexpected time in their lives. Abraham. Sarah Zacharias He does things in unique special strange ways, what about Jesus being born in a manger? In a feeding trough in a small little town Obscure He loves to do surprises in the most unique and different ways. And then thirdly, we need to stay in the story. We can't check out. We can't drop out of the thing because it's not going the way we want it to go. We need to hang in there. We need to believe and trust God. The other thing is we need to also realize that sometimes it's not that God is silent. It might just be that He's telling the story in a way that we didn't want it to go. In fact, God is really rarely, very seldom is He silent toward us. We are just not listening. Not looking. Paul Miller in the book at this point in time uses the story of Joseph. Again, here we go back to Joseph, but it was interesting the angle in which he gave this and It really goes to. All of the little things that God does. And it. It's an interesting thing that I didn't even think I believed I had to scour through chapters of Genesis. To see if this was really true. But it's an interesting thing, he talks about Joseph and his brothers And what did his brothers do? His brothers steal him of his coat and then sell him for money. So they make money off him and they get rid of his coat, this beautiful thing that his dad had given him. And he goes through a terrible time getting sold to Egypt and going through all of that. He finally gets himself up and gets himself moving again, right? Things are going well for him. He's in charge of Potiphar's house. What happens again? Another coat. She rips it off him. And another tragedy happens. He spends all those years in the dungeon. Man, all the good happens. And he realizes when his brothers come that God has had a plan. And that God has meant it for good. He says so, doesn't he? So in the end, how does he treat his brothers after it's all done? He's now revealed himself to his brothers. I love this. Genesis 46, verse 22. He has revealed himself to his brothers. He's told them to go. He's giving them instructions. Go get dad and bring him back. All of the family, come on. I'm going to take care of you. We're going to have, this is going to be great. And then Genesis 46, 22. 46, 22. Must be 45. That's what happens when you look at the top corner and it says 46. And yet it's still in Chapter 45. To each of them, he gave changes of garments. He gave them coats. But to Benjamin? Remember now, he already gave them money. He repaid them for stealing his life and stealing his money, and he repaid them already twice by giving them back their money. So he gives them coats, and then to Benjamin, he gave 300 pieces of silver and five changes of garments. God, this is not randomly in the Bible. There's a reason why he put those words in the Bible and he talks about those coats, the clothing. There is nothing in this book that isn't important. There is no little detail in our lives that God isn't particularly in charge of and taking care of, no matter how small. No matter how big and and disastrous it might seem. One of the ways we can know God's heart, begin to see God leading this story in our lives, is to understand God. One of the best ways to become a better prayer warrior And to pray more often and to see God at work in our lives and to pray over those things is to understand God. And how do we understand God better? What has He given us? So ask yourself, do I know my God well enough? to know what he's doing in my life. To be able to see what he's doing in my life. I want to ask right now if there's another kind of personal question. But I've asked if anybody's asked for a long time about something. A long time. And it finally came to be. Are we still waiting on some of these things. Second row jobs. As a young man, I just remember praying that someday I would love to have a wife. And I don't know that I was actually thinking it had to be a Christian. I don't know where my... I mean, I believed I was a Christian, but I'm not sure I was only looking for that. That was the criteria at the time. And I dated a couple of different gals and stuff, and somehow I just knew they were not the one, you know. And I was just getting frustrated and kind of like some of the stuff Chris, my son, went through. And it was like, God, are you ever going to give me a wife? Because I really want to have a wife and a family. And I just feel that would be so wonderful. And yet, I have the feeling that there's never going to be anyone that would appreciate me for just being me, who I am. I'm never going to be able to hold somebody's whatever it is, to keep them happy or whatever. And so, anyway, meeting Linda, it was like, this can't be real. I mean, this person is like exactly what I've been looking for all my life. How can you do this, Lord? And she is. This is Walker. I can give a couple things. One is crystal salvation that we pray for for a long time and God answered. And then probably one of the biggest and most recent would be a change in my dad that didn't happen until six weeks before he passed away. But we've been praying for that for many, many years and God did it right at the last minute. It doesn't matter the hard times that we're going through. I mean, it does matter. But it doesn't mean that God doesn't care. We have a wrong view of God if we don't trust what he says in his word that he does. God says he's a God of hope. Hope is not wishful thinking. Hope is having faith in promises. And God never fails in his promises. Every one of his promises comes true. It must have bewildered Abraham. To have God promise what he promised and then not see it happen. And not see it happen. And they get older and older. Things look bleaker and bleaker. And they try to do other things to make it happen. And God says, no, no, no, no. I'm telling you, this isn't going to happen. And then he takes him. He has a son. The promise is fulfilled. And then he tells him to go kill him. God, what are you doing? But God's promises come true. Children of Israel, the only people that have been dispersed for as long as they were, and actually are still together as a nation. Only time. His promises are true. And then there's the idea and the promise that he's walking with us in our trials. God isn't just leading us off in this trial and this thing. He's walking through it with us. He's giving us the grace for the moments that we're in. He's carrying us when we can't walk. He's sustaining us when we can't go on. You know, in Matthew 6, he tells us, he goes through that whole thing where he tells us about, we're not to be anxious for anything. He cares for the birds, cares for the grass of the field, clothes them, takes care of them. How much more does he care for us? He promises that. Even more, he wants to supply us so that there's an abundance. of what we need. Second Corinthians 980 says, 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. We believe that promise. We believe these promises. God is good. He is so good. Ephesians 3 20. I love this verse now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. According to the power that works within us. Infinite Almighty God. Personally involved in our lives. In the details of our lives. even our thoughts. But many times we are afraid to ask God for what seems to be impossible. Paul Miller, in his book, talks about his autistic daughter. He's been talking about her all through this book. If you haven't read the book, man, what an example and what a trial and what a test that he put that family through in order to teach him To teach us how to pray. We're talking about a severely autistic person. We're talking about a person who. They had had other children, several children already. And why his wife had never prayed this before, but he she specifically asked God for nine months that you would take care of this child, that this child would be OK. And she was severely autistic. She does not speak with her mouth to this day. For 25 years, they prayed that she would be able to speak. And it took 25 years for God to answer that prayer. 25 years. And it was, in a way, through a speech computer that she utilizes. So they ask God for more. Let's do more impossible things. Let's ask Him for her to have a job. And not just to have a job, but that she would have a calling. Less than 1% of people that are as autistic as she is hold down any kind of job. Any kind of job. And it's unique and it's different. But she not only has a job, but she has a Job that she loves and she thrives in. She cares for animals. She wants dogs. And it takes an aide to be with her in order to do the job. But God answers prayer. He says, I felt like I was praying for God to change the blue sky to pink. That's how impossible it seemed to him. But nothing is impossible with God, is it? Doesn't he promise us? In Genesis 18, verse 14, he says, Is anything too difficult for the Lord? This is when he was talking to Abraham about having a son and having a legacy after him. At the appointed time, I will return to you, and at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son. Jeremiah proclaims it. Lord God behold you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm Nothing is too difficult for you And then when Jesus was talking about how hard it is for a rich man to get into heaven And the disciples are well, how can anybody what does Jesus say? with People this is impossible But with God all things are possible And when the angel spoke with Mary and told her that she was going to have a son and she's a virgin, he says, nothing will be impossible with God. So he put this diagram in the book and basically. We have to live with hope that God We'll do exceedingly far above, beyond and beyond what we even can ask or think, right? And we need to live in the reality that it doesn't look that way. So we continue to live on this flat plain going along and hope way up there on the other side of the desert That God is listening and he's going to answer in his good time and in his good pleasure and for our good. And wait and hope and wait and hope and act. I mean, he doesn't talk in there like they did nothing. They just kept praying that. That she would get a job, that she would that she would be able to speak, they did lots of things, they did lots of things that failed. trial and error and working and obedience and suffering and prayer. And continue to hope. And then we can wait in expectation. As the wonder happens, and it very rarely will be in the way in which we ask for that part of the answer, but when it happens, we look back in awe. And wonder about how God has accomplished what he has accomplished and how he has how his story has unfolded. And so he prayed and asked that his daughter would have a calling. And she goes with him at times now and speaks on her little computer. And she teaches people about how to pray. And people are inspired. She has a calling in her life. She has a purpose. God has plans for each and every one of us. Paul understood that. I think this passage here is very interesting. And it is applicable to each and every one of us. Paul was unique, and yet he was the same as the rest of us. He needed an intervention from God. And he tells us in Galatians 1, 15 and 16. But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood. But it's interesting that he believes and knows that God called him and set him apart before he was even born. He had a plan for him. He has a plan for each and every one of us. It's whether we want to live and abide in that plan or we want to be miserable thinking that God doesn't care, denying the truth of what he says in his word about us and to us, for us. We all have a purpose, and that's to glorify him in everything. And we fulfill those plans through prayer, obedience, and trust that his story is good. I want to take a couple minutes. And as an example, I'm sorry. Talk about my uncle. Because he believed that plan. He believed that God had something for him. None of you guys know who he is. But there are several thousand people. With whom he has impacted. With his life. Because he believed that he had a calling. Even if that calling was to be a schoolteacher. And a Sunday schoolteacher. An elder at his church. A mentor to young adults. He did his life at moments and at times and with individuals. Didn't speak to big crowds. Maybe. There were times. He ended up, from being a school teacher, he became a principal in L.A. Unified School District, in some of the toughest schools that there are in this country, with some of the toughest gang students there are. The principal, the one in charge, And it is countless how many people in the public school system that he impacted and that he showed the love of Christ. He didn't believe in being in his ivory tower in his office doing his thing. He was out there every day in the hallways talking with the students, greeting them. He would tell these stories and I just kind of At the time blew it off like he was just, you know, see what I do. And now I look back and think, oh, God was giving me a glimpse of how to live and how to act because he cared about the students. He would address them by name. He would remember what their brothers and sisters and moms and dads were doing and ask them about them. He demonstrated that he cared and he loved them. He was a strict disciplinarian. I am sure of it. He didn't tolerate anything. His students loved him. Why? Because he also demonstrated that he loved them. He cared for young adults. He cared for high school students. He spent most of his years, as individuals would come through, pouring himself into their lives. They don't know where they're going to have this service because they don't know how they're going to fit everybody. They can't find a place that they imagine will be big enough for all the people that have indicated that they want to go and have expressed interest. They had to put a note outside the door, stop bringing food. If you really need to leave food, we have a cooler in the garage. You know, you can leave it there because it's overwhelming. It's nonstop. He's no different than you and I. He didn't do those things to become well-liked and well-loved. We were all sinners and we all have a pound of flesh in everything we do. But his purpose in his life was to give glory to God, was to demonstrate the love of Christ. And he did it to the fullest. And he did it till the day he died. And we need to realize and pray as if our life matters and that God has a purpose for it, no matter how bad it is and how bad it is. It was bad, it was hard, it was tough to watch his wife's mind dissolve. And she still has days ahead of her. The doctor last year was amazed at how long it has taken for her to get to where she's at. That doesn't happen. But it was tough on him. It was hard on him to the point that he ignored himself this week when he was feeling sick. And ignored his wife and wouldn't listen to her when, you know, thought it was no big deal. And I'm just going to keep plugging away because I have to. God's going to take care of me. But I can tell you too, he had a son that walked away, divorced his wife, quit going to church, turned away from the Lord. And it hurt him. I can't imagine what agonizing prayer he prayed on his knees that God would bring him back. And I don't know that he's got him all the way, but he moved in last fall. to help out his dad. So God was preparing things. At least she's not alone. At least there is a program in place, a person there. He seems to be on the right track. He seems to be getting it. And who knows? Maybe this is what he needed for him to see that there is only one way. And that's complete surrender to Christ. I don't know. But I got to know that God has a plan and that God had a reason for taking him right now this week. And he has a plan for us. And we can either live and ignore that God has a plan and deny that it is God's gracious, loving hand that has us going through what we're going through. Or, we can live in submission and awe and wonder about what God is doing in our lives. And it's going to impact somebody. Some people are only going to impact one or two people. But you never know what those one or two people are going to do to impact people either. That's not our place to decide what role God has for us or how much of a role God has for us. Only that we live in that role and we live it to the fullest and submit to God in prayer and anticipation of what He's going to do. Let's pray. Lord, I pray that you would Change us. Strengthen us. Give us faith to trust you. To go through and to deal with whatever problems, whatever trials, whatever situations you have us go through and live in. And the prayers unanswered. Trusting that you are weaving a story That is too amazing for comprehension. Help us to be submissive to our part of that story. And in that rest, may we live in the awe and wonder and glory of who you are and rest in the love that you have for us. In Jesus' name, amen.