In These Uncertain Times

In these uncertain times, people will undoubtedly start to QUESTION their faith. Let me encourage you that times such as these offer you an excellent opportunity to PROVE your FAITH. If a man never has the opportunity to use his faith, he will never know how valuable that faith truly is. Hebrews chapter 11 tells us of several men of God that were facing impossible situations, but because of their faith, they came out VICTORIOUS. The chapter starts out by saying, “Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things not seen.” I like to think of this verse as the author telling us to grab ahold of NOTHING and hang on to it until it becomes SOMETHING. Standing out to me among the men in the chapter, Abraham’s faith was tested he was asked to take his son Isaac to the top of a mountain and offer him up as a Sacrifice. Now this was the same son that God had promised Abraham a great nation would come from. As Abraham and Isaac went up to the mountain, Abraham told the men with him to wait where they were while, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” (Genesis 22:5) On the way, Isaac asked where the sacrifice was, and Abraham told him that God will provide. Now in Hebrews 11:19 we are told that Abraham had the Faith that God would raise his son from the dead after the sacrifice. I could go into details about what was involved in offering up a sacrifice, but I will leave that for you to study on your own. The point is, he was facing an impossible situation, and even in the midst of that IMPOSSIBILITY he held on to the PROMISE that God had given him years before.

Right now we are facing an INVISIBLE ENEMY that has so many in a panic. I still, for the life of me, cannot comprehend the rush on Toilet Paper. Seriously, it blows my mind. But getting back to the subject of faith, why do we PANIC when we face things like this virus? It is painfully clear to me that we haven’t grabbed ahold of a “Hebrews chapter 11” type of FAITH. The bible clearly tells us in John 15:7 that, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, Ye shall ask what ye will, and it SHALL be done unto you.” So, ALL the questions going through your mind right at this very moment can be answered when you answer these two simple questions: Where are you ABIDING, and what have you been doing with that measure of faith that the Lord gave you? (Romans 12:3) In this time of turmoil there are a lot of people that are allowing Jesus to PROVE Himself. I promise you today that if you will open up to Him, He will SHOW UP and SHOW OUT. 

I remember the weeks and months immediately after the attacks on 9/11. Many people swarmed the Churches. Folks that I had never seen in church suddenly showed up. However, the sad part about the story was that as soon as the PANIC stopped, so did the people. God is looking for a FAITHFUL people, people that will be there in the GOOD times as well as the BAD. The Bible tells us that if God’s people, the ones that He has called, would HUMBLE themselves, and PRAY, and SEEK His face, and TURN from their wicked ways; THEN will He hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Now we ALL want to see our land HEALED so this is what it is going to take:

1. Humble Ourselves

2. Pray

3. Seek His Face

4. Turn from our Wicked Ways

He has given us the keys. Only when we do what He has told us is necessary, will God be OBLIGATED to fulfill His promise. I know for a fact there has been a lot of the praying going on, which is wonderful, but so many times we only pray when we have problems. The rest of the time we are too BUSY or in our own worlds to make time for the one that holds the world in His hands. We must go back to step one and HUMBLE ourselves before we move to step two and PRAY. A five minute prayer-and-done will not cut it. Once we have humbled ourselves, we have got to pray long enough, stay in His presence long enough, and forget about everything going on in the world around us long enough to transition to the point that we are genuinely SEEKING HIS FACE. 

The Old-Timers use to say "Pray through." What were they talking about? Well let me tell you a story that happened to me a LONG time ago. In one of our Youth Services, the minister used one of those old fashion alarm clocks as an illustration. She told us that we were going to pray for 30 Min. I thought “No Problem!” She set the clock and we all found us a place to pray. I remember the first 2 minutes felt like an eternity. I peeped up to look at the clock, and I thought the hands weren’t moving at all. But then something AMAZING happened; I began to REALLY pray. I got serious with God, and I began to pour out my heart to Him. I had humbled myself. I had got comfortable and started to seek His face. All the earthly things in my mind were pushed aside and my mind was on Him and Him only. When at last the clock began to ring out, there was a room full of young people that had the attitude to just throw the clock out the window because we were not done. Even though I was a young teenager then, I still remember the POWER of God that we felt that day. That was the day that my prayer life really started. That was the day I began to put my faith to WORK. Since that day I have seen God do Miracles one after another.

I know these are not easy times. This invisible enemy has hit some of us harder than others, and we are not out of the woods yet, but don’t wait till things go bad to Pray. Pray as fervently in the good times as you do in the bad times. Paul told the Romans, the church at Thessalonica, and Timothy to pray without ceasing, and it applies to us today. Prayer is more than just asking for something. Sometimes prayer is just going before God and saying, “Hey Jesus, how are things going up there? I am looking forward to the day when I can see everything that you have been working on. I really hope it is ok if I borrow a trumpet from Gabriel and see if I can play a tune on it. You know how much I love music.” Some of you would say “Pastor Dale that is crazy.” Well, maybe so, but when God created Adam and Eve in the Garden, He went down every day in the cool of the day to walk with them. I believe he was talking to them as FRIENDS. I challenge you to compare how do you talk to your friends and how do you talk to God.

“OK Pastor, that all sounds great, but what do you want me to do?” I am so glad you asked! The first step is humble yourself, put the presence of God above every other thing in your life. Then, set a timer for 30 min (preferably one of those old fashion alarm clocks), turn off the news (you’ve heard it all by now anyway), stop scrolling on your phone (everyone else is going crazy being stuck inside their house just like you), find a place with no distractions, and REALLY pray. When the timer goes off, you might find out that you aren’t ready to quit. The closer you get to God, the easier it is to STEP OUT ON FAITH. Today would be a good day to start if you haven’t already.

Bless Ya Bunches

Pastor Dale