Trust The Lord And His Timing

Introduction

Good evening, good evening. My Bible’s open to Isaiah chapter 40. I need you to look at this powerful text. Right at the conclusion of this chapter, we’re going to read in Isaiah chapter 40. Let’s see if we can grab a hold about verse 28. I’m so glad that you’re here. Glad to worship the Lord with you. We’ve got folks here visiting with us. You’re our honored guest indeed. Hope that you are finding that what we do here lifts your spirit and renews your soul. Because we’re seeking God and serving God according to his word. There’s much today that passes for church that’s little more than entertainment. It’s not about entertainment. It’s about serving God and knowing God. Let’s see if we can get some of that this evening.

It’s Isaiah that I’m reading from. And I’m reading here at the end of Isaiah chapter 40 and in verse 28. There the prophet says, Isaiah 40 and 28. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understandable, his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint. And to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even you shall faint and be weary. Young men shall fall exhausted, but those who wait on the Lord. Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, and they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall ride and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.

Let me ask you a question from that great text. Have you ever known anybody who praised waiting? Ever heard anybody say, Man, I had a great day today. I was at the DMV to get my license renewed. And the wait was like three hours. It was incredible. It was so wonderful to just stand stagnant in the line. I thought for a long time the woman waiting on me was dead. But after a while, she moved. And three hours. Oh, let me tell you something. You think that was great. I was at Disney World last week, and every living person on the planet was there too. And they were all in line for the same ride that I was in line for. We sat there for days and didn’t write anything.

It was wonderful. Just wait like that. No one talks like that. We hate waiting. We hate traffic. We hate lines. We hate to wait. How many businesses have an app now so that you can just pick it up and go, oh, what a wait. No, waiting, no waiting, no waiting. And then we read Isaiah 40, and we act like, oh, waiting, that’s so great. Waiting on the Lord. It’s very spiritually cool. We sing those songs. We have these big pictures with eagles, and that verse is printed across the bottom, and we talk about, oh, teach me to wait, Lord. Waiting on the Lord. Oh, that’s the thing. I want to be waiting on the Lord. Waiting on the Lord. Waiting on the Lord is hard. Waiting on the Lord is tough.

There’s a reason this passage was written. And it wasn’t just for people who live in the 21st century where everything is modern and everything is right now. It was written for all people at all times because everyone finds it hard to wait on the Lord. Waiting on the Lord stretches our patience and it tests our faith and it runs our prayer life through a cauldron of fire, under which I am afraid to tell you many people’s prayers, faith, and patience completely willed. I’m waiting on the Lord. I prayed and prayed. I need a job. And yet I still don’t have a job. I’m waiting on the Lord. I’m single. I want a good Christian mate that I can serve God together with. Why am I still waiting?

God said it’s not good for man to be alone. Why am I alone? Lord, we want a baby. We want a child to raise, to honor and know you. We’ve been to every doctor you can think of. We’ve been through every embarrassing question you can imagine and every invasive procedure that they can invent. We’ve done all of that. We have no child. Lord, we are waiting. We are seeking you. We are praying. When will we have a child? My life is flat. It seems the fidd and the energy have gone out of my marriage. Lord, I’m praying about that. I’m seeking after you. When, Lord, are you going to do something about how my life is just mediocre and ordinary? How long do I have to keep waiting?

That’s what people want to know. And that’s just our everyday discipleship. Because every day we are called to wait. And what many times we want is to stop waiting. When will it be eagle time? That’s what I want. Maybe we would be helped. In our everyday discipleship. If we had a little better understanding of how God works, of God’s ways. And to help us in that direction, maybe I’ll just tell a little story familiar to many. Do you know the story of the tortoise and the hare? I’m not sure the tortoise and the hare would get much traction today. We’re such an immediate society, but it is a very old fable about the rabbit challenging the turtle to a race. And the turtle says, Bring it.

I got this. And the rabbit is all laughing at him. And of course they start, and the rabbit’s just firing out, and he’s way down the road. In fact, he’s so far ahead. Those of you who know it, don’t spoil it for those who don’t. The rabbit pulls over to the side and gets a little nap. And while he’s napping, what happens? The tortoise, slow and steady, goes sailing right by and slow and steady, wins the race. Slow and steady. Who wants to hear about slow and steady? We don’t have much interest in that today. Keep at it in a dogged and determined way. Who has time or interest in that? But I want to suggest to you this evening that if you’re interested in this whole business of waiting on the Lord, if that’s a struggle for you and your everyday discipleship, then you need to know, I need to know that in many ways, God is a lot closer to the tortoise than he is the hare.

Now that may catch you by surprise, and I’m certainly not saying that God is a turtle, no. God is a spirit. God is not like man or a beast. But in the way that the fable illustrates, slow and steady persistence. I believe that is an idea that the Lord would heartily endorse. Because the Lord, when you come to understand his ways, the Lord often moves slowly. Have you noticed that in the Bible? If you’re going to trust the Lord, and if you’re going to trust God’s timing, you’ll need to understand that oftentimes God moves slowly. Many times that’s something people haven’t exactly picked up on. But this evening, my goal is to help us better understand the Lord in his ways, to see what he is doing.

And perhaps if I could understand God’s way of doing things, then I might have a better understanding of how God is working in my own life. And that might cure some of my impatience and frustration. Waiting on the Lord is helped when we understand how God works. So my goal this evening really is not to study a single passage of scripture, but to step back from the Bible, maybe like at a 10,000-foot view, and really look at God’s modus operandi through all of the Bible. And in some ways, this is a little bit different sermon. Maybe I should pledge not to preach at 100 miles an hour this evening because we need to think about the Lord being slow. And what I want this lesson to do is to thoughtfully and carefully bring us to a better understanding of the Lord.

Maybe that means yesterday’s lesson wasn’t thoughtful or careful. I hope not. But I know a lot of people who just don’t understand the Lord in his ways. They do not get why God moves slowly. They do not understand that more often than not, the work of God in our life is slow and steady and dogged over time. That in this race, God is the tortoise, and that does not seem to bother him at all. The Bible shows us repeatedly, again and again, God takes his time. That has vast implications for our everyday discipleship as we learn to trust him. Maybe the thing to do here as we’re working with all of that is to just put some Bible under all this turtle talk. Really? God moves slowly?

1. God Works Slowly

What do you mean about that? What are you saying here, Mark? Well, let’s just try some of this. Would you get Genesis chapter 1 with me? Look at Genesis chapter 1. Here’s the account of the creation of the entire world. What would you say about the creation of the entire world? What I would say about that, as I’m reading in Genesis 1 in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, Genesis 1 2. God said, Genesis 1 3, let there be light. There was light. What’s amazing about that? Have you ever thought about this? Is that God could have done all of this immediately, in the blink of an eye, instantaneously. But the Lord didn’t do that, did he?

It actually takes six days, six literal 24 hour days for God to craft and create everything that he’s making. That is, in some ways, kind of surprising and kind of slow. How about Genesis chapter 3? Look at Genesis 3 15 with me. In Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. Here sinner enters the world, spoils all that God has made. And God immediately has the plan already in place. And so Genesis 3 and 15, the devil is told, I will put enmity between you and the serpent, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. It is the promise of the Messiah. And that the Messiah will set right what the serpent has done. Can I ask you this?

How long between Genesis 3.15 and Jesus’ arrival? We don’t know exactly, but it’s a long time. Like five or six thousand years until this promise comes to pass. Are you seeing something about the work of the Lord? Look at Genesis chapter 6. And Genesis chapter 6, verse 6 says that the Lord, the Lord regretted Genesis 6, that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, I’ll blot out the man whom I created from the face of the earth, from the land, from man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. I’m sorry that I have made them. This is the account, of course, of Noah and the big boat. And so Noah gets word about this and is told to build that boat.

How long? How long till that boat? How long shall you need it, Noah? About a hundred years. That’s a long time. Wait, a hundred years for it to reign. That’s a long time. You want to see more of that? How about Genesis 12? In Genesis chapter 12, one of the absolutely foundational passages for the entire Bible. The rest of the tone of the Old Testament is set right here in these amazing promises that are given to Abraham. In Genesis chapter 12, the Lord said to Abraham, Genesis 12 and 1, go from your country and from your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless him. I will cursor him who dishonors you, I will curse. In you all families of the earth shall be blessed. That’s an awesome promise. Great nations coming from me. How long? How long? Well, if Abraham is standing here in about 2,000 BC, the Exodus isn’t until 1440. That’s a long time to wait for that promise to come to pass. And what about that business? In you all families of the earth shall be blessed. That’s the Messiah again. That’s two thousand years away. That’s a long time. And I’m using a number of these illustrations from Genesis because it’s so foundational to so much of the Bible. But it’s just everywhere. David is promised in 2 Samuel 7 that the Messiah will sit upon his throne.

How long until the Messiah comes from when David is there? That’s a thousand years. And what about punishing sin? Lots of people think God is just really quick on the smite button. He’s just ready all the time to just smite everybody left and right. Okay, try some of that in the Old Testament. The children of Israel, they divide into the ten tribes in the north and the two tribes in the south, and the ten tribes in the north. How many good kings did they have? That’s right. None. Zero. Nada. Not any of them. They were all wicked idol worshippers. Horrible people. How long did it take God to punish them? That was two hundred years. Until the Assyrians come and take them into captivity. Judah wasn’t a whole lot better.

Bunch of idol worshiping kings there, an occasional good king, Hezekiah, Josiah. Most of them were rats as well. How long until God punished them? That was another two hundred years until Babylon carries them off. Over and over and over again. God works slowly. You think it’s different in the New Testament? It is not. In Acts 2, the gospel is preached, the kingdom begins, the church begins. What did God always wanted? God always wanted all people to be in his kingdom. How many Gentiles were baptized in Acts 2? Not any. Gentiles are not invited into the kingdom until when? In Acts 10. You can read from Acts 2 to Acts 10 in a few minutes. How long is that actually? That’s about it’s 10 years. It may be longer.

What do you mean 10 years? Why didn’t God just say in Acts 2? Go get you some Gentiles. The Lord didn’t say that. God allowed the church to start and to grow and to begin to mature over and over again. God works slowly. And you need to know that’s not just on a national level. That also works on an individual level. Abraham spends 13 years waiting for Isaac to be born after God says, you’re going to have a boy. Thirteen years. Joseph spent two years in prison waiting to get out. Joshua and Caleb had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years with all the faithless losers in Israel before they went into the promised land. Paul spent two years in prison when he wanted so desperately to go forth and preach the gospel.

There’s just lots of times where the wheels are turning slowly. Now, is there never any time where God does things immediately and instantaneously? Yes, there are. There are people who are struck dead on the spot, and in my book, that’s pretty quick. And one night Hezekiah prays, and an angel devours 185,000 Assyrian armymen in one single night. They are all slain. So God can’t, Paul and Silas in Philippi in jail in Acts 16. God busts them out with an earthquake the first night there. God is capable of working very quickly. Don’t misunderstand. The tortoise is slow by nature. He can’t do otherwise. So what you need to see is what I need to see. Is that God works slowly because he chooses to work slowly.

2. Why Do We Expect Such Immediate Solutions?

He could do it immediately. God can do anything. He has all power and sovereignty and might. God wants to move slowly. That ought to help us some. In our expectations of God. Once you know that, why do we expect such immediate solutions? We have become such an immediate society. We want everything now. Our McDonald’s recently built a second lane in the drive-thru. Because you don’t want to wait more than three minutes for an awful hamburger. That’s just great.

I’m rolling my money down, chunk it in the car. We’ve got to have everything right now. Talk to these people if you don’t believe it. I had a young person tell me, I like texting. Email is too slow. The E in email stands for what? Electronic. Electronics move at 186,000 miles a second. Oh, too slow for me. Wait, text messages are coming in like what? Warp factor nine? Boom! There it is. It’s so quick. We struggle then when we want things so quickly when we come to church. And somebody starts talking about the power of God in prayer. God can do anything. I heard the preacher say that. He has almighty power and sovereignty. And the prayers of a righteous man, they’re very effective. God hears and answers our prayers.

So teach me, Lord, to wait. What are you talking about? Waiting. I don’t want to wait. I’m struggling with addiction and temptation. Lord, why don’t you just take that out of my life right now? Lord, I’d like to develop as a Bible class teacher, as a deacon, as an elder. What about all that Bible reading stuff we talked about last night? I don’t want to do any of that. I just want to get there. How about, Lord, you just zap it and I’m just there, I’m just fixed. I’m all grown up spiritually mature. Or how about the size of this congregation? This is a great size. 200 is really cool. 250? How about? Hey, 500 would be better. 750, even more. Hey, Lord, why don’t you just grow us this church overnight and fix our building problems too?

Just all in once. Just do it. And of course, there’s nothing like pain and sickness to get our attention. My mom is sick, Lord. The doctors say they can’t do anything else. Lord, I need something and I need it now. I don’t want to wait. I want you to go and go and do and fix and solve right away, on and on. A job, a mate, a child, a conversion for someone we love who refuses the gospel. We want these things and we want them fed ex now. But if we understand the way God works, what would possibly make us imagine that somehow we’re due immediate solutions? That’s just what God does all the time. So when I didn’t get my immediate fix, somehow God let me down.

Where did we get such thinking? You can’t find that in the scriptures. Even if you did not know anything else that the Bible says about such matters, if we know the ways of the Lord, we should know that imagining God will proof up immediate solutions to all of our difficulties is far outside the norm of what the Bible shows us. Listen to Colossians in Colossians chapter 1. In Colossians chapter 1 and verse 9, and Colossians 1 and verse 9. Listen to this verse talk about a process, about steady and slow. In Colossians 1 and verse 9, so from the day we have heard Paul says, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and spiritual understanding so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Do you see all those process words? And you see all the time in Colossians 1 9. We are praying that you’ll be filled. That’s going to take some time. And then when you’re filled with his will and spiritual wisdom and understanding, then you’re going to do some walking, verse 10, which will cause you then to be able to bear fruit, verse 10, and even the end of verse 10, increase in the knowledge of God. What about that sounds instantaneous? Not any of that sounds like that. In fact, in Luke 18, in Luke 18, Jesus talks specifically about these ideas. And Luke tells us, I love this. Luke often will give an editorial comment. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he’ll explain to us what Jesus was doing.

And so there is this parable here, and Luke tells us in Luke 18, verse 1, he told them a parable to the effect, Luke 18 and 1, that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. What about that says, pray and receive instantly? Nothing in Luke 18 1 sounds like that. Can I say to you this evening? That if you have decided that God has to be the rabbit, that he owes us lightning, quick solutions, that what you are doing is you are setting yourself up to become angry with God, disappointed with God, frustrated with God, because that’s not how God works. And maybe we should stop for a moment here and just think about that a little bit. Why is it that God works slowly?

3. To the Lord, It's the Journey That Matters

Isn’t it because? Because to the Lord, it’s the journey that matters. The shaping that comes as we struggle and persevere and continue and keep on keeping on. We know this, parents, don’t we? Every parent here has had the experience of a child coming home from school or coming home from a friend’s house, and this friend has a bicycle. Oh my. I have to have a bicycle now. I need right now. Ten minutes ago would have been better. I’ve got to have this bicycle immediately. Johnny has a bicycle. I do not have a bicycle. My life will never be the same if I do not immediately get a bicycle. Can we go buy a bicycle? I’ve got to have a bicycle. What happens in that situation, Mom and Dad?

Some parents. They go down to the bike shop and they buy a brand new flashy bike and two matching helmets, don’t they? Is that good, parenting? Some parents say bikes are cool, but bikes are expensive. You know what you ought to do? You ought to save your allowance. Maybe you ought to do some odd jobs. Mow some yards, do some babysitting. Save up your money, and then you can buy a bike. Which Johnny, oh I’m gonna die if I don’t get a bicycle right now. But over time, Johnny works, saves, works more, counts as pennies, dreams of the day that he’ll ride that bicycle. And then there is that day when finally there is enough money, and we go down to the bike store and we pour out all these pennies and quarters and fold it up, crumpled up one dollar bills, and we count them out to the man at the bike store, and we go home with this incredible bike.

And the boy’s proud of it, and he takes care of it. There is pride of ownership. There’s understanding of self-discipline and two marshmallows. There’s all that learning that went into that so much more than just the bike. Right now there’s a kid sitting here who’s been pestering mom and dad for a bicycle. He’s like, you’re killing me here. But there’s something to be learned. In the journey, sometimes walking the road to the destination is just as important as where we are going. And as good parents, we know that, don’t we? Do you think your heavenly Father doesn’t know that? He knows. He absolutely knows. Listen to the word of God in James chapter 1. In James chapter 1. James talks here in James chapter 1 about the journey and about struggling and about the need for slow and steady perseverance and persistence.

When James says in James 1, 2, count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. The things that we struggle with and that we cry out to God about and that we demand God fix immediately. James says we need those things. That they shape our character, that they make us who we ought to be in our everyday discipleship. Those things along the way are fitting us and suiting us to serve God. Paul says the same thing in Romans 5, in Romans the fifth chapter, in Romans chapter 5. Paul says in Romans 5. In Romans chapter 5, Paul helps us think about this beginning in verse 3.

There he helps us see. In Romans 5 and verse 3, we rejoice in our sufferings. We rejoice in our sufferings. We’re Americans. We don’t rejoice in our sufferings. We want someone to fix our sufferings, to stop all of our suffering. Paul says we rejoice in our sufferings. Because we know that suffering produces endurance. And endurance produces character. Character produces hope. And hope will not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit has been given unto us. The journey. Walking along slowly and steadily, those things build us, shape us. Isn’t it true? That our heavenly Father is more interested in our spiritual growth than in our immediate comfort and convenience. Certainly the Lord could immediately gratify our every whim and desire.

But if God did that, how would we ever learn trust or endurance or a robust faith or a genuine love for him? Would we not just become spoiled children, constantly demanding more? Get on it, God. When are you going to fix this to? Isn’t it true? That God’s plan is to give us more. More than satisfaction here. God is shaping us to become like his Son. That is the grand plan here, to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. And God uses difficulties and hard situations and people that are obnoxious and hard to deal with to sand us, fix us, shape us, to cut our rough edges down. That is not a quick process by any stretch of the imagination, but it is so effective.

And slowly over time we come to understand better, love God more, trust God more. It is the journey of a lifetime. It never ends until we step into eternity, into the presence of God who loved us enough to gently and persistently and carefully and deliberately and slowly help us to become like his Son. That is the way people have always become faithful followers of the Lord. Whether it is Moses for 40 years in the wilderness before he went back to leave the Exodus, whether it is David, the years spent in the wilderness being chased by King Saul, whether it is the apostles three years with Jesus Christ, it takes time. Praise be to God.

4. An Enormous Shift in Our Praying

There are, of course, enormous implications of this understanding. As you begin to work with this, and as we begin to change our expectations of God and allow Him to work slowly in our lives, so many things get changed. For example, how I praise change. Somebody says, how can you do a lesson on everyday discipleship and not have a lesson on prayer? This is the lesson on prayer. Because so much praying that we do is just about God fixing and doing and delivering, and we’ve got a list, and we’re checking it twice. And God, can you get on this? And yet now what we’re seeing is that as God works in our lives, what matters is the work of God molding and shaping me, changing me. So now, instead of God, can you get me out of this jam ASAP?

What I’m praying about now is, Lord, can I learn what you want me to learn in this mess? Can I be equipped by these circumstances to be a better servant of yours? What do I need to gain here? How do I need to be reshaped so I can be like your son? Think about that. What an enormous shift in our praying from me. And I’ve got to have this right now because I want it. Now we’re praying about God’s concerns, God’s kingdom, God’s glory, serving the Lord. We are wanting what God wants instead of what I want. That is. That’s amazing. And surely, as well, what we will find is that the emphasis is on growing. I always want to grow. Maybe the reason I’m stuck in a bad situation is that I’m not growing.

I need to be clear, I need to be careful. Can’t speak to every circumstance, many factors in our lives. The providence of God, the temptations and work of the devil, lots of things go into our circumstances and situations. But wherever we are, however we got there, don’t we want to grow? So if I’m just whining and I’m just pouting and I’m curling up my fist and I’m screaming at God, maybe the reason I’m still in this situation is because I haven’t got out of it. What God wants me to get out of it. But if I long to grow, if I want to serve the Lord, if I want to be useful to him, if I prioritize my life in the direction of the kingdom, then I am looking to gain from every situation.

5. Patience Is the Cardinal Virtue

And so God immediately rescuing me, that’s not nearly as significant as that I learn here to glorify God. Which, of course, is to say that patience is the cardinal virtue. It is about being long suffering. God is patient with me. I need to be patient with God. Do you understand what I mean by that? Can I say that? Yes. God’s work and God’s way in God’s time will require that I am patient. Nothing’s going to happen overnight. Oh, it might. But that would be that would be unexpected. That would be unusual. What I should expect is that God is going to work slowly, slow and steady wins the race. So I need to develop perseverance and long suffering to bear up and to continue on every day.

6. It's Really All About Trust in God

The famous writer C.S. Lewis once remarked, whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want. I believe he is right. Which, of course, means it’s really all about trust in God. Can I show you a passage? Look in 2 Corinthians 5 with me, please. This passage may read a little bit differently now. In 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7, Paul says here, in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7, we walk by faith, not by sight. In the immediate context, Paul is speaking of some of the troubles and travails as he serves and with the difficulties at Corinth. But without any question, he is articulating an overarching principle of Scripture that we must trust in God.

Why is it that Paul had to write stuff like that? Because we are impatient. Because we are immediate. Because we are fleshly. Because we want it now. We get tired of waiting. And so we are tempted to do it our way, to seize control, to grab the wheel. Get out of the way, God. If you’re not going to do it, I’ll just drive a wire. We want it and we want it now. Or even worse, if God isn’t working on our timetable, we decide there must be no God. How can I be suffering like this if there is really a God? There’s no point in waiting. We just give up. Can you see, brothers and sisters? That it is all about patience and trust coming together.

That if God has said that he will work things together for good in the lives of those who trust him, we must let him work. And we must believe as we patiently wait that he is work. Isn’t that what Isaiah meant? When he spoke to people who would be in bondage and captivity for years.

Conclusion

Whether you’re at the DMV, whether you’re in an amusement park, whether you’re backed up in traffic, it is hard to wait. And it is especially difficult to wait upon God when we bought into a bunch of our culture’s lies about what God should be doing and how God should be doing it, and especially when God is supposed to do it. If we’ll step away for a moment, if we’ll let the word of God sink deeply and richly into our hearts, we can do better. We can understand how God operates. We can trust him because we know that is for our good as he lets us walk the journey. We can be changed in our praying and in our desire to grow. We can look to be patient with God because we trust him.

When we have learned these things, then every day we can trust God’s timing. Because we can know that God moves slowly, we are ready. We have been taught. The Lord has taught us to wait. To wait upon the Lord. Will you pray with me, please? Almighty God and Father in heaven. Father, we come before you confessing our impatience. That far too often we think we know so much better than you. And we are quite ready to dictate to you exactly how to do. Forgive us, Father. We are frail and fleshly and so short sighted. We thank you, God, that you do not spoil us.

That you give us what is best, that you work slowly in our lives, that we might develop more perseverance, that we might have character. We ask, Father, that you help us learn to wait. Teach us, Lord, to trust you more. Help us, Father, to be anchored to an absolute conviction that always in all things, you are bringing your people home to you. Father, we give you honor and glory because you teach us to wait. In Christ we pray and amen. If you’re here this evening, maybe you’d just stop for a moment and to begin to think about the chain of events necessary to get you here tonight. The people who invited you, and the elders who planned this meeting, and the members at Decker Prairie, and all of these things that came together in God’s good providence, also you’d be here at this moment.

See how God works, and how good it is. You can avail yourself of this blessed opportunity. You could become a Christian this evening. I want to follow the Lord. I want to serve a God who cares for me like that. I want to know a Father who loves me in that kind of way. You can be a Christian tonight, baptized in water for the remission of your sins, as Acts 2 38 teaches, you’ll be a child of God. Waiting, learning to wait upon the Lord. If you are a Christian and you’re just not making a good job of it at all, then we’d love to help you get that thing turned back around. And to trust the Lord better and to serve the Lord in a better way.

This is the kind of lesson that has an opportunity to sink down into our hearts. I hope as it does so. You are moved by the unfathomable love of God and his desire to bring you to Him. And that moves you to come to Him. Could we help you do that? Make your way right down front while we stand, while we sing.