Dead Silence

Listen, I know you wanna check out this message, but before you do, I wanna invite you to come check us out in person. Here at Freelike Chapel, we're all about family and would love to connect with you face to face. So if you're ever in the central Florida area, come check us out. Here at FLC, we wanna help you discover and live the Freelike in Christ. To learn more about who we are, what we do, and how you can be a part, check us out at FreelikeChapel.org. Until then, check out this message. - December the 7th, 1988, yes, that's the 1900s. (audience laughing) The earth began to shake. Buildings buckled and over four minutes for a four minute time. Numbers are sketchy on what it comes out to be. It was between a 6.8 and an 8.2 earthquake hit Armenia. It rocked that region, and aftershocks begin to hit that were at 5.8 earthquakes. Aftershocks, 500,000 buildings fell within that four minute period. It decimated that arena. 50,000 plus people lost their lives. 130,000 were injured and over 360,000 people lost their homes and were displaced in four minutes. How do you know, your life can radically change in less than five minutes.

The story is coming out and it's a true story. There was a very, there was a father who had just dropped his son off at school that morning in Armenia. This father and son we learned later had this really cool relationship and the dad was known for always telling his son. He would say this, no matter what happens, Varam, I'll always be there. No matter what happens, Varam, I'll always be there. That was the last thing this dad told his son that morning when he dropped him off, his son was 10 years old. This son, when the earthquake hit, the dad ran to, he couldn't drive, he ran to the school just a few blocks from where they lived. Knowing that his son's classroom was on the back corner of the property, he ran around to that back corner where his son's classroom would be and he stood there and began to weep seeing the absolute devastation the entire school was collapsed. And he knew that was where my son was in class. Overwhelmed with what he was seeing, he begins to dig. He started pulling blocks of cement off and began to move all the rubble that he could find and there was a man that saw him working and people were gathered around and you heard screaming and crying and as people were watching what was going on,

a man walked up and said, "Sir, you're wasting your time." And it's reported that this father looked back and said, "Are you gonna complain or are you gonna help me?" And the man jumped in for a little bit, began to move, remove some stuff, but then lost interest and walked away, but this father kept going. People began to say, "Forget it, they're dead." It's over. Look at this devastation, parents were crying. It was absolute chaos, but the dad kept digging. Reports tell us he went 12 hours, he kept digging. He went on to 18 hours, kept digging 24, 36 hours in the 38th hour of this father relentlessly removing debris, one brick at a time, one board at a time in the process of that. He heard what he thought was a muffled voice. He reached out and continued. He picked up the last piece he could find, which is a piece of wallboard and he started yelling, "Voram, Voram, his son's name." And in the middle of him screaming that, he heard this faint, "Papa, Papa." When he heard his son yell back, then he began to hear other voices yelling back at him. It wasn't just his son, he began to hear some other kids in the process and they began to dig frantically. Parents jumped in and onlookers jumped in and they began to dig and dig and dig

and they began to pull kids out and while they were pulling kids out, they began to lift that off and all of a sudden, as they all emerged, they found 14 of the 33. and it could be heard. It was heard and witnessed back. This is a matter of record. It's not a matter of fallacy. It was a matter of record. This young boy, Varam, he was talking to his friends that all were rescued 13 other students and here's what he said, "I told you my dad wouldn't forget us." Have you ever felt like life collapsed on you and you were forgotten? You ever gone through something and you're not sure how you got there? All you know is you feel buried right now and you're cut off from life and the world and I'm just basically surviving, sucking air, hoping that something changes? I've been through that. I've been through that. When I was 19 years old, my world collapsed on me. I was in a relationship. I was engaged to somebody else. Imagine that. I was engaged to somebody else because Cindy wouldn't give me the time of day so I thought, "Okay, we'll go somebody." I was engaged to somebody else and it went tragically wrong on a lot of different levels and man, I was in a dark place three days. Didn't eat, didn't go to class, considered a lot of other ridiculous destructive ideas. I was in a mess but it was in that moment that I prayed my most real prayer and I tell everybody to this day when I was 19 years old in the deepest, darkest, worst place of my life that it had ever been to that point was the day that Jesus stopped being mom and dads and he became mine that day. I met him for myself in my dark place. 1999, 2003, Cindy and I lost two of our kids in those years. That was a dark place, difficult place. I'm preaching to others about the goodness of God and I just lost kids. It was shortly that after that our one son that was still living, Caleb, began to have breathing problems. We took him to the doctor. The doctor begins to look at him bottom line. They sent us immediately to the hospital running EKGs, began to tell us that your son's heart, the left side of your son's heart is failing. I'm thinking 1999, I just lost one of my kids. 2003, just lost one of my kids. Now the one that's living, you're telling me his heart's failing and they're talking to us in this capacity. You've got to go see a specialist. We went to the specialist only for them. You've heard me tell the story. They do an EKG on his heart and the specialist, this pediatric cardiologist comes in and looks at us and says, "The only thing I have to tell you is this, your son's heart is actually so strong he will set EKGs

off for the rest of his life." I celebrate that, but I promise you that was the deepest, darkest month and a half I could ever walk through in my entire life. I'm talking to God but I didn't feel like he was even hearing me. You ever been there? Are you there? There, there, there, there. Do you care, care, care, care? You ever felt like when your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling and hitting you in the head while you're trying to release them? I know what that's like. 2010, Cindy and I took a radical hit. 2010, we've been in ministry for years and ministry relationships kind of turned and some betrayal things happening and knives from places you just don't expect to hit and after walking through. I mean, for months, I would lay my head in her lap and cry. She would lay her head in my lap and cry. We would suck air and get up and we would speak in faith and stand on God's word and go home and fall apart, hold each other, get up and go on again. We've gone through some scary, isolated, crying, angry times while serving Jesus. We know what dead silence feels like in our life when you're talking but you don't feel like you're hearing anything back. Have you gone through the times where you felt alone, felt abandoned, felt afraid, not only with people but with God that we know things about and but what we feel in that moment, it isn't good. I want you to understand that if you've been there or you are there feeling isolated and alone from God actually is quite common. It's not this thing that you throw away that, oh, you must have done something wrong or your life is really screwed up. Listen, I've just learned that in every stage of my life, I've experienced these times that I've wondered what's going on when I've hit these moments because I feel like there's been seasons where God's gone silent in my life too. And I want to talk there's some silenced triggers, I would call them, that we all go through in life. Where I really don't feel like God's voice is the loudest. I wish you would talk louder to me. I wish you would, I wish, I mean, there's times I feel like God has been screaming at me, but there's some times that I've got to admit that I've been through this where I felt separated from God. There's been some external pressures and I think we can all relate with this.

We've gone through suffering or loss. We've taken some hits, we've gotten grief or we're going through illness and we really begin to wonder where is he? Major life transitions that we go through. It hits us being too busy, overwhelmed with circumstances in life. Those are some external things. There's some internal struggles also. Emotional pain, guilt. We're going through those hits, trauma, unforgiveness. We've taken some hits or some things have happened outside that all of a sudden it's hitting us hard. Emotional and mental factors, depression, anxiety, and we can feel so far from God, I can't hear his voice. I don't even know if he's there or even cares. There's also this thing. If we're going to be honest, spiritual drift. Where I've, I realize that I've gotten into self-reliance and I'm trying it all on my own. God, I'll come back for Easter and Christmas, but right now I don't need you. And I'm going to try to do it all on me. I think my money's enough. I think my education is enough. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction. So I'm living on a high. Just one, the lottery. I don't need God. I've got this.

I've been in that place. I start placing stuff before God. I fit God in instead of making him priority. And it's in those moments that I have experienced in my spiritual neglect of God. His voice went silent. You know, there's this other side of just misunderstanding God's nature. Some of us have looked at God as being a distant, disconnected judge who's just throwing elbows on us and we just almost cower away from him. We've been through a lot of things that trigger silence. Probably a little bit like this. One of the tribes of, or one of the kingdoms of Israel. Israel went through a season where they were separated into two different kingdoms, a northern and a southern kingdom. And the northern kingdom, they all went into Assyrian captivity. They had disobedience in their life and it was a mess. And this other kingdom, the kingdom of Judah, the southern kingdom, they were taken into Babylonian captivity. The Babylonians came in and they take it for 70 years they're there. And the truth is in this season of this hard, difficult time taken out of their land into foreign countries, but captives of another country. It was divine punishment, quite honestly,

because of their rebellion against God. God warned them, please listen to me. God warned them, please do things, right? God warned them, please don't get into idol worship. And they violated all of that. And so this was kind of a divine punishment. In other words, God allowed it. But here's what's amazing. God went with them into the captivity. God said, you're gonna go through some tough times, but I'm not gonna let you go through it by yourself. You're gonna wonder if I care. You're gonna wonder if I love you, but you gotta understand, I've got a heart of a father and I've always got a plan. You know, I've learned something parenting. If you protect your kid from every situation in life, you're gonna jack that kid up. How many of you gotta let him fall down and get a little bit bloody? And I'm bleeding, use two band-aids. You're gonna be all right. You're gonna make it. If we're always fixing it for them, if we always have to squeeze the toothpaste to letting them do it, but they're gonna spill so I know they're gonna waste so much, but they gotta learn some time.

If you're gonna get him from training wheels to an actual bicycle, oh y'all, they're gonna fall down, it's gonna hurt, but they gotta learn. They gotta, God says, I'm a parent and I love my kids and there's some things you gotta learn. Doesn't mean my love was ever taken away, but I'm gonna let you go through it, but in going through it, I'll be with you in it. This is what he promised. Isaiah chapter 41 verse 10, them going into Babylonian captivity is exactly the context of Isaiah chapter 41. It's in this captivity that this is what the Bible says. This is what God says. Don't be afraid for I am with you. Don't be discouraged for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. They're in captivity. God seems to be silent, but this is the promise that he has, I'm with you in it. There's not one thing you're going through right now in your life that God is not aware of. He sees what's going on. He's by your side and he's a very, He says, "I come close to people in their time of need." Whether you recognize it or not, God is involved in every situation of your life right now. He told him, he said, "Do not fear. I am with you."

Do you know what God's word tells us, don't be afraid? Because life brings scary times. He said, "I wanna get ahead of the fear and just tell you ahead of time, you're gonna be fine. You're gonna be all right." Would you turn to three folk and tell them, "Don't be scared. Don't be scared. You're gonna make it." God was reassuring you to watch this. I'm still with you, even in this situation. His presence was their greatest source of strength and protection. Even though they couldn't see God moving and they're in a place they never wanted to be in. God was still there working in their life. God is with you through every situation. Whether the consequences that you're going through are because of your actions or not or somebody else's actions. It doesn't matter if you've been victimized by a situation or you say, "You know, I know it. My name is written all over this. I knew it. I shouldn't have done this and this is the result." Doesn't matter where it came from, God is with you through all of it. You're never alone. There may be a dead silence in your life and you wonder if anybody's aware. But I want you to know today, you have a loving God. You have a loving God who is a father and he refuses for you to walk through it by yourself. You're not alone. This is good news.

Then he says this, "Don't be hopeless. I am your God. Don't be hopeless." In other words, God still has authority even in your situation. You might feel like you're a victim, but God will never be a victim. God is greater than what you're going through. And if you're going through it, it's only because he's opened his fingers and let stuff sift into your life because he chooses to make it all work together for your good. He's got a plan behind it. So it might make you cry right now, but he's got a plan behind the tears. The tears are going to water the soil. That's going to bring some things in your life that you never would have had. I promise you, I've been through some things in my life. When I look back over my life, I look at some hits. I look at some things that broke my heart. I would never want to go through it again, but I wouldn't replace it for the world because there were things I learned about God and me during that time that made him so personal and so real. When my heart got broken at 19, little did I know that that was a foundation God allowed to build me that I found out that he would help me when nobody else's voice would be able to help me.

God would be there. I learned to call on it. Isn't it amazing? We don't really call him until he hit a place of desperation. Oh yeah, you got God on speed dialed during that part right there, man. That 911, let's go. Hello, are you there? Like all of a sudden we're praying King James prayers. Deareth, Lord, if I need if you now, it's like we all in. When the real hell kicks in, it's amazing. The promises we make to God during those times, isn't it? I'm never skipping church again. I'm sorry. You must have prayed prayers like I did. We go there, but he says, "But don't be hopeless. "Trust God because watch. "This season you're going through "has an expiration date on it." It's coming to an end. It won't last forever. You're stronger and you're greater than the enemy in your life. That's why patience is amazing. It's one of the fruit of the spirit. And you know what's great about that? If it's a fruit of the spirit, that means your enemy doesn't have it. And if you've got it, you can outlast any enemy

in your life and you can still be standing strong on the other side. Everything is gonna be all right. He says this, he says, "Do not fear, I'm with you. "Don't be hopeless, I am your God." He says, "I will strengthen you and help you. "I will sustain you with my righteous right hand." He says, "God's strength is yours. "You're coming through this. "God's resources are yours. "God isn't stuck. "He's active right now in your life." This is what God was telling his people that were in bondage and they were in bondage because of things they had done. But it doesn't matter whether, again, self-inflicted or outside God is with us in these deep, dark times. So here's, I want you to be encouraged today for your life. I want you to take some hope on the inside. This distant feeling that you have sometimes with God doesn't mean he's left you. will ever separate you from the love of God. No matter how boneheaded you are, no matter how bad of a day you have, you push back on God for months, you get angry with him, you say things you wish you'd never said. God can handle that. You can ghost and silence God, but he's always going to be there for you. He's always by your side. Romans 8 says you'll never separate me from your love. I'm going to be there. But watch this. God didn't just promise you his love. He also promised you his presence. I'll never leave you. I love that. It's good that he loves me and I'm glad that he's for me. But the fact that he's with me, that's what Jesus said. He'll be called Emmanuel God with us. And sometimes we think God with us as long as I'm

doing what's right. God with us as long as I deserve it. God with us as long as I'm tithing, as long as I'm attending church, as long as I'm living, we put all that together. But ladies and gentlemen, you can't put an asterisk and then put conditions below that. He said, I'm with you, deal with it. In the good times, I'm there. In the bad times, I'm there. When you're celebrating, I'm there. I love a party. When you feel like it's all falling apart, I'm by your side. I'm the one holding it together. There's never been a time you've been alone. When you feel weak, when you feel powerless, when you feel alone, God is there. He's the one strengthening. He's the one that's lifting. He's the one that's holding you up. You're not that good, baby. I know you're good, but you're not that good. You go through some things that will take your legs out. Why do you think you're still here right now? Why do you think you're still in your right mind right now? Why do you think your home has made it thus far? Why do you think that you've been able to hold your peace this long? Because God is there by your side. And if God before you, who can be against you? Isaiah 43 verse 2 says this, "When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames will not. Tell somebody I'm coming through all of it. I'm coming through all of it. Come on. I want you to tell them. I'm coming through all of it. Yes, you are. So how do you survive the silence? How do I make it out the other side of this? This season? Let's go King James. This season sucketh. I don't like none of it. How do I come out of this? Number one, I would tell you very practically, reread and repeat God's promises over your life. When you are in the deepest, darkest time, what you tell yourself is going to become your reality. And we got to be able to open our Bibles and find truths to speak to us and battle the doubt, battle the fear, push back on those things that are telling you it's over. It's done. God failed. No, that's every bit of that is alive from the pit of hell to get you to tap out, quit, run. But God hangs with you and we, you and I, need to hang in there and keep reading Psalm chapter 121. It says God never sleeps. He's always watching. He's always protecting. When you've turned your back on him, he's still there. When you're looking in face to face, he's still engaged. Reread and repeat God's promises. Number two, how do you survive the silence? Stay committed to what you know, not what you feel. I know it's, it's, it's, it sounds great, but that's really hard. That's really hard. How do you know your feelings can speak really loud? Hands down. How do you're married?

And I've said, you know what I'm talking about? Like feelings can speak really loud, man, ain't that they? And your feelings can become a truth. You know why? Because feelings will lie to you and then it will use facts to support the lie. And all of a sudden you build a case against God's word and you judge God is not faithful and he's not there and he doesn't care because I got hurt and they said this and they said this and they said this and I lost this and this accident. Therefore based on that and all the evidence I judge God as not being kind, not being good. And you and I have to reread and rehearse the promises, but we got to stay committed to what we know, not what we feel. Do what you need to do, not just what you feel. I know this, it's so basic, but it's, it's the things that gets us down. You're going to have to pray again. When I went through, when I've been through the all these seasons, I was not praying I had tears filling like my... You know you've really prayed when you've been laying like that. You ever laid on your back and filled your ears with tears?" You ever just like, like, like, just a little river and like, "Gah, I got to get that. Oh, my God. Yeah, yeah. Oh, you ain't cried if you ain't ever filled your ears full of tears. I've been down there. Oh, yeah." No, when you hit these seasons, when we... When I lost, when we lost both of our children, oh, I prayed some things that I would never want to repeat ever again to God. Oh, I went at Him. Yes, I did. I pointed a finger. I judged God. I'm preaching your word. I'm talking about your healing and your promises and my kids die. Oh, I had a problem with God. We went at it. Only for Him to stay. He didn't turn His back and run. He hung out while I had a temper tantrum.

And basically, are you done, Scott? [Laughter] You know? [Laughter] I got you. Aren't you glad God can handle your temper tantrum? That He's a father and He doesn't walk off and leave us in our difficult times? Yeah. Yeah, it's okay. It's okay. I'm not telling you to go off on God, but I am telling you, some of you need to be more honest in how you feel when you talk to Him. You're not going to shock Him and He can handle it. We got all this stuff bottled up inside and I found out He's a safe place to go to. Job, God, where are you? David, do you even care? These guys talked real. Only for God to respond lovingly and heal their hearts and get them back on course. He did the same with mine and I found out He was more faithful than I ever knew. Do I miss my kids? Yes. Is it okay that I lost them? No. Are you kidding me? But in the process of all of that, I've got a greater relationship with God and I'm stronger in trusting Him now than ever before. I have a loss here. I've got two more kids there. Y'all couldn't handle two more Thomases running around this church. I promise you right now. So I'm just, but there's a day coming. Y'all going to meet them, I promise you.

Gabrielle and Isaiah, y'all going to meet my kids. I got a girl in a boy in heaven along with this right here with multiple personalities. But I'm telling you, all of us are going to get together. But God's strength is us in that. Anybody ever been through something and found God to be faithful and He brought you out the other side? You thought it was over and you thought it was done. Only for God to be, yes, stay committed. So why do you stay committed? You keep your tail in church. You keep talking to God. You keep, you, you hang it. You get some voices. You get life groups. You get, you get the right music playing. Yes, you do. You get your Bible out. Oh, there you go. You open up the Psalms and start reading the prayers of another man who was in his struggles. I can relate. And now I'm putting my name in scripture while I'm reading this out loud and talking to God. God becomes so personal in that time. Do what you know, not what you feel. River back to what strengthens you before. Well, I was preparing my message yesterday. I'm sitting at Starbucks just. And I wanted to move this sentence up to here. So I highlighted real fast and, and click cut. And as soon as I did that, I accidentally highlighted like two pages and gone. I went, I got nothing to say on Sunday. But anybody glad for that little return button up at the top?

I got news for you when you feel like so much of what you've been working on has been deleted. One simple click can turn things around. You don't have to go rework everything. I'm coming right back to you, God, Lord, I need you right now. And he has the ability to restore and strengthen and put back together. When you thought it's all gone and it's all over. Reread and repeat God's promises. Stay committed to what you know. Number three, get in community. Would you tell two people around you just to tell them I need you in my life? Would you, would you just admit that to somebody? I need you in my life. Listen, listen to this. When God isn't talking, listen, when God isn't talking, you need a friend who will tell you what God says. you better have the right friends in your on your pity party to put some hope up inside that thing. And remind you, I know it sucked with right now, but God is good. And we go to hold on, baby, wipe your tears, let's get some Botox and a coffee. You're going to be fine. Let's go. We need, we need some people. You need the right community. Stop doing life alone. So let's just act like we've got it together. No, there's nobody that good. You were built for community. You need people in your life. And that's what the church is all about. Hebrews 13, 5 says this, God has said, I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. Mark and Susan had been married for a long time. And after a few years, Susan began to develop difficulty with her eyes, with the ophthalmologist and found out she had a disease and she was rapidly losing her eyesight. She was going blind. This hit them hard. Both marking Susan together. They had different careers going on. Mark was in the military and Susan worked downtown in a corporate job and realizing that her sight was leaving. She and her husband, Mark, began to do a lot of the routine things together that she could develop, a real familiarity. No one in the day is coming. I'm not going to be able to see anything. So really walking through what that looks like at work, going through everything, getting things laid out so that when the day

comes, if she could not see, she could still function there. Just getting all the peace together. And Mark and Susan, Mark said, here's what we're going to do, Susan. We're going to go for the next several months. And I'm going to start together with you. When we, we're going to get dressed, we're going to leave the house. We're going to walk out. We're going to get on the bus together. We're going to ride downtown. We're going to get off the bus. We're going to get to the intersection, cross the street. Go into the building that you work in. Get to the elevator. Know where the button is. Click that one. Go to your floor. Get into your office. Sit down and we'll have that set up so you can do your work. And they worked for months on this. Mark came to Susan one day. It's a true story. Mark came to Susan one day and said, listen, Susan, if I'm going to be honest with you, he said, I'm getting to work late. And our routine of me doing this every morning to get you there is really cutting into and starting to call some issues where I'm working. He said, I need you to start doing this alone now. By this time, Susan had lost her sight. It was gone. She was very, she was very concerned to say the least. And Mark said, I believe in you, Susan, we've, we've walked through this. We've done everything we can. You can do this. And so that next morning, Susan did that. She got up. They were getting dressed together, but then out to the bus, rode downtown, get off, down to the intersection, cross the street, into the building, up to the right floor. She was doing this. What she was, they started this on Monday and now it was Friday. She's going five days into her routine and seemingly handling it. Okay. She was, she was getting back on the bus Friday to go home. And the bus driver said, man, I just want to say, you are one lucky lady. And she, she didn't take it right. She said, lucky, I'm blind. Don't, don't say that. Don't, don't do that. Are you kidding me? He said, no, no, no, no, man, I didn't mean that. He said, I just, I just noticed something that I don't know that you're aware of. He said, all week long, I know you got on the bus, but whenever you got off the bus, there was a man in a military uniform standing outside the bus when you got off. And he watched you carefully as you walked up on the sidewalk. And as you walk down the sidewalk and we're about to cross the street, he, he walked right up beside you. He was walking where you were. And he crossed the street with you and stood there until he saw you go down and go inside the office building. He's been here every morning. And he said, as soon as you stepped inside the

building, he got a smile on his face. He snapped to attention. He saluted you and blew you a kiss. And then he left. He said, I just want you to know you're a blessed lady. Ladies and gentlemen, there's never been a day. There's never been a minute. There's never been a moment that God's not been in this with you. leading. And He's celebrating every step you take. Keep trusting Him because you're not doing this alone. Would you stand your feet in this room today? This season that sometimes we call a wilderness season or a desert, God's going to use this to build your life because it's in these seasons that you learn to trust Him not because you feel Him but because what you know about Him. It's tough but that's where we mature, that's where we get stronger and it's in those moments that the Bible says He draws close to us, don't fret because Jesus went through this as well. He was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness and went through the biggest battles of His life right there and had to overcome them by the Word of God. You and I can make it through anything. If you're struggling today, whatever the issue was in your life, that seems to be robbing your hope and attacking your mind, whether it's self-inflicted or whether it's something that you feel like has been done to you. At this point it doesn't matter. He's still there. Someone shout, "He's still there." And He's still holding you up and He's the one that's by your side and He'd never build on you and He's a father. He's not a judge that's holding it all together, giving you strength and you're going to come out the other side and you're going to discover who He is, just keep doing what you know to do, not what you feel, and you watch God do things in your life that you never thought possible. Your best days are ahead of you. You're going to be all right.

Father today, I pray over my friends in this room who are in the biggest struggle of their life. They are facing hell, they have cried, they have been in suffering. They're trying to figure it out and work it out. Never realizing that you were there the whole time. You've not turned your back and walked away, but God, in the deepest, darkest moments you were there, you were still bringing a comfort. You were still bringing a strength. You were helping us take the next breath. You were the one that was seeing every tear fall from our face. You knew where we were and what was going on and even though the silence was deafening, you've always been by our side. Your presence has always been available and I'm thankful today, God, that I've experienced that for myself. Looking backwards over my life, I can have enough evidence to always convict you of caring. Always convict you of being present. Always convict your promises of being true. So thank you, God, that if you did it for the kingdom of Judah, that in the middle of their captivity, you stood by their side, you went into it with them. That means there's not one thing we're going through today that we're doing alone. You're by our side, you're with us, you're for us, you're strengthening us. You will make this season serve our life and we know the best is still yet to come. We will emerge stronger, we'll emerge more mature. We're coming out the other side, realizing that you're a father who loves us supremely. Thank you, thank you for loving us enough to walk us through the difficult times as well as the good times. We need you today and I pray strength over that marriage, I pray strength over that family, over that student, over the business owner right now, the fears and the worry, the anxiety that is plaguing their heart and their mind, the questions, I'm asking you today, God, to remind them that you're there.

Remind them that you're there. You're a very present help in the time of trouble. You know how to care for those who trust in you. We worship you and thank you for this today, in Jesus' name. Everybody said amen. Amen. If you received that today, put those hands together and celebrate your God. We hope you enjoyed this message. To hear more impactful messages just like this one, check us out at FreelifeChapel.org. We hope you have an amazing week. [MUSIC]