Times of Transition in the Family

This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you. Welcome to All In with Pastor Jordan Easley. Today's message is about to begin, and we invite you to prepare your heart and mind to hear an inspiring message from God's Word. We hope and pray for God to speak to you today as you seek to live your life all in for Jesus Christ. And now from First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, here's Pastor Jordan Easley. Well, let me just ask you a question as we get kicked off here today. What kind of season are you walking through right now? Would anybody raise their hand and say, man, I'm walking through an easy season of life right now. Everything is great, everything's a piece of cake. Anybody just wanna raise your hand so we can boo you? Now let's be real honest. How many of us are walking through a season of life that might be a little tough, might require a little faith, might be a little bit difficult to navigate on our own? Anybody just wanna testify today? Come on, listen, that's most of us. I think most of us would say we walk through seasons of life that require great faith. You know, many of you have been super kind to ask my family how we're walking through this current season where we just dropped both of our kids off at college for the very first time, and it's a new day in my house.

We dropped them off about a week and a half ago. We drove them to Virginia, we moved them into their dorm rooms, we took them to dinner, we hung out as a family. And I'll say that Audra and I did a pretty good job of keeping it together. Like we were big and strong and tough and we didn't break. That was until the very end where we had this prayer time as a family. And we're in one of their dorm rooms and I prayed over the family and Audra prayed and Jaylee prayed, but when Asher prayed and said amen, man, it got ugly, y'all. It got, I had big crocodile tears and I mean, my chest was shaking, my chin was trembling. There might have been some snot bubbles, I'm not gonna verify that. It was wild. And I'll just tell you, mom did really good. Dad, not so much. All right, I kind of fell apart. But listen, here's something I experienced as we were pulling off of that college campus. Even though we were very sad, we had this certain kind of peace that fell over our hearts and our soul. I don't know if you've ever experienced that before. It's kind of weird because we're sad in that moment, but we have a peace. And it was almost as if God in that moment was nudging us

and saying, hey, you have great kids and they're in a great place. And I know you're not gonna be here physically to walk with them and to guide them, but it was like God was reminding me that He will, that God will be with them and God will be for them. And God was basically giving me a peace that said, hey, you can trust me in this season. And man, that's what the Lord's teaching me these days. I don't know if you're in a season like that. Maybe it's not exactly, but familiar or similar. And let me just tell you something that I wrote down in my personal devotion time with the Lord. I wanna share this with you if you're taking notes. And that is you can't always control the transitions, but you can trust God through them, no matter what they are. You can't control it, but you can trust. As we were driving off that day, my mind was flooded with so many memories. And if you've been there, you understand what I'm talking about. You're thinking about all those milestone moments that you've shared with your kids throughout the years. I don't know why, but I was thinking about like first steps and dropping them off at kindergarten. I was thinking back to sports teams and family vacations and game nights where the four of us around the table, it was like just a crazy, like looking back into the past moment. But when you're walking through a transition,

I think that's normal. In that moment, I can remember driving back, thinking about the first time that I was teaching Jaylee how to ride a bike. I remember when the training wheels were off for the very first time and she was so nervous. And I'm running alongside her, one hand on the handlebars, the other hand on the seat. And I can remember telling her, hey, you've got this, just keep pedaling. I'm right here with you, don't worry. And I can remember her also wobbling after that and screaming a little bit. And she was a little bit scared. And I'll never forget that moment as she looked back for the very first time and she realized that I was no longer with her anymore. I wasn't holding on anymore. And I can remember the panic on her face and I can remember her losing her balance. And I can also remember her crashing into the grass very softly and I'm just sitting there watching. But then I can remember her looking at me with tears streaming down her cheeks. And she asked me, why did you let me go? And I told her something in that moment that she probably didn't understand, but it makes sense now. I said, I let go not to hurt you, but to help you. I'm trying to teach you something brand new.

And for me, that's what transition feels like a lot of the times. It's like one minute, everything feels steady. Everything feels secure. But then God, for whatever reason, allows a shift to take place, a graduation or a career change, an empty nest or a new marriage, a divorce, an illness, maybe even a loss. And suddenly it feels like the training wheels just came off for the very first time and you almost don't even know what to do. But hear me when I say this, transitions aren't signs of God's absence. They're invitations for deeper trust. Think about that in your own life. What transition are you walking through? Understand, God isn't absent in that transition, but he's inviting you to trust him in a far greater way. And if your home is gonna stand the test of time, I just believe that you've gotta learn how to build through those seasons of change. If you're just joining us, this is week three of a series I'm calling Home Builders. We started week one laying the foundation. In fact, the title of the message that day was Unless the Lord Builds the House. And we looked at God's building plans, right? His blueprint for building a life and a family and a marriage on him.

Week two, we exposed the enemy strategy. Last week, we talked about seven landmines that will destroy your home. These are landmines designed by the devil and he hopes you step on them every single day. But today, week three, we're talking about times of transition in the family because every single one of us are gonna go through them. Maybe you're in them right now. You say, Jordan, right now I'm moving to a new house or moving into a new town. Maybe you're like us, you're sending kids to college or perhaps you're watching your parents age and this is a new season of life. Maybe you're grieving the loss of a loved one or you're navigating the stress of having a brand new baby in your house. Every single family is gonna walk through times of transition. And you know what I've seen and you know what I've learned throughout the years? I've learned that the health of your home isn't going to be revealed in the still seasons, the easy seasons. It's revealed in the shifting ones. You're gonna tell if your family is truly strong when you are walking through and navigating seasons that are gonna require great faith. So the question I want you to ask is this, do I wanna have a healthy home?

I mean, how would you answer that today? Do I wanna have a strong, healthy marriage? Do I wanna live a meaningful life that actually makes a difference at the end of the day? If you'd answer those questions, yes, I believe this message is for you. This message is for us because transition doesn't ask for permission. Guess what, it's coming. It's gonna show up at your doorstep and you may not be expecting it. Sometimes it's expected, other times it's not. Sometimes it's unwanted, but I've learned that it's always purposeful if God is at the center. So let me begin today by reading you something that Solomon said a long time ago about shifting seasons. This is what he says in Ecclesiastes 3. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. The Bible says God has a time for everything. Think about that in your own journey. God has a time for every single gain in your life, but also every grief in your life,

every celebration and every surrender, every new chapter that you walk through and every closed door that slams behind you. God says there is a purpose for every single pivot that you experience in this journey called life. But if we're honest, I think when we're in the middle of one of those transition, when life feels like it's out of rhythm or off balance, we don't just need a calendar of seasons, right? We need a compass for our soul. We need God to guide us and to go with us. And I think that's why I love Psalm 31, 14 so much. This is our primary verse of the day. It's one I want you to take to heart. I want you to memorize this. I want you to adopt it as your own testimony today, okay? But the Psalm says in Psalm 31, 14, but I trust in you, Lord. You are my God. My times are in your hands. I want you to see it's a personal testimony. He's saying, I trust in not me, but you. And then he says, you are my God. In other words, I'm not God, you are my God. And then he tells him, my times are in your hands. You say, Jordan, what is that telling me today? Well, let me show you what we just read. Solomon shows us in Ecclesiastes that change is inevitable. But then the Psalmist just showed us that God is also immovable,

which means God doesn't just know your seasons, but he holds them in his hand. He doesn't just see your transitions, but he sovereignly walks. with you as you navigate those seasons. Today, I wanna show you from God's word three different things that it teaches us about times of transitions. And I hope you'll write these down. The first one is that transitions are inevitable. We talked about that just a second ago. They're going to happen in your journey. Has anybody here ever tried to stop a natural transition from happening? Have you ever tried to stop that? Y'all look so spiritual today. Nobody's saying yes, but don't lie in church. If you've ever tried to stop your kids from growing up too fast, you've tried to prevent transition. If you've ever Googled how to reverse puberty, you've tried to stop a transition. If you've ever stood in front of the bathroom mirror, pulling your forehead back, asking when the personal attack happened on your eyelids and your neck, you've tried to stop a transition. So I think some of us have tried this and we're just not willing to admit it. Listen, you can stand at your bathroom window

and look outside and yell at the seasons all day long. But you know what? Complaining about the cold is not going to prevent winter from coming. It doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't matter what you do. In a couple of months, we're going to gather in this place. It's going to be freezing to death outside. There's nothing you can do to stop it. And you can wish in the same way that your kids will stay little forever. Guess what? It ain't going to happen. They're still going to grow up. Amen? It's going to happen. They're going to grow up. They're going to eat your food and borrow your car. And they're going to leave you with a quiet house and a whole lot less money in your bank account. Can I get an amen from somebody walking through this with me? Come on, we're there right now, right? But the truth is most of us just aren't very good at change. We're not. As humans and especially families, we like things to be steady. We want things to be predictable. We want things to feel under control. But here's the reality. Solomon just told us there is a season for everything.

In other words, change isn't a possibility, it's a promise. Change is coming. You don't have to go looking for transition. It's already scheduled. You don't have to wonder if change is around the corner. Listen, it's already written on the calendar of your life. And whatever change you're currently walking through, let me just tell you, that change didn't catch God off guard. Somebody needed to hear that today. That change didn't catch God off guard. He's not shocked by your changing seasons. In fact, many times God uses those seasons of transition to grow us deeper in our walk with Christ. He's trying to grow your faith. He's trying to grow your dependence on Him. He wants to remind you that you're not God, but that He is. You know what I've learned about faith? If your faith can't survive change, it's not faith. It's just familiarity. It's comfort and control. It's the illusion that you're in charge of the timeline or you're in charge of the outcome. And guess what? You're not. Remember what we just said. Your faith isn't proven in the still seasons. Your faith is proven in the shifting ones. That's where your faith is tested. That's where peace gets real.

That's where legacies are formed. You know, in the Hebrew culture, families were built multi-generationally, which means grandparents lived in the same compound as their grandkids. They understood transitions deeply, especially when they shifted from dependence to leadership to legacy, right? The role of the family would oftentimes change quickly. But today we're different than that. Today we resist transition. We are fighting aging with everything we've got. We fear change. We live in the past. We resist what's yet to come. And you've got to ask yourself why. Why are we so hesitant? Why do we resist change so much? Let me tell you what I believe. Because transitions expose our lack of control. They expose that, you know what? We really don't have as much power as we thought. That's what I'm learning in my home, just personal confession time. You know, for 20 years, I've been the protector of my kids. I've been their provider. I've been a guide. I've made decisions on their behalf. But now I walk past their empty rooms at night and I'm reminded, hey, we're now

in a brand new season of our life. And I'm not in charge of what happens next. I'm not in charge of what they're doing and where they're going or if they're safe or if they're fed, no, that's real, that's transition. I am not in control like I once thought I was. And maybe you're there today and you're realizing I don't have control of what's next. You're in a time of new beginnings, a time of letting go, a time of uncertainty, a time of grief. But I wanna remind you of something today and that is the seasons may change, but God's character never changes. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the same and He is good. Transitions are inevitable. But secondly, I want you to see transitions are opportunities. Transitions are opportunities. You know, most people see transition as a threat. Like it's against you. But I want you to notice that in the Bible, when you see a transition taking place, it's rarely a punishment. It's usually for preparation. It's not to punish people, it's to prepare people. And God uses transition over and over again to take people on a journey and to prepare them for what's coming up next. As I was praying through this part of the message this week, my mind, it automatically went to the life of Joseph.

And I thought about Joseph. If you haven't read his story in a while, I encourage you to go back and read it from Genesis chapter 37 to about Genesis chapter 50. But this is a guy who went from being the favorite son to being in the bottom of a pit. And then he found himself as a slave in Potiphar's house. And then he's a prisoner. But ultimately he became the prime minister of all of Egypt. And every single chapter of Joseph's life was filled with unexpected transition. And yet, as you read his journey, and as you lean into the text, you're gonna see one phrase pop up over and over again. And that phrase is this. It says, but the Lord was with Joseph. No matter what it is he's walking through, you see that over and over again. In fact, three times in Genesis chapter 39, you see, but the Lord was with Joseph. In his life, the location changed, things, details of his journey changed, but the presence of God didn't. And man, for me, that's not just a comfort. That's a truth that I can anchor my heart to today, right? The location changed, the titles changed, the moments in his life changes. His influence changes, the seasons change, but God never did.

And I want you to notice that God doesn't waste transition. He works through those transition. And the Bible makes that abundantly clear through Joseph's story. Did you notice that God didn't just fast track Joseph to power? Many of you have read that story. And you know that God could have very easily just like blessed him and said when he was 17, like, okay, you're in charge of everything and you don't have to go through anything tough, but God didn't do that. Now, when you read the story, here's what you'll see. He slow cooked his character in the pressure cooker of transition. And he prepared him one step after another step to get to the place he wanted him to go. Think about it. In the pit, God taught him humility. In the palace, God taught him stewardship. In the prison, God taught him patience. And in the promotion, God used this man to save nations. And at the end of the day, Joseph understood what God was doing the whole time. In fact, you get to Genesis 50 verse 20. And he would later say this about his brothers, the same brothers who had betrayed him. He said, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. You talk about how hindsight's always 20, 20,

and yet here he is at the end of this journey. And he's able to look back and say to his brothers, even the bad stuff in my life, the hardest things I ever walked through, the things I wish I wouldn't have been experiencing in the moment, now I can look back and say this, that God meant even that stuff for good. He needed that to happen in my journey for me to be prepared for this moment. Have you ever been there before? You're able to look back and say, God used the bad stuff for good stuff. And he prepared you for today. While I was in Turkey not long ago, I had the opportunity to watch a guy make pottery. Have you ever seen that take place in real life? This guy's a potter and he's sitting on one of those spinning wheels. And I had never seen that, I'd just seen it on TV. So I was leaning in and I was just watching this guy make a pot and I'll tell you what I picked up on. This process is not gentle at all. This is very different than Patrick Swayze in the movie, Ghost. That was very, very different, but that's what I was expecting. I was like, that's what I thought it was gonna be, but it wasn't, this is a, it was a rough process. So I'm watching this guy at the spinning wheel and he's pushing and he's pressing and he's stretching

and he's spinning. I'm like, man, what in the world is going on? I stuck around afterwards and I asked him this question. I said, hey, why were you spinning that thing so fast? And this is how he responded. He said, the faster the wheel spins, the more I can shape it. Now check that out. That is a great statement. That will definitely preach. If you're a preacher, that's what you put in your notes. You're like, I'm gonna preach this later, okay? Because in that moment, I realized, some of us are exactly like that pot. We are spinning so fast right now. Life is moving so fast. Some of us feel dizzy. Some of us are disoriented. Some of us feel unstable, but here's the truth I wanna hit you with today. You ready? God isn't just spinning you, He's shaping you. Think about this. He's not just spinning you, He's shaping you. He's refining your faith. He's redefining your focus. He's re-engaging you and preparing you for what's gonna happen next in your story. Somebody needs to hear that today and somebody needs to say amen when I say it.

You ready? God isn't just spinning you, He's shaping you. Amen? Hey, I'm talking right now to some parents of some young kids that need to hear that. That right now, you're about to pull your hair out, but you've gotta realize that God is training you in patience and giving you purpose and He's teaching you how to be the parent God wants you to be. I'm talking to some fellow empty nesters and you need to hear that God is transitioning you into a new season of spiritual mentorship that maybe you've never had. I'm talking to some people that are grieving and you have a heavy heart today and you need to hear that God is healing deeper places in you than you even knew existed. He's preparing you for what's next. I'm talking to some people who are waiting today and you've been in that season for a long time and you need to hear God is teaching you right now to trust His pace and not just His plan. Trust God's timing and understand that His timing is better than your timing. Isaiah chapter 40 verse 31 says, those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. Another translation of this same verse says, those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. Listen, you might be in a season of waiting right now.

You're like, man, I've been waiting on the Lord a long time. Listen, how you wait will determine if your strength is renewed or not. And the Bible tells us that we can waste our weight or we can embrace our weight. And let me just tell you, embrace it, lean into it, walk by faith, trust the Lord, not just His plan, but His pace. This week I wrote in my notes, I said, the weight room is where spiritual strength is developed. Now I want you to see, this is kind of cute, but I misspelled that on purpose, all right? Because there's another kind of weight room that's gonna build your physical strength. But I believe the Bible teaches that the weight room is where your spiritual strength is growing stronger. It's making you better. How you wait on the Lord will determine what the outcome looks like. Have you ever watched a movie and you're like right in the middle of it, you're fully engaged, like you're tracking with the storyline but then right in the middle of the movie, somebody walks in and they start talking to you. I hate that so much. But it's like, you're like on the edge of your seat, popcorn going crazy, I mean, you're like locked in. And then they come in and they start asking questions right in the middle of it. And you're like, oh, really?

Like, well, who's that? Who's that guy? Like, what's happening in the story? What's gonna happen next? And you're like, shut your mouth, right? Just let me watch the movie. If you've ever been in that situation, you've ever been in that scenario, you know what you say. You say, hey, just keep watching, right? Pay attention and you'll figure it out. You say, I know you're lost right now. I know that you don't know what's going on. You missed the first part of the movie, but just pay attention, keep watching. And it's all gonna make sense at the end, right? Listen, I'm talking to some people that need to hear that today. Because you're not at the end of your journey, you are somewhere in the middle. And you may be watching the story of your life play out right now, and you may not understand what God is doing in your circumstance, and I get that. But my encouragement to you is this, just keep watching. Keep obeying, keep praying, stay on your knees, be in the word of God, be surrounded by God's people. Because God's not quite finished with you yet. Hey, transitions are inevitable. Transitions are opportunities. But the third thing I want you to see is transitions demand trust.

Transitions demand trust. Let's be honest though, trust sounds a whole lot easier than it feels. It's a lot easier said than done. We say things like, I trust God with my life, or in every circumstance, I will trust the Lord. And that's super spiritual of us to say those things. But man, we gotta be careful, because when I say that, then the very next thing that happens, the Wi-Fi will go out, or one of my kids will have a fender bender, or I mean, even last night, I'm sitting there and the rain hit, and I've got water pouring into my basement. I'm like, oh no, Lord, not another claim. Insurance is gonna get canceled. This is the end of the world. I'm like, oh, and I'm like, wait a second. It's not the end of the world. It's just a bump in the road, man. It's just a moment. But that's what happens. We freak out as if the world is ending, and yet God is calling us to a deeper trust. We say, God, I trust you with everything. I trust you with my future. But then it's like we step into micromanagement mode. And we start working out every single detail as if God really needs our help being God. Let me tell you something, trust is easy when, when nothing is changing.

But you want, you know what real trust is? Real trust is what shows up in seasons of transition. Because in those moments, your faith isn't just a theory, your faith is tested. And the question is, is your faith going to pass the test or not? I think that's why Psalm 31 14 is such a declaration to me. It's because in that verse, David says these words, read them one more time, but I trust in you, Lord, not in me, but in you. He says, you are my God. My times are in your hands. Now I want you to notice, he doesn't say my good times are in your hands. He doesn't say my ideal timeline is in your hands. He didn't say my Instagram worthy post and moments are in your hands. He said, no, my times are in your hands. All of them, my joyful times, my painful times, my confusing times, my silent times, the times that I didn't anticipate or choose all of my times are in your hands. The Hebrew word here for, for times is a word that literally means appointed seasons. It means divinely ordained moments. So in other words, when you read that in context, this is David saying, not, not just saying, I trust you even though my life is chaotic. No, he's saying, I trust you because even my chaos belongs to you. That's the difference. God doesn't just allow seasons in your life. The Bible says he ordains those seasons and he walks with you through those seasons. So I'll say this again, just in case you need to hear it, but nothing about your season of transition catches God by surprise, nothing. He wasn't surprised about the job change. He didn't panic when your child walked away from the Lord. He wasn't shocked by your diagnosis. He wasn't taken by surprise by your delay or that disruption. And yet sometimes we act as if God doesn't even know.

Let me remind you, your times may feel unstable, but God's hands remain unshakable. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Has anyone in this room ever been on an airplane that experienced severe turbulence? Hey, how do you naturally respond when that airplane starts bouncing around in the sky? You want to talk about this in church? No. When it starts bouncing around, what do we do? We grip the armrest, we, we tighten our seatbelt. We whisper a prayer under our breath. Some of us are screaming to Jesus loudly on the airplane for everyone. Some of us are grabbing ahold of the person next to us. It's a great way to meet people, right? But have you ever noticed what happens next after you go through that series of events? The very next thing that most of us do is this. We take our eyeballs and we look directly at the flight attendant. And if the flight attendant looks calm, you breathe easier. I don't know. It's just true. It's, it's science. Okay. Check it. You're going to breathe easier. If they're still pouring drinks, if they're still laughing, there's something inside of you that says, okay, everything must be good. But if the flight attendant scrambling around and strapping in and looking scared, man, that's when your panic meter is through the roof. Am I right? You're going to freak out in that moment. Well, in the same way, let me hear, just hear me when I say this. When your family is going through great turbulence, you know what I want you to do?

Look to Jesus and you know what you're going to see when you do? He won't be panicking. He won't be pacing the floor. He will be in complete control. And listen, if your Savior isn't scared, there is no reason for you to be afraid. He said, Jordan, what does trust really look like? What does it look like as I walk through transition? Well, it doesn't look passive, it doesn't look disengaged, and it doesn't just pretend that everything's going to be okay. In fact, let me give you my definition for trust today. You ready? Trust is active surrender. It is active surrender. That's how I would define it. Trusting God is actively surrendering to God as you walk through seasons that are tough. You say, well how do I do that? Practically speaking, what are some ways that I can actively surrender to God in this season? Let me give you three real quick, all right? Number one, you can release control. You can release control. You may not be able to control the change, but you can loosen your grip. See, trust means opening your hands and saying, Lord, I don't have this, but I know that you do. I'm going to actively open my hands and not try to micromanage the details. I'm not going to try to control the outcome. I'm going to trust you through it, and I'm going to ask that you guide me as we go. That's number one. Secondly, I would say you've got to rely on God's promises. In transitions, your feelings are gonna fluctuate, but God's Word doesn't, and that's why we've gotta anchor our hearts, we've gotta anchor our souls, anchor our families to the Word

of God. So practically speaking, maybe you need to pick a verse, and you need to memorize it and repeat it at the dinner table and put it on the fridge and walk your kids through it so that they embrace what the Word of God is speaking to them. But at the end of the day, God's promises need to be louder than your fears, and this is one way to do it, to rely on God's promises. Lastly, I would say you've gotta redirect your rhythms. Redirect your rhythms. Transitions naturally cause disruptions, especially when it's related to routines. Right now, we're spending a lot more time together, we're on the porch together, and we have a new season where we get to determine what we're gonna do, some new habits we're going to develop. And let me just encourage you, if you're walking through a season of transition, it's a time to reboot and to establish some new patterns, some new habits that are going to bring you closer to the Lord and bring you closer to the people that you love. You know, that for you, that might be, you know, listening to Scripture or journaling answered prayers, but let me say, don't just drift through this season. Design rhythms that you can build your relationship on and keep you rooted in Christ. Truth isn't just, or trust isn't just about holding it all together. It's about handing it all over. It's not about you doing all the things you can do, it's about trusting God to do it His way. You may feel out of control, but just remember, you're never out of God's hands. You know, I heard about a small rural church in Georgia that caught fire and burned to the ground. This church walked through this season and everything was lost, the pews, the pulpit, the sound system, the Bibles, everything was burned to ashes. Except for one thing, there was a weathered wooden sign that stood outside of the church and it was untouched through the fires. And this is what it said on that sign.

It said, the church is not this building, the church is this people. That following Sunday, that same congregation showed up. There was no roof, there were no walls, there wasn't a sound system, all they had was an acoustic guitar and a bunch of people that brought their Bibles in a gravel, in a gravel parking lot. But one person brought a sign with them and they erected that sign right next to the old one. And that new sign said this, it said, we're still standing, God is still building, and we ain't done yet. And man, I like that. As I read that, I thought, you know, that my friends, is my prayer for you. It's my prayer for your family, it's my prayer for your marriage, and it's my prayer for your home. I'm not praying that your home is storm free, I'm praying that it's storm proof. You see the difference? I'm not praying that it's perfect, but I am praying that it is planted in the person of Jesus. I'm not praying that it's immune to transition, I'm praying that it's anchored in the truth. And guess what, God's given you His truth today. You have that as an option. So let me ask you, what season are you walking through right now? How would you define your season of transition? Maybe you're walking through a season that's left you disoriented, or discouraged, or even doubtful. If so, may I just remind you that truth is still the answer, the truth of God's Word, but trust is also the answer. And you've got to ask yourself, is Jesus really trustworthy in my life or not? I'll answer it, He is. God's Word is still your compass, God's presence is still your peace, and God's hands are still holding you.

But read that verse a little differently this week, my times are in your hands. That's not just a verse, it is a declaration of surrender. It is a bold statement of faith that says, I don't know what's next, but I trust the God who does. Are you able to say that today? You know, there's some that would say yes, and there are some that would say no. And let me say to those of you who say, I can't say that boldly or confidently today, perhaps the reason is you don't know Him the way that I know Him. May I ask you a question, has there ever been a time in your life where you've truly trusted Jesus, actively surrendered to Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Because until you get to that point in your journey, everything I just said is, it's done, it's off the table. But when we actively surrender to God, when we trust God with not only our present but our future and our eternity, that's when God radically changes everything. You see, we serve a God who still makes salvation available to us. We serve a God that sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to not only live a perfect life and die a brutal death, but to rise again on the third day. to live forevermore. And because Jesus is alive, sinners like us can experience true life. And so if you've never done that, if you've never allowed Jesus to take over and make you the son or the daughter of the King that He designed you to be, if He's never forgiven you of your sin and restored your soul and put you on a path to eternity with hope and freedom, you can do that today. So let me just ask you, have you had that moment?

And if not, would you do that right now? Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? I may be speaking to someone who says, Jordan, today, I want to experience the freedom you're talking about. Well, why don't you just say that to God? In fact, why don't you pray this right now? Say, Jesus, I want to be saved. I want to be set free. And I want to be on the path that you designed me to be. God, in the best way I know how, I'm asking you to step out of heaven and to step into my life. Forgive me of my sins and make me the person you created me to be. I turn away from my sins. I turn to you and I trust you with everything I have, everything that I want to be. Lord, I want to be a child of the King. I never want to be the same again. I want to have hope. I want to have joy. I want to have peace. And I know that that's impossible without you. So Jesus, thank you for meeting me at my point of need. Thank you for doing in my life what only you can do. It's in the powerful name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Hey friends, I'm Pastor Jordan Easley.

You know, faith was never meant to be something we just talk about on Sundays. It's a journey, an adventure. And in a world that feels more anxious, more divided and more confused than ever, a lot of families are searching for direction. That's why I wrote my new book, Kingdom Culture. In this book, we climb the mountain together and we sit at the feet of Jesus as he teaches the most powerful message ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew's Gospel. This book is designed to help you build a strong foundation for your home, to understand God's heart and to trust him with the things that worry you the most. Whether you're wrestling with big questions or just wanting to grow in your spiritual walk, this book will help you live out a faith that transforms everything. So I want to invite you to climb the mountain, to embrace the kingdom and to live the life God designed for you. Pick up a copy of Kingdom Culture on our website by following the instructions on the screen. Let's take this journey of faith together and know that I'm praying for you as you grow in your faith and live the adventure in following Jesus. ♪♪ Hey, we never want to end our broadcast

without giving you the opportunity to know Jesus as your personal Lord and savior. If you'd like to make the decision to trust Jesus and want to know more about what it looks like to follow Jesus, get in touch with me right now. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the screen so that we can pray for you and also put information in your hands right away. Today, we celebrate your decision and look forward to being a part of your personal journey of going all in with Jesus Christ. This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you. We hope today's message encourages you as you strive to live your life fully committed to Jesus Christ. ♪♪