My Times Are In His Hand | Pastor Daniel Batarseh | New Year’s Eve

I want I want to give you a phrase or sentence in the

scripture that you would hold dear to your heart going into

2023. You would hopefully hold on for

the rest of your life, with whatever years, the Lord, and

his goodness would give to you. Psalm 31.

And let's begin here in verse 11.

Here's what David writes, because of all my adversaries, I

have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors and

an object of dread to my acquaintances.

Those who see me in the street, flee from me, I've been

forgotten like one who is dead. I've become like a broken

vessel. For I hear the whispering of

many Terror on every side as they scheme together against me

as they plot to take my life. If you want to know the dominant

theme in the Book of Psalms it's lament sorrow, it's not praise,

it's not Thanksgiving. It's lament.

And that's the honesty of the holy spirit in the Bible to show

us what can really occupy the heart of man.

Even for those who are Jesus and this is David lamenting

lamenting and praising at the same time, but here he is.

Experiencing certain level of suffering, that is overwhelming.

He's experiencing the slander, the accusation, the

assassination of his character even as acquaintances are now,

betraying him those who are familiar with him, those who

he's probably work with talk with eight with are now also

joining with his enemies to try to annihilate him.

And so he's overwhelmed, he's overwhelmed, some of you have

known what it can do to you. When you even hear somebody

who's Told You Secondhand, that so-and-so said something.

About you, you lose sleep, you wonder you think you question.

You doubt. This man is not only

experiencing the trouble of people scheming against him.

They're planning to actually kill him.

Now, think about what that will do to you and so he can only do

what he knows what to do, and that's to come to God.

And to pour out his heart to spill his soul, in the presence

of the Lord. And as he's crying out to the

Lord, something happens, there are sprinkles of Hope and

messages of faith in this song. But there's a there's a

Monumental statement that he makes and he rehearses over

himself and even to us who would read this thousands of years

later and verse 14. He Comforts himself by saying

but But I trust in you. Oh Lord.

I say you are my God. You're not just the god of the

world, you're not just the god of the universe, you're not just

the god of Israel. You're my God.

You're a personal God to me. You're a God.

Who sees me? Who knows me and who will do

something for me, you are my God.

And then this is the phrase that I want you to etch on your

heart. It's in verse 15.

My times are in your hand. My times are in your hand rescue

me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors So, in

all of this, what was a bomb to his soul?

Was the Revelation that in the hand of God were the times of

David. Notice he didn't say, this time

is in your hand, he could have said that and I would have been

right. But the holy spirit's revealing,

something greater than my times plural.

What he means by that is the totality of my life.

And with all the seasons that color, the timeline of my

existence, every chapter of my life is in your hand, you are

the author of it, you are the one who determines every single

up, every single down the moments of prosperity, the

moments of persecution, you were the one who is constantly

supervising my days, and this is what comforted him in a time

where he seemed like he was going to be swallowed.

Up by those who hated him without a cause he looks to his

God and says, my times are in your hands.

Meaning no one can do anything to me.

Unless you allow it, you determine it.

And you are the one who keeps me until you think it's necessary

for me to not be kept anymore. You know, the picture in the

Bible of a hand, speaks of strength, speaks of security,

speaks a Power and Jesus to assure us of the security of our

Salvation says of us that we are.

We're in his what hand? And no one can snatch us away

from him. No one can pry.

Open his fingers to capture us from his grip.

It is settled. It is eternal.

It is set and the same hand listen to me very carefully.

Who holds secure your Eternal fate, is the same hand who holds

together your times on Earth. He's the one who determines.

What? What times are we talking about?

Well, you know what? We'll do it.

Everything that you can think of under the sun.

Is under his control of your life.

And let me just brush over these real quickly.

You might feel like you're drinking out of a fire hose, but

it's okay. I want to talk to you about the

times of your trials. He is, the determiner, he is the

one who writes and etches and creates the curriculum of your

sanctification. Can I show that to you in

Revelation, 2, and Revelation 2? And I want you to see what he

says to this church. Barrett mentioned the two

churches that received no condemnation from Christ.

And this is one of them, the church in Smyrna, and he says,

here in Revelation 2:9, I know your tribulation and your

Revelation 2:9

poverty but you are rich and the slander of those who say that

they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan do

not fear what you are about to suffer behold?

The devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may

be tested and For 10 days, you will have tribulation.

This is, this is one of the most comforting versus when it comes

to trials. This, this verse came into my

life when I was in during a trial that I thought would never

end it, just, I couldn't catch a breath.

It was so intense that it felt like I was drowning though.

I was perfectly fine in terms of my breathing and my health and

on my everything. God in his Providence, put this

before me. And this is what he revealed.

Do, not fear what you are about to suffer, behold, the devil is

about to throw some of you into prison.

And here's what bless me because that sounds terrifying.

Imagine the Lord writing a letter to us.

So this church in sink some of your unit, go to jail and the

Jail's of this time did not look like the Jail's of today.

That you may be tested and for 10 days, 10 days, who determined

that Satan. Who determined that it would be

for 10 days, is God? Jesus himself.

Satan is going to come, he's going to snatch some of you, a

put you in prison, but it's going to only be for this amount

of time. How do I know that this is

Jesus? Well, not only is he the one

revealing it, but because if we know anything about the

character of the evil one, he doesn't want to stop tormenting

you. He doesn't want to steal from

you. He doesn't just want to kill

you. Jesus says, he wants to destroy

you. I mean, you would think that

things would stop at kill. No, he wants to destroy you.

And you see that feverish desire in jobs life and it wasn't for

the hedges that God put Joe would have been devoured on a

moment. Satan would have been eaten up

like a bowl of cereal. And so it is the Lord Jesus who

says, this trial will only endure for 10 days and then

you're coming out. Think about that, every trial, I

don't care what it is, I don't care how personal it is.

I don't care how much you think, nobody understands.

I don't care how unique it may seem.

If you were in the hand of Christ, it has a number It has

an expiration date at one point, it will come to an end and you

will come out of it. If you are faithful like this

church, not just with rewards in this life, but Eternal rewards

at the end of it all The timing of our trials are set in stone

by our savior. But not just that the timing of

our deliverance, the timing of our provision I think about that

man in Acts chapter 3 who was brought to the gate called

Acts 3 · chapter mention

Beautiful at the temple and he was their daily daily asking for

alms and yet in Luke 21. I also read that when Jesus was

on this Earth near the end of his ministry.

We are told that every day not not some, you know, days of the

week, every day, he was at the temple teaching.

He even says that in Matthews version, where he's in court,

right? And his trial, and he goes, I

am, I was in this Temple teaching every single day.

So, even from his own admission, he made his way into the temple,

and he taught. And yet, that man who was

crippled for so many years would never had never received a

healing from the hands of Jesus. Never, I'm sure Jesus walked by,

and I'm sure the Lord Jesus heard, the voice of that man,

who sat on a mat and cried for some alms, to be given to him,

and the Lord would walk by him every single time and yet in

Acts 3, when the Lord ascends into heaven, we see that Peter

and John were the vessels that God used to bring this man to

his feet to see strength. Come to his legs for him to

leap, and praise God, in the presence of all.

And it says that those who saw him recognize that he was the

one who was at the gate. Asking for provision.

And I think to myself, well, hold on, let me put the pieces

together if the Lord, while on Earth went into the temple every

single day. Surely he must have come across

this man. At least, once, why didn't the

Lord Heal him? Then why wasn't it there?

And then, wouldn't that been another awesome testimony to

prove his messiahship wouldn't have been a great great.

Great testimony for people to realize that this man is

unusual. And instead in God's wisdom, he

delays this man's deliverance and he waits for him to ascend

into heaven to empower his disciples.

And for him to be brought to life at that specific time.

Do you know why? Yes, it would have been

wonderful for Jesus to be able to heal this man.

While he was on Earth, it would have been a great great

Testament of who he was and where he came from him.

Why he came into this world, but he wanted to delay it to say

something else. He did enough healing with other

He does enough Miracles. And yet with this man, he kept

them aside and he waited, why? So that, when the disciples

would be used to bring healing to this man, people wouldn't

just know Jesus was different, or that this is surely the son

of David. They would now know this Jesus

has raised from the dead. Wow, because Peter says there in

Acts 3 that faith and his name had made this man perfectly.

Well, it was a testament to the fact that putting trust in this

name, in Jesus name. Mmmmm the name, who is alive the

name that has power today, was to make proof of he did conquer

death. Do you see the Lord's wisdom?

The Lord's, wisdom and delaying. Abraham wanted a son.

God wanted a testimony. Abraham wanted the joy of

Offspring. God wanted more glory for

himself. And so Romans for we are told

that when Abraham and the author of Hebrews Echoes, the same

phrase when Abraham was As Good As Dead As Good As Dead.

I'm gonna wait until your body is so shriveled up.

That even the thought of you, having a son will be laughable.

And it was because they named their son, Isaac.

And it meant something along the lines of laughing.

And so, when you have your life in his hand, the timing of your

provision is determined, what about the timing of your

promotion? This is for those who are

serious, about serving God, in your eager, you're eager to

serve the Lord. You want to give your life to

him and live. Every moment as I said earlier

for his pleasure, And if you're a person that really wants to

serve God, I'm sure that there's something in that Harpy that

says, Lord I want to touch as many lives as possible.

Lord, I want to produce as much food as possible.

Lord, I'm on ashamed. I'll Harold my voice in any

platform. Just give me a platform and I'll

make your name known by your grace.

And yet, what do you see year after year goes by nobody

notices? Your gift your after year goes

by and no doors are opening year after year goes by, and there

you are still in the same place. Ministering to the same people

seeing very little little results.

Does God not want to answer that prayer?

There's God not want to do something through your life.

No, I just because his timing is different and the timing of the

promotion is also something that he considers for your life.

A lot of this stuff is review, but review is good, especially

at the end of the year. And so when I thought about that

the timing of promotion, the time of got taking you from one

level to the next, I can't help. But think of David, the first

king Three Kings of Israel were who this Bible study now?

Who are the three first three kings of Israel?

I don't have a prize, but I heard different names but I

heard the similar name Solomon, Saul and David cracked.

Each rain for how long. All of them 40 years.

Each of them, 40 years. Did they end the same way?

No, two of them ended. An apostasy two of them ended in

a tragic way. Tragic way.

I mean, just horrible. One married, a bunch of women

and they let him into adultery one went to a witch.

And summoned, the prophet to get a word about what to do with his

Army and the war that he was in. David ended much differently.

David's Journey was much different than those two and

when you put these three men together, who had the same

length in the Kingdom, or the same amount of time on the

throne, the same Nation, the same God, the same scriptures.

What was it that made? David different?

I'm sure. There's many things you can make

an in-depth study, especially for leaders of why.

It was that David was different. Why the end was different from

him in comparison to Saul and Solomon.

But can I tell you one thing based on my simple reading of

The Bible that sticks out to me. David.

Was led through so much of the Wilderness of trial of testing

before he was promoted. Both Saul and Solomon were given

the Kingdom on a silver platter. The one thing that stands out

about David was that God took his time to make his man.

And he ground him and he put him through the fire and he allowed

him to taste a little bit of a promotion and pull them right

back down and have some small victories here and there and you

can just read the roller coaster at all through the book of

Psalms. And yet, it was through that, I

believe that routes were developed.

So that longevity would be known and greater fruit could be

experienced. And you if you think I'm

imposing that on the text, it is true.

It's a true principle throughout the Bible.

Romans 5 tells us, that endurance produces character.

And before endurance comes suffering has to come suffering

endurance character. That's the school of God.

He takes those that he's going to use greatly and he takes his

time with them. And so perhaps you're here,

coming up to 2023 and you're wondering, where is this leading

to? I want to be used by, I want to

see things happen and nothing seems to be happening.

In fact, all them experience hearings a sting after sting.

Waiting after waiting suffering after suffering, you're in a

good class. You're in a good place when God

doesn't dish things off to you immediately.

He takes his time, believe that as you go into 2023 he might

take his time even more before you see something happen trust

in the Lord. And then there is the timing of

our death. The timing of our death.

I love this in John 21. Jesus, prophesies how Peter is

going to die and Peter like many curious Christians and verse 20

of John 21, Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved

following them. The one who was also leaned back

against him during the supper and had said, Lord, who is it?

That is going to betray you when Peter saw him, he said to Jesus

Lord, what about this man? What about this, man?

We always do that as Christians, right?

He's around my age. Why are you doing it that way

for him? She's around my age.

Why is she getting married before me?

That church started around when we started.

Why do they have more people than us?

We always do that. We always compare ourselves to

other viewers wondering why God is doing things in different

peoples, lives of, and then it causes us to question God's

goodness in our lives. So, Peter saw him and said,

Lord, what about this, man? And Jesus set them if it is, my

will that he remain until I come.

What is that to you? I love Jesus answers.

That it's none of your business. It's none of your business.

If it is, my will that he remain until I come.

What is that to you? You follow me.

So, the saying spread of spread abroad among the brothers that

this disciple was not to die. Jesus did not say to him that he

was not to die. I love that.

It was all, he's not gonna die. Misinterpreting the words of

Jesus. Like how people do today.

Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die but if it is my

will that he remain until I come.

What is that to you? What is that to you?

Great practical lessons here. But here's the thing that I pull

out, in terms of understanding my times in his hand, if it is,

my will that he remain until I come.

You know what that means? It's up to Jesus, how long I

Stay? It's up to Jesus.

How long I'm here? It's the will of Christ that

determines whether or not I stay, or I go and that's true

for you if you belong to Christ. And guess what?

I wouldn't want to have it any other way.

I wouldn't want to have it any other way.

What's the alternative you want to give your future up to Blind

fate? Is that what you want?

Oh, no Satan. So powerful.

He can determine when you depart, right?

Two people have trouble with this.

The sovereignty of Jesus. The sovereignty of God.

So also, what else would you have is, man?

So powerful, do you want to give your future to the possibility

of men's envy overpowering your will to live It is a blissful

thought to know that it is up to the will of my master.

That determines whether or not I breathe another breath.

And I'm glad that he is the one who determines it all.

And what if he does give us 20 23.

What if all of us here live until 2024?

I'm going to end here. You know what blesses me?

when I read the Apostle Paul, who Was under the impression

that he might die very soon but he didn't God prolonged his

life. But you have the words of him

who had this tension between living and dying and in

Philippians 1:21, you know, this for to me to live is Christ and

Philippians 1:21

to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh,

that means fruitful labor for me.

Pay attention to that. That's glorious.

That's glorious for to me to live is Christ and to die is

gain fine to live in the flesh. That means fruitful labor for

me, meditate on that. What is he saying?

He goes look if I am to live. The only reason why I would want

to remain here, the only reason why I would want Christ to

preserve my neck. From being chopped.

Is fruitful labor? That's the only reason why You

know what that means? Lord, the only reason why I

would want 2023 to be lived out so that I can serve you.

Ah, Do you think Christians think like that these days?

What are you looking forward to? In 2023 vacations.

Vacations, are good. Updates on your house.

It's nice. What making memories with

people. You love wonderful.

That's a gift from God to Can I tell you what was consuming this

man of God, all Lord, I just want to serve you.

Because I want to tell you something, when you and I go to

heaven, we will glorify God for all of eternity.

We will glorify him perfectly, but let me tell you there's

going into 2023. You will not be able to glorify

him. You will not be able to glorify

him in the way that you can while you live on this planet.

Because there is no temptation to say no to in heaven.

There are no trials to endure and to say I will still serve

him even though he slay me. There is no opportunity to sing

to the Lord Jesus, even though you've been whipped by Sinners

and Satan throughout that week, when you crawl into this place

on Sunday morning, when everything in your body was

screaming, stay at home, watch it live and intermingle with

Netflix in the process. You will sing because God will

give you the grace to sing and the body to sing, and even the

voice to sing, and that's a great thing for me.

You will be able to say no to Temptation because there won't

be Temptation you will be perfectly.

Holy you'll be perfectly kind perfectly loving perfectly

forgiving because your resurrected body will enable you

and you will have the option otherwise but only in this life

only in this segment of this life.

Can you glorify God in a way that when you enter into

eternity' morning? You won't be able to again,

think about that. That's profound.

And so I want to challenge you, come tomorrow and God willing

there will be a comforting message coming in to 2023, but I

want to challenge you on the eve of 2022 or 2023.

Serve god with everything in you.

I'll say this before I end. Our family was together on

Wednesday night and there was a big box filled with pictures so

we open it and we just had a laugh looking at some of these

men reason, we tried our best to organize the pictures until the

nieces and nephew came in and rearranged everything.

So we're going through pictures and we spent an hour or two

doing that and something caught my attention in that ancient

box. It's a piece of paper.

There's a white piece of paper and I slipped it out and I

looked at and I realized it was my handwriting.

And I looked at the back and there was some verses that were

repeating. That's how you use your

memorize. I take a piece of white paper,

have the verse in front of me. I just write it over and over

again before I repeat it on my mouth, but on the back of it,

there is half of the page written with my handwriting and

I looked at, and I quickly realized what it was, it was a

prayer. It was a written prayer.

And after a long drive, being exhausted in the emotions of

what was why we were in Canada loss of our grandfather.

All that, seeing our loved ones upset.

I look at that. And my heart started to race.

My heart started to beat and I just kept it to myself until

now. Obviously and I looked at that

and it tears to things that came to my mind.

The first thing was this You made some vows to God that that

piece of paper was probably I'll say between 8 and 10 years old.

I don't know how it got there but it was there and I take take

it to God's Providence for how it arrived in my hands.

I look at and I totally forgot about this.

And here's the thing that came to my mind.

You made some vows to God. Did you keep them?

Did you keep them? And I looked at that, and I

realized there is a fervency. In those words, there was a

fervent. Seen those words?

It was like a personal letter to Jesus.

Is that fervency still there? And here's the third thing that

ran through my mind, I said to. But here's the third, the third

thing was this, God answered your prayer.

God answered your prayer. That's as though, the Lord

wanted to put it in my face. You wrote this down and I can

guess where I wrote it, you wrote this down.

And I read it. Here you are 10 years later and

you're living the very thing that you prayed for.

That's a scary thought. Scary in a good way.

I'm telling you. If you are, if you have no

reservation in your heart tonight, if you're dead serious,

about fruitful labor for the Lord, he will scare you and how

he will answer that prayer. He will and maybe you will give

you the opportunity 10 years from now to remind you how he

answered it. Maybe not.

But I just had a fresh jolt of Faith to see.

Oh God, you answered this. You answered.

I took it. It's with me.

I brought it back with me. You answered this.

God will answer you tonight but he's not going to answer a

prayer of the end. They'll use me and he went, no,

it's not. That's not the kind of prairie

answers. And so in these next few

moments, I am fully aware that there can be some people who

will pray for 5 minutes and for the rest of the 25 minutes,

we'll talk. And catch up with people.

If you that's you do it just don't distract other people.

I'm talking to the person. no matter how you live up to this

point, there's a new year, new Mercies and even if you have to

get on your knees, You would say Lord, if you're giving me 2023,

make it all about fruitful labor.

You'll answer it. He will answer it.

Your times are in his hand that comforts me but let me challenge

you, what will you do with your time?

Serve the Lord. Jesus Christ, There's No Greater

Joy. No Greater blessing, no greater

Delight. Here's what we're going to do.

In this moment, I'm going to give you the time to seek the

Lord on your own. And you can do that in any way

you would like, as long as it's not distracting, you can come up

to the front. You could kneel here, if you

want, you can kneel your pupil put your elbows on the chair,

you can Pace back and forth on the side.

If that helps you get just focused, you can do whatever you

need to do to seek the Lord. At a certain point, I will come

up and ask you to pray with maybe two or three people.

And what you're going to do is you're going to pray for this

church and then 20:23 we would see a move of the spirit and

that God would do incredible things that will just make us

feel as though, We are dreaming and so I'm going to stop here, I

can say much more. I'm going to trust that, you

know, how to pray and you know, in your own way how to pour out

your heart to God, but all I ask is I again, I'm fully aware that

some will not take this seriously, and if you are that

person, just please keep to yourself and allow the Holy

Spirit to work on the person who might be sitting beside you.

That needs you not to distract them so that they can do what

they need to do with God. And so I invite you to pray.

And it's going to be short as you're by yourself because we're

going to pray in groups. We're going to sing and we're

going to count down hug each other, love each other and go

back home and trust that God is going to start 2023 and amazing

ways. So would you do that?

Please find a place to pray seek the Lord And it's going to be

short as you're by yourself because we're going to pray in

groups. We're going to sing and we're

going to count down hug each other, love each other and go

back home and trust that God is going to start 2023 and amazing

ways. So would you do that?

Please find a place to pray seek the Lord