Wait On The Lord | Pr Sandra Chin

You're listening to a message to go from X Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

Let's start the day with a question. Why so long?

Why so long? That's an oven, you know. Okay, a

very old oven. Why so long? Have you ever asked

the question, why so long? Yeah, sometimes you're asking, why

so long? You're waiting for something, you know. And next slide.

We also say, when waiting seems forever, right? Sometimes it

feels forever and you're waiting. You're wondering, you know, hey,

is this going to come? Is what I'm asking, praying for,

believing for going to happen anytime soon? Wow, it seems forever.

Next question for you.

Anybody here ever bake the cake? Yes, right? Eunice, you

know the carrot cake you baked me. How long did

it take? Quite a big loaf, right? It's not like

10 minutes you put it in and, are we there yet? No!

10 minutes of the baking of the cake isn't going

to make it, right? And then your kids will come,

is it ready? Alright, so even when you bake a cake, well,

while it might look like it's ready and the top

is brown, Don't believe, don't think that it's ready to

remove it from the oven. You've got to test it, right?

And you have to test it with a tester, a

metal stick or a bamboo stick and you poke it

in the middle and you lift it up and you

see if there's still cake or yeah, the batter still

stuck to the stick, it's not ready. Even though on

top looks very brown. So you say, oh it's getting brown,

how ah? Other parts might be cooked, but the centre,

always the centre, not baked one. Then you put an

aluminium foil to tent it so that it don't brown

so much, and then you wait for it. But it's

already 30 minutes. Sorry, the middle is not cooked yet.

It's not baked. You've got to wait, all right? So

even in our baking, it needs time, yeah? And those

of us who want to eat, or our children want

to eat, like, why so long? But it takes a

little bit of time, all right? So I want to

encourage us today, why so long? And there are seasons

where we have Waiting times. And in life, at different

junctures of our lives, we have to wait. And I

want to just encourage brothers and sisters that the waiting

is part and parcel of some parts of our journey.

But don't be too discouraged, okay?

And I want to encourage you to tell you that

the Lord always has a plan for us. Amen. All right. So...

I'd like to start with the story of Abraham. All right.

How many of you know Uncle Abraham? Okay, from the Bible. Okay, Abraham.

And Abraham... really is the start, the father, the beginning

of how Israel came about. There was no nation called Israel.

And God decided to choose a people and to start

this nation. And so Abraham actually lived in an area

called the Chaldeans. And it looks like it's somewhere in Iran,

all right, in modern day Iran today, Babylon and all

that up there. And the Lord spoke to Abraham. He

just spoke to Abraham one day and said, in Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, he says, hey, leave your country, come forth,

and I'll lead you to a land that I'll show you.

I'm going to bless you and going to multiply you

and you're going to be a blessing. And then there'll

be many nations from you. And Abraham then called Abram.

Abram heard God's word and he obeyed. Quite strangely, he said, okay.

So he takes his whole family and his nephew, Lot,

and they leave Ur of the Chaldeans, Haran where he lived,

and moved out and began to journey through as the

Lord led him step by step into the land called Canaan.

All right, which is today, this little strip of land where.

You see Israel. But there never existed an Israel. And

it is Abraham who is their, sort of their founder.

God used Abraham. All right.

And this is the promise that God gave to Abraham.

Genesis chapter 15, 4 to 5. So you can turn

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

to your Bible. It's not on the slide. If you

have your Bibles, Genesis chapter 15. And... Verse 4 to 5,

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

Genesis 15, 4 to 5. And so the Lord said, Behold,

the word of the Lord came to Abraham saying, This,

because before this, if you read above, Abraham said to

the Lord, hey Lord, you're giving me this land, but

I have no children. So I think the one born

in my house, my servant, Elysia, is going to be

inheriting my, all that I have. And then in verse 4,

the Lord said, this one shall not be your heir.

not your warisan, not your heir, but one who will

come from your own body, from your own loins, shall

be your heir. Then he brought him outside and said, look,

look towards the heavens, all right? And he says, count

the stars if you are able to number them. And

he said to him, so shall your descendants be. And

he believed, Abraham believed in the Lord and he accounted

it to him for righteousness. By Abraham simply believing the

word of the Lord, the Lord accounted to him, you

are righteous. And because of Abraham, remember Abraham is not

Jewish yet, not no Jewish nation. He said, yes, Lord,

I believe. And because of Abraham, today all of us

are able to receive that righteousness because of one man

who chose to believe. And so he said, yes, Lord,

I believe. Because he looked out To the stars. Count lah,

try and count. Cannot count, right? Means ramai lah. Banyak, banyak, banyak, banyak. Alright.

So he said, okay Lord, I believe you. Now how

old was Abraham when he got this promise? Anybody want

to shout out a number? 90 something? 80? He was 75.

That's grandpa's age, right? Yeah, grandma and grandpa's age. Anybody

75 here? Just checking. No?

Oh, you're also young. All right.

All right. So he was 75 years old. And he

was childless. And then his wife, Sarah, was also old. Yeah. Yeah.

Because he was 100 when Isaac was born. And she

was 90... 99? Okay, regardless. That's grandma age, right? Hey, bros.

Have you thought about grandma and grandpa? Making out? Don't

say that. Okay.

So at 75, the promise was given.

And then again at 99, the Lord reminded him of

the promise in Genesis chapter 17. a covenant of circumcision

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

was made. There was another covenant for God to say,

I'm going to give you this child. But he was waiting, 75. Suddenly,

now he's 99. Still no sign of a child. Wow,

very long. God, but they all will say, even Sarah said,

my eggs are dried, right? Like they're all fried. So

no more eggs, right? She's beyond menopause already. All the

women wave a hand. Okay, you know what I'm talking about.

And so, if you have grandma and grandpa living in

your house today, and then them having a child, it

would be, why are they rocking out, man, you know?

And so, I know you can't imagine your grandpa and

grandma like that. But Abraham and Sarah, even Sarah laughed. Like,

should I have pleasure to have a child? Because in

order to have a child, you know what you have

to do, right? Connection, all right? Communication. Not just communicate,

got to connect. And they couldn't even think about, will

it really happen? But Abraham, 75, received the promise. 99,

doubled up again at age 99. The Lord said, this

time this year, you will have a child.

Boom.

Sarah laughed, okay.

Because she said, I'm already so old.

How can I have, I'm beyond childbearing age. But she

did give birth. So Abraham was 100 and Sarah was

90 when she gave birth to Isaac. It's a miracle, right?

And how long did Abraham have to wait?

25 years.

Of course, some of us will say, God, if you

are so God, you could have done it when I

was 50 or something. Why wait till I'm 100? I

guess always God chooses the miracle that His name might

be glorified. So 25 years from the day the promise

of moving out from Ur of Haran into Canaan and

finally having a child at 100. Wow, that's rocking.

Well, here is.

Abraham having to wait 25 years. I'm not saying that

you have to wait for 25 years for whatever, I

don't know. But there was this waiting period, a promise,

you know. And of course, most people would want to

have a child. It would be for, in that culture,

not to have a child would be very shameful or, yeah,

you're like your curse or something. But to have a

child at 90, don't know whether to laugh or to cry.

Because people would say, huh, you're 90, got baby, yeah.

What you do, huh? IVF, huh? Okay, no more eggs.

All right, no more eggs. How come? But God always

chooses the impossible because He wants to show forth that

His power is at work. Amen. So there was a

25-year wait. Can you, all these waiting people, who else waited?

Joseph waited. Joseph waited for 13 years as a young

boy and, you know, betrayed. And then in prison, you know,

betrayed and just waiting in prison to one day being

lifted up to the palace from the pit to prison.

Well, from pit to Potiphar's.

House to the prison and then to palace to become

the administrator. 13 years. in suffering, in slavery, or in

just being a servant and being judged, etc. That he

was trying to, you know, woo Potiphar's wife. And she just, yeah,

it was a lie, right? That she said, oh, you know.

Joseph touched me or something like that. That's why I

always tell the guys, just stay away from the girls.

Just stay away from the girls. Yeah, don't even touch

their shoulder. Because you touch their shoulder and they say,

they touched me. You know, the word touch means a

lot of things, right? So I always say to all

our leaders, the male leaders and others, just be careful.

Don't touch them. Don't touch them. Because then they become

a potiphar's wife, you know, those kind of women. Yeah,

but there was 13 years of waiting. Even David, before

he became king, He had about, give and take, 15

years of waiting. When he finally took the throne, he

was 30 years old from a 16, no, yeah, about

16 years old.

And then I don't know how the things happened up

and down.

And then only after so many years did he ascend

to the throne. What was God doing? Wow, God gave

a promise so long and then now this. So there

was a waiting period for all, intents and purposes that

God has. Great men and women of God always had

a wait period. And there are great men and women

in this room. Amen. Amen. Believe that God looks at

you as precious and that He has a plan for you. Amen.

And so, these years were waiting times. How about our Master, Jesus?

Imagine Jesus. knew that he had a calling, that he

would come to save the world, not just Israel, the world,

you know, to take the sins of the world. Because

they had the chat up there, you know, and said,

Father said, son, I'm going to have to send you.

All right, dad, I'll go. All right, Father God, I'll go.

Then he gets birth, immaculate pregnancy, pa-pa-pa. Won't happen again.

I wished for it, but it never happened. No, it

won't happen again. And Jesus was born. And then you

know that at 12, He was chatting away with all

the elders and leaders, you know. And then yet to

follow His parents home, not time yet. 30 years in,

you know, just in obscure, just being prepared. What was

He doing? What was He doing, people? Hmm? Hmm? Carpenter,

he was just busy making cupboards. Yo, Jesus, we need

one cupboard here. All right, thank you. Yo, Jesus, we

need a rocking chair for grandpa. All right. Yo, Jesus, yeah,

we need a drawer here, you know. And probably he's thinking,

if he's walking on earth, he can probably feel us.

If anyone could understand the way thing, it should be Jesus. Wow,

he's like 16, no call. 18, no call. Jesus going like,

when Lord? When Father?

Not time yet, son. Not time yet. Go and be

a carpenter.

Okay lah, man. Wow, meanwhile, he's building muscles. You know,

I always say my Jesus is very muscle. Because carpenter,

a lot of hard work, right? Good, you're not chasing away. Wow,

he's building muscles physically, but also spiritually being prepared.

In obscurity, nobody heard his name. He was just Joseph's son.

Oh, Mary's son. Who is he? We don't know him, right?

Like this nobody, all right? And there he is, 30

years in obscurity. And then at the start of his

30-year age, he steps.

Out and there he goes.

Began to proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent.

Of course, when he goes out doing that, everybody go like,

Siapa tu? I like the way, if you say it

in Hokkien, how it sound like? Hokkien, Hokkien, how to say? Eh,

who is this? Ka, ha? Ha, mi lang lai! Wah,

Hokkien very nice. Ha, mi lang lai! And they're like, Eh,

ni Joseph ka anak ah? All right, all right. This

is Joseph. Isn't his father Joseph? Why is he speaking

with such authority? Why is he healing people? Why is

he turning water into wine? Who is this Jesus like?

30 years of waiting and finally he's released for three

years to finish the father's work for his time to finish.

Jesus himself also had a wait period.

Amen. How many of us say we want to follow Christ? Well,

I believe we all want to be like Jesus. And

so we will experience things that Jesus experienced and waiting

is one of them. Not fun, right? Not fun. Like

waiting for the cake to bake, not fun. Eating it

is more fun. But why so long, right?

And so we all go through waiting periods of time.

What are we waiting for? Imagine, well, we're waiting for

a new job or for new graduates. Any new graduates here? Oh, yes.

My homie. We're waiting for a job. We're waiting for

a new job. We're waiting for a change of job.

So I told all the graduates, I said, bros, Please

don't ask for your dream job now. You must have

some experience. Then you'll have your dream job. All right.

Don't quit so quickly when you find the job.

Okay. And so we're waiting. Taking so long because you're

waiting for the dream job. But sometimes you got to

take the job that already is in front of you, perhaps.

All right. We're waiting for a financial breakthrough. We're waiting

for medical results. We're waiting for healing. Waiting for, you know,

going through a home therapy session. There are lots of waiting.

Waiting to start a new business. Waiting for the bank

loan to be approved. Lots of waiting. Waiting for your

house to be renovated. You know, what's it going to

look like? Is it going to look beautiful like the

way I planned it to be? We're waiting. Some of

us waiting for the call to go full time. Anybody?

Let me know. Call to... Oh, they shut. Okay, somebody

going to help me with this? Check mic. See, full time.

And they shut me off. Devil, get out of my way.

Jesus is a calling for us. Amen.

All right.

Some of us are waiting. I waited like, I don't know,

from age 17 to about 27. But that's 10 years

to be called. I wanted so much. I wanted, I mean,

the Lord, I felt the calling to go to be

a missionary. And from age 17 to 27, that would

be 10 years of waiting. Finished my education, I mean,

finished my tertiary and went out to work and still waiting. Waiting.

Why the Lord never? I want to be missionary. Lord,

souls are dying out there. Send me. No sound. But Lord,

every week I'm hearing messages about go, go, send, send.

I'm willing. Send me. No sound, you know. And I

had to work and And carry on. And then I thought,

it ain't happening. So I thought, ain't happening. Wait so

long already. Then I thought, maybe I'll just be one

of those girls who just get married. And have children.

Not going to be called. Lord, I heard you. And

so I got involved. With whoever. Anyway, another story for

another day. And it took 10 years when finally... The

Lord said, yes, now it's time. 10 years, you know,

and then when does he do it? At the time

when I'm going to get my promotion. I'm like, yeah,

my ED, my CEO said, okay, we want to promote you.

Still very young, so the next level before COSEC will

be assistant COSEC overseeing, you know, 100 companies, etc. That's

a big thing for someone at that age, you know. 26, 27, like, whoa.

But I knew it was time. And so I kissed

goodbye to the job, to the promotion. Not only promotion,

other big companies also want to hire me. I'm wanted.

But I knew that it was the time that the

Lord said to go. 10 years of waiting just to

get there, to finally, you know, live what God has

told me to do. Amen. So even when the Lord

speaks to us, there is also a waiting time. I

had that waiting period. I don't know. Some of us

are waiting for life partner. Amen. Oh, there's no single

people in this room. Okay. Sorry, I'm speaking to all

married people. Alright, okay, okay. Oh, that's also waiting, right?

We don't want to jump in. I jumped into it

as well. It was terrible. Not that I jumped, actually.

To correct that. They came for me. Yes, yes. And

then I had to reject. And then one rejected me. Okay,

never mind. But we're waiting.

And waiting is not always bad.

Amen. Others, a bit more sensitive would be waiting to

have a child.

That's also a journey.

I was waiting to have a child, waited for so long. Finally,

I got pregnant. And then, oops, had a miscarriage. And

I know people are like, taboo. I just deal with it, right?

I say, Lord, if it's for me, you'll bring it

back around, right? So I try, try, try, try. And

then someone said to me, you know, if you really,

really want to have a child, you should just quit

your job.

And job means I was full-time. And just stay home.

And get pregnant. I'm like, no, wrong woman. I can't

see myself doing that. I answer the call to serve

the Lord. I don't know. Judge me. I don't know.

I just... I said, Lord, if it's for me, it's

for me. Yeah, and it's okay. I'll try it again.

And all I knew was I was not barren. I

probably was just busy. Okay. But... You know, there's this

waiting and so many, so many, you know, people wait,

couples who wait.

And I believe the Lord also provides. And other times, something.

Else He provides, all right? So that's the waiting period

for us. So where do we go from there? And

that's why I want to encourage us today to say

that don't run away from the waiting. Don't rush it.

Don't try to make things happen. But trust in the Lord.

So my first encouragement to you, first point is trust.

bit long. Waiting requires patience and trust. Amen.

Waiting requires patience and trust.

What I mean by that, I'd like to give you

some scriptures to encourage us. In Psalm 37 verse 7 says,

Psalms 37:7

rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Do

not worry. Don't fret because of Him, the neighbor who

prospers in his way, all right? I think why we

are impatient is because we look at our neighbor and

look at the left and right and go like, you,

they're all prospering. What about me, right? Left, right, you know,

got so many things and then we are pressured.

I can imagine.

And when left, right, centre, everywhere I looked, everyone was

getting married. And then all the aunty uncles in my

church got so sorry for me, right? They started sending

boys to my office. I'm sending this guy, very good.

Only child of his mother, no thank you.

I'm like, I'm so ugly, man. I cannot find my

own man. Because, you know, in the wedding, right? Don't

fret when everybody else is getting married. I was everybody's singer,

wedding singer. Everybody's bridesmaid. When are you going to be

a bride? I don't know. Just wait lah, you know.

And seriously, the aunty and uncle sent boys to my office.

I mean, guys lah. And then, they said, oh, this

one very good, very good. Not married yet. And especially

the sons of that only son of the only son

of the mother. Oh my goodness. Thank you, Jesus. No need.

I want to have a brother.

I want to have a sister. Yeah, only child mothers.

I cannot. So I was 27. I was not stupid. Yeah,

all right. Yeah, and then because I was a worship

leader in my church, 1,500 people every week, I would

lead worship. Now, I saw the guy there. Then I said, okay,

if it's God's one, he will lift up his hands

and worship the Lord. Jason, he never lift up his hand.

Nothing at all. There I am. Come on, everybody. Let's

lift our hands and praise the Lord.

Come bless the Lord.

Nobody lifting up. Those days, those kind of songs. Come

bless the Lord. Is this the day? This is the day? Okay.

No lift hands, you know. You want me to marry

this kind of people? I'm called for higher things. So

naughty hor Alright So wait And requires patience Aiyo So

I wait patiently And I want us And we need

to trust the Lord So Psalm 27 14 Wait on

the Lord Be of good cheer He shall strengthen your

heart Wait on the Lord Because when we are waiting,

our heart becomes a little, you know, scared, a little

weak and say, God, is it going to happen? So

when everybody is succeeding, what about me? I tell you,

if you are in the Lord, wait on the Lord

and take courage. Take courage, not in a man or

woman or a thing. Take courage in the Lord. I

had to take courage in the Lord as well. And

even as a You know, after Form 6, I couldn't

make it to the university. My father lost everything. Lost

our house, lost all money. I had to go out

and work. How to go university? I just had to

go out to work. I had to take courage that

God will cause me to graduate at the.

Same time with my classmates.

And I did. I did. I just had to work

and study at the same time. But you take courage.

You wait on the Lord. He provides for you. And

He did.

He strengthened my heart.

Amen. Church, at the time of waiting, be patient. Patient.

I see all the young parents tell their children, Patience, Doreen.

Ma, I want it now.

I want it now.

Then I hear all of them say, Patience, Eli. You know, patience.

Or when Elisha was young, Patience, Elisha. Alright. And we

tell that to our children. How about us as adults?

As growing young adults into our adult, adult, adult life.

Patience at all times. Not an easy, easy time at

all to be patient. And so I wasn't patient. Maybe

I was scared. I was worried everybody getting married. Then,

Is it just about a man? In the case of

the single one trying to get married, yeah. Because if

it wasn't, any man will do. But the Lord knows

a better choice for me. So I can't jump into

things because I'm scared. I have to trust the Lord. Amen.

And I want to encourage us that at the time

of your waiting and your patience, I believe the Lord

always will reveal something to you.

He will begin to speak to you through His Word.

That's why it says, wait patiently. Amen. Okay, church. I

don't know who is waiting for what. Wait patiently for

the Lord. Don't just give God a picture of what

you want. You can tell Him that. But always be

open to how God wants to lead you and bring

to you. and lead you to that promise or that

desire that you are having in your heart. Be patient.

Which leads me to the next point.

While waiting, people, while waiting, life continues with daily routines. Amen? Because,

you know, like the auntie who told me, if you

really want a child, just give up everything and stay home. Yeah,

I just sit there like that every day. I don't

want to say bad words, but anyway, just sit there

away from my husband, come back, next one I can

have children. I don't know if that will even happen.

I don't know.

Life has to continue, right? Because for me, it's like, God,

if you have it, you have it for me. I'm

your child. And then every time people see me, how

many children do you have? None. Never mind, you're still young.

Until today, they're telling me, I'm still young, no. I said,

do you know I can be a grandmother already had

I had my child the moment I got married? Hey, still,

I'll find the eggs. And they're so kind. Either they

pity me, they don't know what to say, And so

while waiting, people, life must continue with your daily routines. Amen.

And so what do we say to the Lord? You

can pray this prayer. And I always pray this prayer.

Psalm 25 verse 4 to 5. Show me your ways,

Psalms 25:4–5

O Lord. Teach me your paths. Best way to learn,

learn from the Holy Spirit. Lead me in your truth

and teach me. For you are the God of my

salvation and hope. On you, I wait all the day. Amen.

Because when you don't know, don't decide. You don't have

an answer, don't move. You wait. And ask the Lord

to show you Whatever you're doing today, you're still, you're

a teacher. Keep teaching. Oh, you know, you're a business owner.

You keep doing your business. You're a worship leader. Keep leading, doing.

You keep doing. Don't just stop. Don't resign to think,

maybe I should resign to just nothing. Unless you've, I

don't know, again with medical, medical developments today.

There are different things I know. But we need to

hear from the Lord.

Because people, beautiful people of the Lord here, See, when

you want something and you want to tell pastor, you

tell me, God told you. Praise the Lord. But did

He really tell you the integrity of prayer? We just

learned that.

Because you don't want, you tell me.

God told you. But when now this is your life,

that one doesn't matter. You tell me, God told you,

I'm happy for you. But this is your life. About

your life journey, please don't take it frivolously to say

you prayed. No, pray.

Just ask the Lord.

I remember praying and saying, Lord, I want to go

to university. I wanted to become a physiotherapist. Physiotherapist. I

had no clue what I was asking. I would not

have worked well. I would have fainted every time I

did it. I didn't know in the class, you had

to take off all your baju and do this. Nobody

touched me. Right?

God knew better that I cannot be a physiotherapist.

I cannot. Don't touch me.

You touch me, I'm like... Right?

So you know I cannot be... So I couldn't do that.

I said, Lord, I want to study overseas. I want

to be this so that I can be a missionary

with usefulness. Never answered that prayer. Instead, send me to corporate.

Do law, okay. But God knows, right?

His timing, He hears. And so in the waiting, I

keep doing.

I just work. I study.

And then God will open other doors for me.

Amen. I want to encourage you. God can be very,

very real in the times of waiting. If we just

trust Him, wait, patience, trust and keep doing because you

don't know what to do next, then you do what

you are doing first.

Let the Lord work through and speak to you.

Because in Isaiah 40 verse 31, you know this verse,

Isaiah 40:31

a lot of us quote it. But those who wait

on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount

up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not

be weary. They shall walk and not faint. They that

wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. I want

to say God is not afraid of long time waiting.

He's not afraid. He's not concerned about... We are concerned.

God's not concerned about the pace. Oh, how fast we

must catch up. When can I be a millionaire by

30 years old or whatever, you know? But God's not

into the pace. He's interested in the strengthening and the

development of that man, that woman in your depth, in

your faith. Amen. You know, so many things you have

prayed and asked, so you, God, never answer me. Thank

God He never answer you. Answer you everything you knew.

Be so sad because it's your choice. Yeah.

Truly, truly.

I remember praying this prayer. My young, frivolous time. I said,

you Lord, if He's the one, He's going to wear

the pink T-shirt. Because I will be wearing the pink T-shirt.

And my brother in Christ wore the pink T-shirt. I'm like,

we're meant to be together. If God answered that prayer,

I don't know what happened. I won't know you.

I'll be in another church, another pastor's wife.

Okay. All right. So, you know, sometimes we pray, we

think we want this. But the Lord, can you trust

the Lord that He does have your best, even though

you've gone through tremendous heartache and pain? I cannot imagine

some of your journeys. I've never been there, perhaps. I can't. See,

I can understand. But the only thing I know for

sure based on my own hard life of journey is

that He comes through. But we wait that God will

strengthen us. Amen. In your, not the pace that everybody

else is running, the pace that God is having for you.

So whether you mount up, whether you run, or whether

you walk, God's grace is sufficient at this time. Amen.

Keep doing. Now, thirdly, deepen your faith and stay anchored

in Jesus. Hallelujah. In the time of waiting, it's a

great time to know the Lord even deeper. And stay

anchored so that you might sway but don't get off

the anchor, right? Because many times people lose that focus

and think that God is taking so long, I will

sway and move away from that promise that God gave

me at the start. And I want to say to us,

having myself been through my own waiting period, I just

had to hold on to Jesus and anchor into the faith.

Go deeper. Lord, who are you more? Let me know

you deeper. Lord, what are you taking me through? Speak

to me through your word. Speak to me, Lord, through

the circumstances around. Lord, because it's hard. The waiting is hard.

And here, I want to encourage us to deepen. Seek

the Lord. Even when you're working, you can talk to

the Lord and ask the Lord. No, Lord, I'm doing this,

but God, is there a revelation on why I'm going

through this? If you want to ask. I've never asked

God a why. I've hardly.

I always say, what's the point of asking why I

didn't have children?

Why, why? I just say, well, God, your best plans

are for me. And I'm willing to just thank you, Lord,

that I had that opportunity. Even if it was a miscarriage,

I thank you, Lord. Because to me, it spoke volumes.

While people would declare barrenness over me, I would not

accept that as barrenness. I am fruitful. I can have

a child. If I wanted, I guess, if I wanted

to work harder or maybe stop everything, but I didn't

feel the Lord speaking that to me. How do you deepen?

You speak to the Lord. You cry out. You spend moments,

even while you're working, your mind is constantly just meditating

upon the Lord. So verse Hebrews 6, 19 to 20 says,

Hebrews 6, 19 to 20, it says here, we have

this hope as an anchor for the soul. It's firm

and secure. Why is it firm and secure? Because Jesus

has gone before us. Jesus is the forerunner of our faith.

Be firm and secure in Christ, not in your dreams.

but in Christ so that that dream may one day

come to pass according to His time. Amen. Anchor your

faith in Christ because He's gone before us. He's experienced

many things while He walked on earth.

He can feel us.

And Micah 7, 7 says, therefore, Micah 7, 7 says, therefore,

I will look to the Lord. Amen, church.

Oh, I need some sounds in the house.

Amen, church. Do you believe God will hear you? He

hears us. He hears us. He hears what you say

in your mind, your thoughts. Remember, Pastor preached that message

that He answers the prayer of your thoughts. He hears

your heart. Then you trust God that He will hear

that heart cry. Sometimes we say, I don't know how come.

Why suddenly this happened? Because you had a thought prayer.

You had a heart desire. And the Lord moves in

ways that are beyond us. He hears us. Amen. I

would encourage you. You encourage me in a time of waiting.

We're all waiting to maybe finish a race. We're finished.

Even in a marathon, CG, people who run marathons or

I don't know. I heard of all those people doing

cycling up the mountain. I met Gerd and he told

me he did this. Don't know how many kilometer bicycle thing.

I think I would have pingsan and died already. And

he did this thing. He's 70 years old and he's

taking this bike and he's going up the mountain and

coming down. I'm like, good, enough, enough. But he just

loves it. It's this thing about waiting and just believing

that even the marathon, you run all the way and

then you feel like, I can't do it, I can't

do it. Then it's like only a few more metres,

just a few more metres to the finishing line. Then

you're like, I think never mind, never mind. No, they

go like, go Forrest, run. Run Forrest, run. And that's

what we want to say to each other. Run, Grace, run. Kenny,

just keep going. Don't you worry. God will hear your prayer. Amen. Hallelujah.

Just keep going. Don't give up because it's just a

corner turn and there the Lord is going to reveal

to us. But we need to give Him that time.

I want to say, God is not afraid of time.

Sometimes I feel like, God, you're taking so long. Why

so long? But I realise that The wilderness was 40 years.

He was not like concerned and fretting. Well, they have

to take the 40 years. We'll see what happens at

the end of 40 years. Well, it's taken 25 years

for Abraham.

Don't you worry.

I'm not afraid. God's not afraid of long time, term

of waiting. He's not afraid even of our messes that

we've made along the way. God, nothing moves God. What

He sees is He sees.

You and what He dreams for you and what He's

planned for you.

Even if you take a turn that's off, I tell you,

God still can lead us if we just surrender, right?

So I leave you with the last point. Again, reiterating

the three points for us. Firstly, as we're about to close,

waiting requires patience and trust. Easier said in words, but

in action, it does take quite an effort for you

to just be patient and wait. Amen. And then it

moves to while you're waiting, life must continue. Life must.

I had to continue my life. I wasn't about to

stop everything and just do this waiting thing. But everything

else would, you know, I wouldn't be there to support

my husband. I wouldn't be able to do the ministry

at all. I didn't feel God saying that to me,

to quit everything and just get pregnant. Okay, that was

my story and not for everybody. But that was where

I was. But maybe you're at a job, maybe you're

at a place, at a business, something that's in it.

While waiting for that answer because you don't know where

to turn yet, you just keep doing what you've been

doing and let the Lord lead you. Because He is

the one who strengthens you. And finally, deepen your faith

and stay anchored in Jesus. Amen. Deepen.

Go deep because if.

You don't go deep, you will be swayed and you

will go off-tangent and you will not be experiencing your

breakthrough when God meant it. Because you've taken an off-tangent

journey because not anchored on your faith. Not secure. Stay secure. Amen.

Stay secure. And you know what? Just look to the Lord.

No one. Sometimes we are looking to this uncle, that auntie,

that brother, that pastor, that this one. Look to the Lord. Amen.

He's the only one who doesn't move. He doesn't shake.

He's there constant. Amen.

And I'll leave you one more point as we close

because it happens. Don't give birth to an Ishmael. All right.

Now the name Ishmael is a beautiful name. It means

the Lord sees. Beautiful.

I have a friend, his name is Ishmael.

Yeah, when I first met him in church, I thought,

what kind of name is this? Why is mother so

bad calling him Ishmael? You know, but he's a good friend.

And it just means the Lord sees. But why I'm

saying don't give birth, you know how Ishmael was birthed, right?

While the Lord had given a promise to Abraham and said,

you will have a child, but it took 25 years,

his wife became Machi Kepo. You know what's machi kepo

or not? Auntie, auntie something. I don't even know the

English word. Busybody lah. So auntie's busybody said, you know Abraham,

we haven't got a kid. She thought she was doing

a good thing, right? Here, take my maid, Haigar. Go

into her and see if you get a child. And obviously,

Hagar was not 90 years old. She was young. And

she had a baby. And they gave birth to an Ishmael.

That Ishmael has been a problem for us until today.

If you don't know, ask me later why, okay? Cannot

tell now. All right? Don't birth something that God never meant.

And that's a regret. Because after that, Sarah goes and

scold her husband. You see? You see that woman that

you slept with? I tell you wives, if you told

your husband to do something, you don't say, you see

that word? So everybody say, why la? Mama, are you

calling and scolding me? You gave me the woman, yeah,

and then you licked it up, huh? If I was there,

I was like, hey bro, you should have thought better, right? So,

you do whatever you want la. So then, you know,

there comes a struggle and you cut short the whole,

as if like you couldn't wait. So maybe that's why

it took 25 years. I don't know. At 86, I think,

he had, 86, he had Ishmael. Wow. Still quite a

long way more to 100, huh? 20 away. And don't,

don't take another route, a shortcut, or you thought this

is a good plan. Be careful, be careful. Yeah, the,

even though it feels long. It felt long for me

to think that, God, you ain't going to call me

to full-time ministry. Maybe I'll just, you know, get married

to the banker, get married to the engineer, you know,

that kind of thing. Like just somebody, whoever, just somebody.

Is it all about just anybody? Come on, child. He's

probably saying, Sandra, stop it, you know. And the distractions, distractions.

Even if I wasn't looking, they were looking. Then I

get distracted. You get distracted. Everybody's prospering. Everybody's doing this.

And then you get shaken. That's why I said you

got to anchor in. Because a good reminder, Isaiah 55

Isaiah 55:8–9

verse 8 to 9. Isaiah 55 verse 8 to 9 says,

Isaiah 55:8–9

The Lord reminds us that His thoughts are not our thoughts.

His ways are not our ways. Because as the heavens

are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher

than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

If you can surrender to knowing that God's ways are higher,

His thoughts are higher, He has so much more for us.

It's a good reminder, church, for all of us. Maybe

you're not in the waiting period. Maybe you are. It

feels like, yeah, I'm child of God, but it's so

long to experience my breakthrough. Maybe I may not always

know what you're going through, but I know one thing,

the Lord's ways are higher. As you surrender, as you say, okay,

that's it. I don't know what else to do. I surrender.

That's the best thing, best place to be and say, Lord,

you lead me because your ways are higher. Your thoughts

are higher. And in Ephesians 3.20, a good reminder to us,

now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly,

above all that we ask or think, according to the

power that works in us. There is a power of

Christ in us. He, our Lord, is able to do

way beyond what we can even think. That means what

we think already, you feel very good. But God says

He's able to do exceedingly abundantly. Above all I could

ever imagine, you are all that I want. You're more

than enough for me. Brothers and sisters, Don't just sing

this song and declare it's more than enough. Are you

sure it's more than enough? I need the next Tesla.

I need the next BYD. I need the next Zika.

How many guys you want? Right? And here we are singing.

I know maybe y'all didn't sing. I told y'all last time,

don't sing if you don't mean it. Silence just now.

Like God is really more than enough for us. I

have to ask myself this. As we are, even for myself,

I say, God, are you enough for me? What am

I chasing? What do I want? Why do I want

what the other person wants? Why I'm not satisfied? So

go to challenge those questions and say, Lord, if you

are more than enough, then you're more than enough. Doesn't

matter what, where I am at. But some people say, hey,

when I was 50, they said, hey, at 50, what

did you achieve? Now I'm like thinking I achieved nothing.

I'm not even CEO, I'm not nothing. And then it

doesn't seem to be enough. But God has to be

more than enough. He is enough. I think not just more,

He's enough. And we walk through that journey of saying, Lord,

You're enough. You're more than enough because You have provided.

You have led us from one challenge to the next

with victories and with provision. And then the door was closed.

Even Paul was waiting to go to Rome. The door

was closed so many times. So many times he couldn't go.

He had to wait.

And sometimes we want to plant in Japan.

It took 36 years of Pastor's dream or 32 years

before we finally saw a church being planted in Osaka.

Some things take so long, even in ministry. But He

is able for you, for me to do exceedingly abundantly.

Amen, church.

God is able when we are unable. And we don't

cliché use the word like God is, yeah, yeah, nothing

is impossible. But walk in it and believe that nothing

is impossible. Really, I daily remind myself, I cannot just

say nothing's impossible. I'm believing with that person, that sickness

they are going through, that situation. I'm believing with them,

with all of my heart, that God, you will have

to come through because nobody else can do anything for

that person. Amen. We really must just say, Lord, Again,

don't create Ishmael's unnecessarily. Don't take detours. Don't get distracted.

Don't feel like you are so pressured. You just give it. Careful.

Church, careful, don't give in when it's not of the

Lord yet.

The confirmation not only comes, the Lord will speak to

your heart through His Word. He will speak through the

people that you have given authority to speak over your life. He,

the Lord, will grant you the peace. And even when

you ask someone to pray with you about it, have

that confirmation with that other. We have a huddle, a

discipling relationship where we pray together and we seek the

Lord for that.

So don't detour.

Amen. Why so long? It ain't too long for the Lord.

He is working something in your heart. He's humbling us.

He's removing the dirt. He's opening doors we never felt

could open. He's causing reconciliation to happen even before where

we are going to go for.

Or maybe it's a family issue. Different things.

The Lord is doing something. But we cannot understand His ways.

You're taking so long. Oh, why that way? Not that way, Lord.

This way. You become the backseat driver. Turn here. No,

let the Lord take the wheel and let Him lead you.

No matter how old we are, whether we are a

young person, a young adult, where we are, you know,

in young family life or even as we are older,

into our old age, God has exceedingly abundantly plans for

us to More than what you think or dream of

He does have them for us Amen But He's leading

us step by step Depending on where you're at in

your life today In Jesus' name Amen Hallelujah Let's pray

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