I Don't Know, Yet.. | Celina Tan

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

We hope this message will light up your day.

So this morning, you know, I titled my message, I

don't know yet. Okay? I think a lot of us

don't like the word, I don't know. Right? Especially, you know, people...

Me being a teacher for so many years, I think

one of the things that every teachers are very afraid

to tell the children is that teachers also don't know.

Because to every student, teacher is a know-it-all person, right?

And we tend to try not to tell our students

that we don't know. Otherwise, it will reflect how not

informative we are. Even simple questions also we cannot answer. So,

I don't know is really a word that not many

of us like to say. And we don't like to

be in that position as well. But a lot of times,

things happen in our life, right? We face with a

lot of challenges, unending problems. And no matter who we ask,

you know, whether we ask people or we ask God,

we can never get an answer to our situation, okay?

So I believe all of us here been in situation

like this, right? So we've been in a situation, we

never know why it happened to us. Okay, so backtrack

to two months, for the past two months ago, my

life has really been a roller coaster. A lot of

things happened, you know, in my family, in my workplace.

And every day during my quiet time, I will ask God,

no Lord, why is this happening? You know, why me?

Why you choose me? Can you not just give me

a break? You know, why all these things happen? You know,

and all this why stems from a position that I

do not know how to solve it. Okay? I'm the

kind of person, when I see a problem, right, I

want to solve it immediately, right? I don't like to

see problems, whether it's at work or in life or whatsoever.

I want every problem to be able to solve. And

my favourite statement to myself is this, there's no problem,

there's no solution. Every problem has a solution. But when

I'm faced with all these kinds of problems, I cannot

find a solution. And then I started asking God, why?

How?

And I never get an answer. So if we are

honest enough with ourselves, all of us here, we often

come with the situation where we don't know why we

are being diagnosed with certain sickness. We don't know why

our job didn't turn out how we envisioned it to be.

We do not know why our child has wandered far,

far away. or why our bank account doesn't stretch as

far as the month does, or why the marriage is strained,

or why the family falls apart, or why this and

why that. Sometimes we don't even know why our prayer

that feels so urgent seems to meet with silence. Amen? Right?

I hope I'm talking to someone here and not just

only to myself. I believe all of us have been

in this situation. You know, we always ask, You know, God, why?

And we never get an answer. Okay? And today, I'm

going to bring us, you know, to this Old Testament

named Habakkuk who stood exactly in the same place as well.

You know, if you read the book of Habakkuk, you

will know that Habakkuk was looking around a nation that

is falling apart. Injustice going unpunished. Circumstances he could not explain.

And he cried out to God as well. Why? Why?

But if you read the whole book of Habakkuk, right,

you will realize at the end of Habakkuk, did he

get an explanation from God as to why all this

thing happened? No, he didn't get an explanation. But he

gets a decision. And we can read it from Habakkuk 3,

Habakkuk 3:17–18

verse 17 to 18, where he says this, Though the

fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes

on the vines, Though the olive crops fails and the

fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in

the pen and no cattle in the stalls. You see,

there's a lot of no, a lot of negativity. But

how did he end it? Yet, I will rejoice in

the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

You know, a lot of times, right, when we, if

let's say we were to stand in just like how

this scripture says, right, we see a lot of negativity, right?

It's very hard for us to use the word, yet

I will rejoice in the Lord. Am I right? So

if you look at this, Habakkuk used the word though

and yet. Everything is stripped away, but he still says what?

Yet I will. Is this his blind optimism? Is this

his own denial of the situation? No, it's not. This

is a man who has stopped needing an explanation. He

didn't ask God, no, Lord, explain to me why, why, why.

He didn't keep on pressing. Otherwise, Habakkuk would not end

in Habakkuk chapter 3. It would end in Habakkuk chapter

Habakkuk 3 · chapter mention

300 or 3000. Because he wants an explanation. Why God? Why?

Why is the tree I planted already, you know, the

tree taking root, why no fruit? Right? He will keep asking.

And then if the fruit come out, why the fruit

is not big? And then why the fruit got seed

or no seed? No seed, how to plant again? You know,

there will be a lot. Why? But he did not.

He just ended and said that, no, yet I will rejoice.

Because why? He knows God's character. He trusts God's character.

And the question to us is, number one, do we

know God's character? This morning, you know, Joel was praying that,

you know, he was reading the scripture. Jesus asked, who

do you say I am? Do we know God? Do

we know his character? Right? It's very important for us

to know his character in order to trust him. And

this is what exactly I want to share with all

of us this morning. You know, in our life journey,

we are constantly met with troubles that we did not order.

I didn't go to Shopee and order, today I want

this trouble. Empty cart. Who will do that, right? Nobody.

Or would you say that, oh, I can see this

problem coming. Like, you know, I think on Wednesday, I

think on Sunday, I will have backache. Maybe I should

call Joel and replace me to preach again. Will I

know that? No. Otherwise, I will have asked him on Wednesday, Joel,

I think I will be on MC on Sunday. Can

you preach? I won't know, right? Otherwise, I will not

ask my leader on Saturday, please pray for me. Otherwise,

I will not be able to stand here to preach.

I'll probably need a chair to sit down and share

with you all. Okay, so a lot of times we

do not know why problem is happening, how it happened,

what exactly is happening or how we're going to go

through it. We have a lot of don't know. Okay,

but when we come face to face with don't know,

we know that, you know, sometimes we don't get the explanation, right?

As a human, it's very natural that we will lose

our footing sometimes. You know, especially when you don't know,

your problems keep coming and coming and coming and coming,

it will come to a position and you start to

doubt God. And you will start to question, God, are

you even there? You know, when I was facing with

my own challenges, I asked God this question also. Lord,

are you even there? Are you even hearing my prayer?

Are you even, you know, hearing me? Okay, I know that,

you know, I keep on complaining to you about my problem.

I just want it to be solved, you know. And

sometimes I will doubt when I face with a problem.

But as I was preparing this message, right, how this

message came about is was, it was from the position

where I started asking God, that Lord, where are you?

And this is what God answered me. Even though you

don't know, yet I want you to know that I

am here. And to me, it's like, okay, Lord, I

trust you. And this morning, I just wanted to remind

all of us, you know, we are in this year of,

Pastor declared that it's a year of revival, right? and

I know that a lot of preacher has preached that,

you know, revival, the coming of the Holy Spirit and

all those whatnot, we have a perception of what revival is. Today,

I am going to give you a new perception. Revival

is when we get our mind renewed. You know, revival

is a fresh perspective that rises up in the middle

of our confusion. Okay? And when revival touches the heart,

something shifts. And in the middle of our don't know,

we don't get an answer, but we get something better. Right?

We get a posture. We get a declaration. And we

can stand and walk by faith in the middle of

the storm. Right? And just as the Lord has told me,

you may not know, but I want you to know

who I am. Alright? And this leads to, you know,

the scripture taken from Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5 to 6,

Proverbs 3:5–6

which says this. Trust in the Lord with all your

heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all

your ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.

So you notice that, you know, in this scripture, it

didn't say, understand the Lord with all your heart. What

does it say? Trust Right? And it didn't say, figure

it all out and then acknowledge Him. What does it say?

Lean not on your own understanding. And that is what

exactly the Lord was telling me. Trust me and lean

not on your own understanding. So for those of you

who are struggling with this scripture, You know, that you're

trying to understand the Lord. The Lord is not asking

you to understand Him. He's asking you to trust in Him.

You know, sometimes you say that, you know, let me

figure it out first, then only I will trust in

Him and acknowledge Him. No. The word of the Lord says,

lean not on your own understanding. Because our understanding was

never meant to be, you know, never meant to carry

the weight of our life. And God never asks us

to know everything first. He only asks us to trust

the One who knows everything. Alright? So, if you are

standing in the position this morning, okay, I do not

know this word is for who, but I know this

word is for someone because if the enemy can attack

in such a way where make me not being able

to stand here this morning to preach, I know it's

going to be for someone. So, if let's say you

are in the junction where you say that, no Lord,

I do not know. To this morning, I have three

declarations for all of us here. Okay? Okay? to help

us to trust God even more. And the first declaration

is this. I don't know why, yet I know my

God heals. Right? So it was so funny. I was sharing, right,

you know, how I injured my back. And that particular morning,

I was led to pray for all of you. And

it's very specific. the word that I received is, pray

for healing. Okay? So, I don't know who was not

well in ex-Ampang, except knowing that Lyra is still recovering

from her burn. And later on, you all will know, okay,

maybe I can tell you now, Crystal has delivered the baby. Okay? So,

the baby was having jaundice. So, I only know this too. Okay?

And you'll realise that, wow, Selena only remember kids, right? Yeah.

Yeah.

They are close to my heart. They are close to

my heart. Okay, I was praying for them, both of them.

But I was also led to pray for someone here.

But I do not know who. And I just prayed.

After I prayed, that was when I got injured. And

I was like, Lord, you are hilarious, right? You asked

me to pray for healing for the partners and here

I am injured. So are you going to heal me? Again,

I never hear anything from God. So I just trust

in Him that He will heal me. You know? So

I went to work. For the first time in my life,

I drive very slowly on the road because I cannot

turn left, cannot turn right, you know? Cannot do big movement.

Now you can see me able to do big movement, right?

For the past two days, I literally stretch on the

bed and just lie straight. Okay? So that is something,

you know, we all know.

Sickness.

And sickness is a very common thing that all of

us encounter. Okay? And sickness, not necessary, is a sickness

in the body. It can be a sickness in your mind.

It can be a sickness in your emotion. Or maybe

the sickness may not be for you. But someone that

you love is not well. Okay? And then, especially when

you receive a diagnosis that is not like cough and

flu that you eat. antibiotic, then you'll get well. But

it's a sickness that probably the doctor may not even

have an answer. And then you ask, Lord, why? Why

did the diagnosis come to me? Or maybe to you,

it's like, why did the diagnosis come to my loved ones,

my mother, my father, my child, my spouse? Why now,

when I pray, when I believe, when I serve God faithfully?

You know, it's even harder when you have been so

on fire for God and you're serving. And then this one,

you know, the sickness hit the people that you love

so much or maybe to yourself. And you know that

this kind of, you know, questions is not something that

birthed out of today. It's an ancient one. It happened

to everyone. We always ask. But if you were to

look back in the Bible, the book of Job, you know,

when I was reading the book of Job, right, few

months ago. You know, I cannot come to terms with

what happened to him. You know, I cannot come to

terms like, Lord, why la? Why you let the enemy

attack him like that? Poor guy. Right? He serve you,

he love you, he care for you. You know, why la? Why?

Just want to test him how faithful he is also.

Jangan la. Don't take away all his kids. Take his wealth,

can la. You know, take his livestock, can la. You know, why?

Why his children? You know, and then his health. And

he was left sitting, you know, in ashes, scrapping his

sores with pieces of broken pottery. And you read, he

is quite voting. You know, when I read, I heartbroken,

I heartbroken. Really what? I heartbroken. I was like, Lord,

I don't want to be in Job's position. Never will I.

Please don't test me like that. You know, I don't want.

I don't want. I cannot come to terms with that.

But did Job give up his faith? No. No. He didn't.

And did Job get an explanation he wanted? I know

that he prayed. And his friend being his friend, and

I think we all friend being friend, sometimes we will

try to explain what God's trying to do, right? You know,

God will sustain you. You know, God do this, like that.

But you realise that his friend always tell him this.

Your suffering means there's some sin in you. Right? We

always equate suffering with sin. But that's not always the case.

Job never get an explanation he wanted. But what he

got instead was a resolve. Just like Habakkuk just now.

And this is what he say. Though he slay me,

yet I will hope in him. Can you see? Though, yet.

What is your though? And will you end with a yet?

You know, as I was reading this right, I asked

myself also. Though, my situation, will I end with a yet?

You know, sometimes can be a struggle, you know, for

us to have the yet, will I hope in him?

Job doesn't know why. He says so over and over.

If you read, he doesn't know why. 30 over something chapter.

Thank God, Habakkuk 23. But Job 30. Because God really

allowed the enemy to keep on challenging him, challenging him,

challenging him. Okay? But he didn't know why, but he

makes one very good decision, which is to trust God anyway.

So hear me carefully, church. You know, I don't want

to handle all of us a very shallow promise today.

You know, saying that, you know, if we do it right,

you know, then God will move. Okay? And the Bible

does not teach us that every sickness is instantly removed

when we say the right words. Okay? But what I

wanted to teach all of us is God, is who

He says Himself as. Exodus 15, 26, the Lord says what?

For I am the Lord who heals you. So the

Bible teaches over and over again, the character of God

is that He is the Jehovah Rapha. He will heal.

How He's going to heal, we don't know. But we

just need to trust in Him. And He doesn't only

do it on one occasion. He does it over and

over again. He doesn't only heal when He's in good mood.

He doesn't only heal because He likes how you look.

He doesn't only heal because you are rich. He heals

because that is His character. Again, like I say, how

He's going to heal, we don't know. And God also

never promised that if you are righteous, you are trouble-free. Right?

But in Psalms 34 verse 19, it says, The righteous

Psalms 34:19

person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him

from them all. So being faithful to God was never

a guarantee a trouble-free life. But it is a guarantee

that you are not walking the troubles alone. Okay? God

will always be there to carry you. You just have

to trust Him. And this is what I like in

Mark chapter 5. Okay, we all heard about the story

Mark 5 · chapter mention

of the woman with the issue of blood, right? If,

let's say, you are in her position for 12 years,

you will probably be asking a lot of why's also. Okay?

She probably also didn't know why. Why he went to

so many doctors and nothing worked. But yet, he knows

one thing. In her spirit, he knows one thing. If

I can touch the hem of his garment, whose garment?

Jesus' garment, I will be healed. Right? She didn't have

an explanation to her situation but she had a conviction

because she knows who is able to heal her. So

Mark tells us that when she pressed through the crowd

and touched him, power went out from Jesus and she

was healed instantly. Alright? She doesn't need to know why.

She only needs to know who. So do you know

the who when you're going through trouble?

Right?

When you're going through a situation like this, So maybe

you are not well in your body, okay, and you

are praying. So are you praying and ask God, why

is this happening to you? Or are you praying in

a position of faith, knowing the one whom you are

praying to will be able to heal? Amen? Okay, so

here I'm just going to leave with you the first point.

Whether your healing comes today or whether your healing comes

gradually or maybe finally comes in glory when tear is

swept away, God's character doesn't change. Right? You don't need

to know why, okay, in order for you to stand

to know who He is. Okay? So you never know

a lot of things. You know, just like, you know,

when my mum was diagnosed with cancer, I prayed for healing.

And then, She passed away. I never knew why back

then when it happened. But eventually, I came to terms

to know that that is God's healing. Not in her

physical body, but her spiritual body. Because why? Prior to

her passing, she accepted Christ. Isn't that the greatest healing

than to free her from cancer? Right? What's the point

of her being healed of cancer and she doesn't know

the Lord? So to me, it's like, yeah, I don't

know why she has to go through the pain. But

I don't know why. Because how God, you know, heal

her and answer my prayer is through her salvation. So church,

I just want to encourage you. You do not know

why you are sick, but know it that God heals.

And the second declaration is this. I do not know how,

yet I know my God makes a way and carries

me through. So this is maybe for those of you

who are At the crossroad, you're probably carrying certain burdens.

And that is so heavy that you do not know

how to overcome it. Okay? And decisions that you do

not know how to make. And weight, you do not

know how much more you can carry. You know, sometimes

when you're carrying a very heavy burden, you just wanted

to tell God, I know, Lord, remove this heavy stone

from my shoulder. I don't think I can carry it anymore. Okay?

So what are some of the burdens that you may

be carrying? Or maybe what are some of the crossroads

that you may be at right now? So maybe some

of you are at a career decision or relationship decision

or maybe a decision where to live, what to study,

where to stay, where to go, to continue to work

in Malaysia or to go other country or, you know,

a lot of things, okay? It's like sometimes you even ask,

how am I supposed to know which way to go?

Or maybe your boss is asking you to do certain

thing and you are thinking like, you know, should I

say yes or no? Or maybe you are having a

situation where you do not know how to lead your family.

You do not know how to raise your children. Okay,

maybe everything that you envision it to be only come

to a dead end filled with a lot of opposition.

And you say that, no Lord, I do not know how.

to manage my situation anymore. So look at the Old Testament.

When the children of Israel, they came out of Egypt

and they faced the Red Sea. That is you now.

You are facing a Red Sea. And you do not

know how you're going to cross over. You can't build

a ship fast enough to cross over. You know, you

can't swim over. And it's a Red Sea. But what

God has done Okay, and what did God say? How

did you come? Sorry, got distracted. Okay, so how will

you be able to cross the Red Sea? Okay, so

what Moses did was he trust in God. And this

is what he told the people. Do not be afraid.

Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord

will bring you today. The Lord will fight for you.

You need only to be Still. And if let's say

you are the true Israelite, right? You must be thinking,

Pharaoh is chasing me behind, in front of me, Red Sea,

and you're asking me to be still. I think I

want to jump into the sea and start swimming. Right?

But that is what Moses told the people. Be still.

And that is exactly what the Lord tells us also.

Be still. Right? And what did God do when the people,

you know, be still? God does something nobody in the

crowd could have engineered. Okay, any engineer here? Will you

be able to do what the Lord did when they

were facing the Red Sea? I don't think anyone can.

Even if you are the top engineer in the world,

I don't think you can. What did the Lord do?

He split the Red Sea. You know, every time I

read that, right, I... I always tell, you know, the

ex-guest teacher, how nice it is, I can see the

Red Sea parted. But then think back, I don't think

I want to be in that situation. You know, scared

eye me, in Chinese we call, you know, I don't

want that. Okay, but how cool is that? They witnessed

the Lord engineered how the Red Sea is being parted. Right?

He made a way where there seems to be no way.

So you are facing your Red Sea right now. Do

you trust that the Lord will part the Red Sea

for you? Okay? And, That is not the one time

that the Lord has done. The Lord has done a lot,

a lot, a lot of time. And that is the

pattern of God's character. Okay? So, and Isaiah picks it

up centuries later and said this. See, I am doing

a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not

perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland. So, if you read the

Bible from cover to cover, you know that the Lord

didn't only do it back then at the Red Sea.

You know? Like we read the story of Joshua and Jericho.

Who on earth march around the wall and just scream,

and then the whole wall fall down, right? That must

be a very lousy, you know, architecture, right? That you

scream and the whole wall fall down. But that is

the miracle of God. And that just tells us one thing.

Our Lord is specialised in wilderness, geography, engineering. Regardless how

difficult the situation may be. No matter how tough the

situation may be. No matter how dead the dead end

will be. He's able to create something out of nothing. Okay?

So maybe you're in a place where you see no road.

You see no option. You see no plan. And then

you're like, you know, in Chinese, we always like to

say this, means die. No, don't need to die. You know,

our Lord will tell you, very good. You know like

how business people, right, they always go to a funny land, right,

and they say, this land will definitely prosper. And then

here you are, say like, wow, this is a swamp.

How can it prosper? You know, sometimes I cannot bring

those businessmen, they see a swamp and they say, this

land will prosper. But for us, we cannot. Just like

the Lord, The Lord will see your situation. You see

it as the end. He see it as opportunity. Right?

And He make a way. Okay? And He turn the

no plan, the no road into a highway for you

to fly. Okay? So what you need to do is

to be still and know that He is God. Okay?

So maybe you are at a crossroad and maybe you

know that, yeah, that the crossroad is not an issue.

But you just feel the weight. Okay, maybe you are

not confused of the decision. You are just feeling tired.

No worry. What did the Lord say? The Lord says,

cast your care to the Lord. He will sustain you.

He will never let the righteous be shaken. Okay, and

that is taken from Psalms 55 verse 22. And then Jesus,

Psalms 55:22

He Himself says in the New Testament in Matthew chapter 11, 28-30.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

It says that, Come to me, all you who are

weary and burdened. I will give you rest. So maybe

you are carrying the burden and you're just feeling very

exhausted and tired. Go to the Lord, okay? And then

He will give you rest, okay? So Jesus didn't say that,

you know, come to me, I will explain your burden

to you. That's why I always say, when I ask

God for an answer, He never answers me. I always

ask God, why? Why? You know, that's why I write here.

God didn't say, come to me, I will explain to you.

God says, come to me, I will give you rest

so that you will have energy to continue to run

the race. Right? And then He will be the one

that help you to carry your burden. He didn't say

that I will carry it away from you. I will

help you to carry it through. Why? So that you

will have a testimony to share how you overcome it.

If the Lord just remove it, will you have a testimony? No. Okay? So,

that is the point that I wanted to share with

all of us is that, you know, every burden where

you stop carrying it, God starts to carry for you.

You just need to learn to let go. Okay? Let

go for God. Okay? Letting go for God to carry

doesn't mean that you have failed in your faith. Okay?

It is a test of your faith, of how much

you can trust the Lord. Okay? It's how much you can,

you know, say that, you know, God, my burden is

so heavy. Okay? Can you carry for me and run

these rates together with me? That is how, you know,

we want to experience God in our life. Okay? So

maybe you are at a crossroad, you do not know

which way to turn or maybe you are carrying the

burden and you cannot hold on anymore. Remember this. God

will make a way for you and He will carry

you through. Amen? Alright? And then the third declaration is this.

I don't know what's ahead, yet I know my God

enables me to face the giants, okay? So when we

talk about giants, okay, it is always big challenges, right?

Big challenges that is in front of us, okay? The

ones that make your stomach tighten just to think about it.

So I don't know how many of you are facing

giants now, okay? So these giants are challenges that is

beyond you. that something that you cannot control. Whether it's,

you know, about your workplace, whether it's about your family,

whether it's about certain situation that no matter who you

go to, no one dares to take it on even. Okay?

So these are big giants. So when we talk about giants,

I'm just going to turn us to 1 Samuel 17. Okay?

If you have your Bible, you can just turn with me.

So this, this, Story is no stranger to all of us.

It's a story that every children likes as well. Okay,

it's about David and Goliath. Right? So, reading from chapter 17,

verse 1 to 11, it says, The Philistine now mustered

their army for battle and camped between Socor in Judah

and Ezekiah at Ephesdanim. Saul counted by gathering his Israelite

troops near the valley of Elah. So the Philistines and

Israelites faced each other on opposite hills with the valley

between them. Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came

out of Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel.

He was over nine feet tall. I'm five feet, so

it's double my size. Okay? Wow, very tall. Okay, any

one of you here nine feet? No, don't have. I

think the tallest here is probably either Matthias or Jolloi.

I think Matthias. Yeah. Okay, he's not even 9 feet.

Very small only. Okay. Okay, he was over 9 feet tall.

And he wore a bronze helmet and a bronze coat

of male weight 125 pounds. He also wore bronze leg

armour and carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. The

shaft of his spear was was as heavy and thick

as a weaver's beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that

weighed 15 pounds. His armor-bearer walked ahead of him carrying

a shield. So Goliath stood and shouted a tone across

to the Israelites. Why are you all coming out to fight,

he called. I am the Philistine champion, but you are

only servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down

here and fight me. If he kills me, then we

will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you

will be our slave. I defy the armies of Israel today.

Send me a man who will fight me. And when

Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and

deeply shaken. So imagine, okay? Imagine, Joaloi go to ex-kids

and all the children is the size of Lira. And

then Joaloi tell them, Choose among you to come and

fight me. Who will go and fight him? I also

think so. Okay? Alright? But Lira came out from X-Kids already. Okay?

So, no.

Lira is not there. Okay? So, do you think anyone

of Lira's side will go and fight him? Of course not.

Even the whole gang go jump on him also. He

will just swing them off easily. So, give you a visualisation,

that is how it is. Goliath and the Israelites army. So,

when all this thing will happen, Jesse, which is David's dad,

told David to send food to the brother at the

campsite there. So, la la la, this little shepherd boy

bringing food and all to the brother's camp. And then

he heard and he saw what happened.

Okay?

And of course, this shepherd boy being... shepherd boy, and

he heard this, and he was a bit careful, and

he went and asked, eh, what happened ah? Okay, he

went and asked what happened, okay? And then, nobody wants

to tell him why, okay? And everybody is like, you know,

you just go away from here, don't ask so much, okay?

But he also overheard, okay, what, you know, what Goliath

has said, okay? And then he told them, okay? Why

do you all let these Philistines, okay, talk bad about

our army? You know, why aren't all of you going

to fight him? But we all know why, right? Because

they were afraid because he's a giant. So what did,

you know, David told King Saul, okay? So David told

King Saul this. Don't worry about the Philistines, which is

verse 32. David told him. I'll go fight him. So

just like we all say, Lira will go fight Drellor, right?

So Lira will say, I will go fight him. And

then what they saw said, don't be ridiculous. There's no

way you can fight these Philistines and possibly win. You

are only a boy. And he's been a man of

war since youth. Right? Why did Saul say that he's

a boy? Because he's a boy. He's a shepherd. He

has never been to war. Okay? But David persisted. And

David said this, I have been taking care of my

father's sheep and goats. And when a lion or a

bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I

go after it with a club and rescue the lamb

from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I

catch it by the jaw and club it to death. Wow.

I have done this to both lions and bears. And

I'll do it to these pagan Philistines too. For he

has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord

who rescued me from the claws of the lion and

the bear will rescue me from these Philistines. You see

his confidence? He is not a man of war. And technically,

he has never been to war. And his war is

only with lions and bears. Okay, none of us even

fight a dog before. What more a lion and a bear? Okay,

here comes little David. Later we will send her to

fight Joel. Okay? But that is his confidence. Because to

him is that, yeah, I may be only taking care

of sheep, but the Lord delivers me from the enemy.

And that is his confidence. And people who are involved

will say that, you only fight animals. This is a warrior.

War warrior. How are you going to fight him? But

to him, that is my confidence. The Lord who delivers

me from the mouth of the lion and the bear

will deliver me from these pagan Philistines. So what happened?

He went and met Goliath. And then Goliath, you know,

snickered at him and says that, you know, Am I

a dog? He wrote at David that you come at

me with a stick and he cursed David by the

names of his gods. Come over here and I'll give

your flesh to the birds and wild animals, Goliath yelled.

But what did David reply? David replied to the Philistines

and says that you come to me with sword, spear

and javelin. but I come to you in the name

of the Lord of heaven armies, the God of the

armies of Israel to whom you have defied. Today, the

Lord will conquer you and I will kill you and

cut off your head. And then I will give the

dead bodies of your men to the birds and the

wild animals and the whole world will know that there

is a God in Israel. For a man, for a

boy who have never been to war, Can you see

how confident he is? You know, if you read the story,

you will know that he even go and face Goliath,

not with a lot of the armour, the headgear or what.

To him, it's like, all these things, it's like, so lezzeh,

we will call it. You know, he just went as

how he used to do in the field. And all

he armed himself was the Lord. So when you face

with your opposition, What are you arming yourself with? You know?

are you arming yourself with your knowledge, your experience, your connection,

your network, or whatever it is that you name it.

You know, do you arm yourself with that? Or do

you arm yourself with with the confidence that the Lord

is on your side. So when you're faced with a challenge,

a lot of us, including myself, when we face a challenge,

we always arm with the things that we know. People, connection, experience, knowledge, da-da-da-da-da.

But today, I just want all of us to have

a renewing of mind before we arm ourselves with all

these worldly things. Let's arm ourselves with the Lord. Amen? Alright, so...

David didn't know how he's going to fight this Goliath,

but he knew who will fight with him. One stone,

one throw in the name of the Lord, he brought

down Goliath. When everyone who have multiple experience in the

war field don't even dare to go near Goliath, he

says that I'm coming to you in the name of

the Lord. And one hurl. down Goliath. So we can

do the same thing as well. So maybe, perhaps, you know,

this coming week, you have a deal that you're supposed

to close in your workplace. No one in your team,

not even your boss, have the confidence to close it.

Perhaps you're thinking, you know, in my position, who am

I to take it over when my boss can't even?

Or maybe you are in a situation in your, family that,

you know, even your richest siblings don't even dare to

handle the situation. Or maybe your uncle who has the

most connection in the whole wide world don't even dare

to touch the situation. And you say, here am I,

a young working adult. Who am I even? You know,

all of us have giants. All of us. Whether you

want to admit it or not, all of us have giants. Okay? Okay?

So maybe some of us, our giants are financial debt.

Maybe it's a bill that is so much that you

cannot pay. Maybe it's a business that isn't turning around

the way you hoped for. Maybe it's a family relationship

you don't even know how to repair. Maybe your giants

is so big that nobody else in this room can

see and you are carrying it quietly. Whatever it is,

I just want everyone to hear this. Your giant is

not bigger than your God. Even though it's bigger than you.

Remember that. If ever you forget, sing this together with

our ex-kids' children. My God is so big, so strong

and so mighty that nothing my God cannot do for

me and for you. Our God is big. We serve

a big God. And our God is a no-man's status. Okay?

And that is what We learn as well in the Bible,

Paul writes in the prison cell of all place that

he says this, I can do all this through Him

who strengthens me. Or in a better version, we say this,

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. No,

Paul didn't say that I can avoid all this. You know,

I can escape all this. You know, I can do,

meaning walk through, stand in, come out of the other

side through Christ's strength and not my own strength. And

that is important because our confidence was never supposed to

rest in our own ability, our own knowledge, but it's

in Him. Okay, and when we go through all the situation,

remember that, you know, God's grace is sufficient for us.

You know, God is able to bless us abundantly so

that in all things at all times, having all that

we need will abound in every good work. Amen? So

our God is able, not in theory, not just in

the Bible. It's all the time. Able in power right

now and at work within you. Okay? So, and this

is the anchor for everything that we have heard this morning.

For no matter how many promises God has made, In

2 Corinthians 1, verse 20, they are yes in Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:20

And so through Him, the amen is spoken by us

to the glory of God. So when God says yes,

no one can say no. Can I invite the extreme

team to come up? The promise that God has made

over our healing, over our provision, our future, they are

not conditional on our ability to understand them. They are

settled in Christ. And that is the character of God.

And that is who God is. The name of God

is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that heals. Right? The name

of God is, you know, Jehovah Jireh, the Lord that provides.

You know, the Lord is, He is who He is.

That is His character. He loves you and He will

never let you walk alone. His word says, I will

not leave you nor forsake you. And that is His

promises to all of us who believe in Him. And

this morning, I just want to encourage all of us

to remember the character of God. Sometimes you may be

like me. You pray and you pray and you pray

and you never get an answer. But what the Lord

told me today, I'm just going to tell all of

you that you may not know why your situation is

like that. But I just want to remind you, you

can know who God is. I do not know dot, dot, dot.

Yet I know that He is God and God is good. Right? So,

just remember that, you know, Proverbs 3, 5, 6 says

that trust in the Lord. We heard that just now.

And lean not on our own understanding. Let's continue to

live by faith, continue to walk by faith and not

by sight. Let's not fall to our own understanding because

that is not how faith works. Faith didn't say that,

you know, when everything happens, then you can trust God.

You know, but faith says that faith is the confidence

of what we hope for and assurance of what we

do not see. We can trust in God because of

His character. Right? And remember that, you know, revival, I

said this morning, is a renewed mind. And this morning,

I just want to invite everyone to come together back

to God, to have a renewal of our mind. Let's

not be conformed to the pattern of this world, says

in Romans chapter 12 verse 2, but be transformed by

Romans 12:2

the renewing of our mind. Maybe today your mind has

been conformed to worry, has been conformed to fear, has

been conformed to needing to understand everything before you'll trust anything.

I was there, you know, for the past two months.

But this is what the Lord taught me. Selina, let go.

let God take over. And I let go. You know,

I may not have an answer, but I have the peace.

I may not see things being turned around, but I see,

you know, how my spirit changed and how my prayer changed.

You know, and all I need to do is to

remember who God is. So today, let's have our mind

be renewed and stop needing to get an answer for

every situation we are in. But let's hold on to

the one who holds all the answers. So church, can

I invite all of you to stand as I pray.

So wherever you are sitting right now, you may come

with a diagnosis that you don't understand. You may have

received a situation or you have a decision, you can't

see the end of it, a burden that has worn

you thin, or maybe a giant that's standing in your path,

I want to invite you right now, you know, build

an altar before the Lord and surrender it to the

Lord and say that, you know, Lord, I do not

know why, yet I know that you will never leave

me nor forsake me. I do not know How? Yet

I know that, Lord, you are the holder of my future.

This morning, you can trust the Lord. This morning, you

can come before the Lord and say that, Lord, I

do not want to be conformed, you know, to what

is troubling me. But Lord, I just want to learn

to surrender. I just want to learn to be still

and know that you are God. Amen.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit axechurch.org. We are also

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is going to be a good week ahead for you.

God bless.