How to Have Confidence in Crisis

You are listening to a message preached at Front Range Baptist Church.

It is our prayer that this message will be a help and an encouragement to you in your spiritual walk.

There's no greater story in all the world, and we get the privilege to tell it.

And I thank the Lord that we have all heard the story of the gospel.

That Jesus and His love was told to us.

And you know, I hear a lot of Christians these days, they argue about all kinds of things.

Many people are arguing about Jesus coming again.

And I thought, man, what a what a tragic thing that we as Christians get to argue about his second coming when most of the world has never heard about his first coming.

And we need to be sharing the gospel as often as we can.

It's been a wonderful, wonderful month to be reminded of that.

Today we have a special privilege.

I am looking forward for you to be able to hear from a dear, a dear servant of God, Brother Chris Phillips and his wife Don served in the mission field.

They were in Christian education for a long time.

He'll tell you more about that.

And then served in the mission field.

And uh and now the Lord is using them in a great way in a counseling ministry for Christian leaders, pastors, and missionaries.

And I really wanted to highlight uh this ministry because this whole month we've been preaching and working towards support of missionaries.

And uh I want you to know that there's some great resources that we're not only just praying for our missionaries and supporting them financially, but there are also great resources and tools that are available to them to help them with ministry burnout and difficulties that they face in the day-to-day work of the Lord.

And so uh I'm looking forward to hearing from Brother Phillips today.

So you keep your Bibles open today.

I want him to come and uh he'll be able to introduce himself and uh you get to know him.

But let's welcome Chris Phillips to the church today, and then I want you to have your Bibles open.

Amen.

Pastor.

Thank you.

Morning.

Uh it's a joy to be with you guys today, and uh thank you, Pastor Miller, for allowing me the opportunity to come in and present our ministry.

Your preaching's been an encouragement to many and to me as well.

So thank you for your ministry there.

Um first ten years of our ministry, my wife and I, Dawn, we served in Christian education, loved it.

Um, but then the Lord started stirring our hearts uh for those that have never really had a chance to hear the gospel.

We were two preachers' kids, grew up in all around the gospel churches in the South.

We're from, I'm from North Carolina, she's from Tennessee.

So there are church, you could accidentally go into a church, run into a church and hear the gospel, but there are people, as you know, that just have never had an opportunity.

So that burdened our hearts.

So we surrendered to missions, and then for the next 23 years, God allowed us to serve there.

Um, countries of Cuba, Dominican Republic, and then in Charleston, South Carolina.

Um interesting, many people ask Cuba why and how.

Well, we were told a lot of things that we could do when we first went to Cuba that we didn't know what the reality was, and we found out you can't plant a church in a communist country.

And so the Lord opened another door.

My basketball was my life for 30 years, coached and played college and just enjoyed that.

I thought I was leaving that behind.

Then he opened the door to use basketball in Cuba to do basketball camps in the public schools of Havana, Cuba.

And that gave me an opportunity to share the gospel.

And over three summers, uh, 55 coaches and teens came to know Christ as their savior.

So if you're thinking about stepping out in faith, you may think you're leaving some things behind, and you may be, but God may bring that back around and use things you've never imagined to be able to serve Him.

We moved to the Dominican Republic after being in Cuba for a year, and then we were able to plant a church there.

And while we were there, Dawn was diagnosed with lupus.

So obviously, that was not in our plans.

And it was pretty devastating because when you're a missionary and you go overseas, the worst thing is to have to come back.

Um, and we did not.

We weren't prepared for that.

Our kids didn't want to come back, but we continued on.

She got treatment in the Dominican, and uh, but things weren't getting better.

We were praying for healing.

We just knew God was going to heal her because we couldn't wrap our heads around the fact that we would have to go back to the states.

But he didn't.

And she kept getting worse, and they said if you don't, the doctor said if you don't get her back to the states, then you're actually taking years off of her life.

So that was a wake-up call.

But still, back then, if you came back to the States after being on the field, you were a failure in missions, or you just couldn't hack it, you were weak.

All of these things go through missionaries' minds about what people are thinking.

So that's why you received those prayer letters.

Praise God for what he's doing.

And our ministry was thriving.

We wrote exciting prayer letters.

People were getting saved, the church was being planted, leaders being trained, missions trips, uh, teens were coming on missions trips to the country and being called into missions.

My goodness.

But in between the lines, her health was declining.

Survival on the mission field became very difficult.

It caused relational strain, emotional strain.

We were without power 12 hours a day in the Dominican at that time.

So just survival and distress began to weigh on us, and we were ready to throw in the towel.

Because you can't show weakness.

At least that's what we thought.

So I want to tell you this: a friend of ours, we didn't reach out for help.

A friend of ours saw what was going on, and he intervened.

He said, Chris, please, can I call some friends of ours that were biblical counselors?

And I said, Okay.

Brothers and sisters, it changed the course of our lives.

This couple from Michigan flew down, spent a week with us, and spoke truth to these two pastors' kids that knew the Bible from before we were born, and but just were not applying it.

We were in the fog.

We just did not know what to do.

But they spoke truth to us in a loving way.

We worked through the issues.

Uh everything wasn't fixed necessarily, but they gave us steps to take biblically.

That's all we needed in that moment.

We transitioned off the field and landed in Charleston, South Carolina, and a church there just wrapped their arms around us, provided a place to live.

By the way, I've got to tell you this: we decided after that couple came down to the Dominican on a Wednesday night that we were going to go off the field.

That night we got an email from the pastor in Charleston saying, Chris, I don't know if this would ever be a need, but my dad died from lupus.

I know what that is like.

So if you ever have to come off the field, we've got a mission house for you right here.

So God is working in so in a thousand different ways if you just take steps of faith and follow him.

So the Lord allowed us to do that.

We didn't know what our future was like in ministry at that point, but God in his mercy allowed Dawn to get treatment.

Um she's in remission now, thank the Lord.

But um, we got to plan another Hispanic church we weren't planning on.

In 2020, we turned that Hispanic church over to the national pastor, and it was self-supporting, had a building debt-free, just unbelievable miracles that I could tell you about.

But then we turned the church over in January of 2020.

COVID hit.

We were praying about which direction to go in our next ministry.

And then COVID in churches and missionaries, everything went off the rails.

We didn't plan on this, what was going on?

And so it seemed like the Lord just dovetailed everything that we had experienced, gone through, and then prepared for for this moment.

And so looking back, we can see that God, in his providence and sovereignty and mercy, what appeared to us to be an interruption in our lives, turned out to be the foundation for what we were going to experience and be able to do for the last part of our lives and ministry.

Selah, we hope to be that place where pastors and missionaries can come, that safe place to find help when they need it.

You guys have your pastors and spiritual leaders.

Where do ministry leaders go when they need that safe haven?

We pray that Selah can be that.

For those in ministry, we get many questions, and I would love to share more with you after the service if you have any of those questions, uh the details.

But let me just briefly define what it is we do.

Many people look at us and say, That's great.

Now, what is it that you do?

Debriefing and counseling.

Those are the main two headings that we do.

Debriefing for missionaries and even pastors when they've been through a difficult, maybe traumatic season.

Debriefing is a limited time of dealing with processing.

So it could be three days, four days, five days.

And then during those days, it's much like what they do for airplanes.

So an airplane, it may be great, big, strong, but during that flight, things are gonna happen.

There's gonna be stress, friction, turbulence.

So for a missionary, no matter how powerful they are or strong they are, over time there's going to be spiritual warfare.

There's gonna be stress of survival on the mission field, there's gonna be cross-cultural friction, so to speak, and then there's gonna be interpersonal conflict on the field.

So you bring all those together, there's gonna be stacks and layers of things that need to be processed.

If they don't, then there's gonna be a crisis.

Many times it's mid-flight.

And that's where we see the devastation come from.

So during those debriefings time, we process it, then inevitably out of that comes counseling.

So, what is counseling?

Counseling is when we deal long-term with issues such as deep, severe depression, or debilitating anxiety, or marital conflict.

Believe it or not, that's the number one issue that we deal with in our ministry.

It's marital conflict with those in ministry.

We also deal with children, uh, wayward children, those types of struggles and burdens that come about.

So that is done over a long period of time, not indefinitely, sometimes 10, 12, 15 sessions, to be able to deal with that biblically and then give them hope and new rhythms and new practices so that they're able to take the next flight, the next season, and make it successful.

In my research, I just finished my dissertation on preventable missionary attrition.

The first five years are crucial for those going into missions, including the deputation time and then their first term.

If we are able to provide care, accountability, help, just relational interaction with them in that time, then the missionary attrition plummets dramatically after those first five years.

So as you're thinking about missions, this month of caring for your missionaries and supporting missionaries, uh, keep that in mind that you have a responsibility.

Um, we have on our back table several items I'll mention in just a moment, but you know the number one thing that a missionary would tell you, or they've told me, is that if they would just tell us they've read our letter.

Do you all have email?

How many has email?

If you can type and write a couple of sentences, we read your prayer letter, we're praying for you.

It may seem like nothing, but just hearing from one of your churches makes all the difference.

It'll give them courage for that.

It may be that one day, they can make it one more day to know that you're praying.

So take the time to communicate and be involved in your missionaries' lives.

Um, on the table, if you'll grab our prayer card, it's a little business card that can help you remember to pray for us.

In addition to that, um there you go.

In addition to that, we have our ministry updates.

Uh, this is easy to sign up for.

You can either scan the QR code or sign your name.

Um, just make make that legibly, please, so that we make sure you get that.

Your name and your email address.

Uh sign up.

That'll tell you everything that's going on in SALA every two months.

Um, also, um, we have brochures back there.

Please take advantage of these.

Um, this will tell you generally what SALA is all about.

Then we have a new initiative coming out this month that is for pastors and missionaries.

It's simply a time to rest.

Sabbatical.

God has blessed us with that property, so we're constantly making improvements and spaces for those in ministry that may not need counseling, they just need some rest.

Um, I know South Carolina is not maybe not the number one tourist destination, but God has provided a 48-acre property for us with cabins and a lake and nice um environment for getting some rest.

So take a look at that.

Um, Pastor, I think you said maybe a six-month sabbatical would be maybe you didn't.

Yeah, okay.

In light of that, the last thing is our prayer cards for pastors and missionaries.

If you'll just take two or three of these, put them around your house, then actually pray specifically.

We talked with several pastors and missionaries as to what they would like their people to pray about that they may not announce from the pulpit.

So we've got on here things like pray that your pastor will pursue an intimate love relationship with Jesus Christ.

That's number one.

Then, a tangible way, prepare a meal for your pastor's family accompanied with a note of encouragement.

It's a simple thing.

We've got several of those for pastors, and then also missionaries, uh, specific prayers for missionaries.

So take some of those and then actively pray for those in leadership.

The last thing is we have little different booklets on different issues that might give you some hope today.

Dealing with anger, uh, dealing with depression.

There's specific biblical principles in there that you could avail yourself to, then other booklets that deal with different topics.

Here's an evangelism tool if you've got a neighbor or a loved one that you've been witnessing to that may still be having questions.

This is a book called Ultimate Questions that go through life, big life questions that bring them to the point where there's very little excuse to not give their life to Christ.

So avail yourself to this, look through it.

All of these are$5 each, so just place that in the box back there.

If you don't have the money, just let me know, and there's not a problem there at all.

We just want to get that material into your hands, okay?

Turn to Psalm 46, please.

Psalm 46.

We'll look at this passage just for a few minutes this morning, and then we'll be done.

Oh no.

How many of y'all have said that in the last couple of weeks?

Your mechanic calls, needs a transmission.

Lucas, your mechanic, Lucas, calls and you have you need a new transmission.

Oh no.

Your drive your daughter finally passes her driver's test.

She has now a license to kid, I mean, to drive.

Oh no.

Um, or on a more serious note, you get the call from the doctor, and the diagnosis for cancer is is confirmed.

Or a loved one is in a car accident, or the heart attack, or the stroke.

All of those things happen to everyone, believers and non-believers, every single day.

So as a believer, and I'm sure everyone here, no matter who you are, you're hurting in some way.

You've got doubts in some way, you've got questions, there's things you're dealing with.

Um what happens though when you're dealing with that?

And a neighbor that you've been witnessing to that doesn't know Christ comes to you and says, I'm so sorry about your cancer diagnosis, but I thought you were a Christian.

So why would God allow this to happen to you?

That's a hard question to ask, answer.

And you may even be thinking that in your mind, God, why?

Well, as we look into Psalm 46 this morning, I'm praying that you'll be able to grab a hold of some truths that will help you right now, in this moment, to have confidence in the middle of whatever crisis that God is calling you to.

So as we look there this morning, I pray that God will minister to your heart.

Every time I share from this passage, He He helps me.

He helps me every single time.

And it's no different this morning.

So let's pray, and then we'll take a look at what God's Word says to us practically in Jesus' name and pray.

Lord Jesus, I pray this morning that you would help us to be able to take a moment and listen to your word.

I pray we would be able to take it to heart, then apply it to whatever circumstance that we're facing.

If there is someone this morning that does not know you and they're facing that crisis, Lord, may this be the situation that you use to draw them to yourself so they will come to know you as their Savior.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Most commentators believe that Psalm 46 was written around 701 BC when King Sennacherib, how many have heard that name before?

Sennacherib?

King Sennacherib was descending upon the city of Jerusalem and hoping to destroy and annihilate them.

Already, when this was written, we read the account in Isaiah 37.

In fact, jot that in your margin, Isaiah 37, in the margin of Psalm 46, because that is the exact account of what happened when this psalm was composed.

The Assyrians at this moment had already taken over 42 cities in Judah, and they had 200,000 captives.

Now they were surrounding Jerusalem with 185,000 troops and waiting them out with the siege warfare tactic.

Part of siege warfare was sending letters.

King Sennacherib, if you remember, Isaiah 37, he wrote letters to demoralize King Hezekiah, who was the king in Jerusalem at that moment.

Isaiah was in Jerusalem with King Hezekiah.

So he wrote these letters and Hezekiah received them.

And basically what Sennacherib was saying was, I've already taken over 42 cities.

Don't believe that this phantom God you worship is somehow going to deliver you to.

Jehovah, Yahweh, doesn't exist.

Be better for you just to surrender, or else we will annihilate you.

The problem was, God had been silent.

He had not spoken.

He had not given the word that, yes, I'm going to protect you.

He had not given a promise to them yet.

So you can imagine, as the leader, King Hezekiah receives this.

If you're the leader and you don't know what to do, you're going to experience anxiety.

They're looking to you for guidance.

So what did King Hezekiah do?

Did he fake it?

No.

He took those letters, he laid them out before the Lord, and he wept and cried out to God for that crisis.

You know what?

If you're a pastor, missionary, Christian leader, mom or dad, and you're in a situation, I don't care how long you've been saved, I don't care how strong you are spiritually, if you haven't heard from God and you're in a crisis and you don't see any way out, you're gonna experience doubt.

You're gonna have questions.

God, are you really there?

Same way with Hezekiah.

Well, thank the Lord.

That night, God answered.

Psalm 46 was the answer.

God sent the message of deliverance in Isaiah 37, verses 33 through 35, when he said, Don't worry, Isaiah, Sennacherib's not going to come into this city.

Isaiah 37:33–35

Just like he came in, he's gonna go turn tail and run.

He will not come into this city.

God's promise was given.

So Isaiah took that promise and then he composed Psalm 46.

I was shocked when I was studying this out.

Most commentators believe that Isaiah was the one that composed this psalm.

Because David had been dead for years when this happened.

So as Isaiah pinned this, I believe it was when he got the message, the confidence from God that, yeah, God was going to deliver them.

But he didn't know how yet.

So in that space of promise, but we have no idea what God's gonna do, he pinned Psalm 46.

That's why I think if you'll take this to heart, it will encourage you in amazing ways today in the middle of whatever crisis that you're facing.

After each stanza, as we read through Psalm, 46.

We won't time to read it, read through it.

I'll just challenge you to do that later.

You're going to see a word that I just love.

What word is that?

Selah.

At the end of every stanza, the word Selah is there, and it means it was used in music as a like a rest or a pause in the music.

And as I researched this, it was interesting to find out that it wasn't just a pause.

But during that pause, something actually happened.

While they were reading, they were singing the Psalms together as a group of thousands of Israelites together praising the Lord, and they came to the word Selah, everything went silent.

They stopped.

And during that time, they would reflect on that stanza they had just sung, maybe even sing an a cappella to themselves.

The musicians would tune their instruments and get ready to keep on playing and singing.

But before they went to the next stanza, they all lifted their hands in praise to God and said, Thank you for the truth.

In other words, they were saying, Amen.

I believe it.

Then they would continue on.

That's why their services lasted four hours.

Aren't you thankful for our services this morning?

Let's look at Psalm 46.

Selah, how to have confidence in crisis.

Number one, this is just simple.

Jot these things down.

They're easy to remember, but I pray that you'll apply them.

Number one, we have confidence because of God's presence.

Confidence because of God's presence.

Verse 1 says, God is our refuge and strength, a very, help me out there, a very what?

Present help in trouble.

So when you experience physical suffering, emotional suffering, relational suffering, maybe even at this very moment, this morning, you're sitting there not knowing what to do.

The most powerful confidence-producing truth is that God is with you.

God is with you.

Don't pass over that.

Where is God in this situation?

Where is God in the cancer diagnosis?

Where is God in that tragedy that just happened?

The loss?

God's right there.

He's beside you.

He is with you.

Even though you don't hear him.

Even though he's silent right now.

So if God is with you, then that means that fear is irrational.

Haven't you made fun of the disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee before?

Jesus was in the boat with them.

Waves are crashing.

And it says they feared they were going to die.

But Jesus was in the boat.

Brother and sister, whatever he allows in your life, he's in the boat.

He is there.

He's got it under his control.

So you must not succumb to distrusting God no matter what he is allowing in your life.

When you have a no-no moment, Selah, pause.

Take a moment to reflect on the truth that you've been reading in his word or truth that he's given you through the years that are your bedrock of your faith when times like this happen.

Meditate on that, think about that.

But before you get up and react to that crisis, praise God for his truth.

Then that gives you that confidence to move into the crisis calmly.

Number two, we have confidence because of God's provision.

Verses 4 through 7 says, there is a river.

Are you still with me in Psalm 46?

Verse 4 says, There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.

During a siege, water was one of the most important things.

Because without water, it meant certain death.

But unknown to King Sennacherib, King Hezekiah had done something very, very wise.

Anybody know what he did?

He built a tunnel.

If you go to Israel right now, there's what's called Hezekiah's Tunnel, and it was a tunnel that was connecting the pool of Siloam in the center of Jerusalem, underneath, down underground, under solid rock, outside the city walls that connected with the brook Gihon.

So they had a secret source of water.

In fact, my wife and I went in 2022 to Israel and we walked through the tunnel.

This wasn't that remind you of what we have as a hidden source of strength.

It says here, He that believeth on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

That is that resource that many times we don't draw upon in crisis.

The Holy Spirit is right there.

And remember that, yeah, God's strong for us.

He will fight battles for us.

But my brother and sister, he's strong in you.

He will give you that sustenance and that faith and that hope, even when it looks like there is no way out.

He is there, strong inside of you.

I wish we were immune to suffering after we receive Christ.

That's not the case.

Sometimes it's even more.

But God's presence is more than sufficient to help us through anything that we need.

Number three, the last thing is we have confidence because of God's provision.

This is my favorite, because this is actually the bedrock of our faith and our confidence in Christ.

If you look there in the first part, verses 8 through 11, Isaiah rehearses God's past works.

He talks about chariots being burned with fire, chariots being destroyed.

So they're thinking of the Red Sea, they're thinking of wars being overcome by the Lord and God fighting for them and doing spectacular things.

So God's track record, would you agree, is pretty good?

Yeah, he's always been there.

He's always come through.

Maybe not in the way we hoped or designed or even prayed for, but he has always been there.

And then we come to verse 10.

And it changes person.

Now it's God directly speaking to us.

And this morning, this is God's message to us.

He says, Be still and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the heathen.

I will be exalted in the earth.

Social media, this verse is used a lot, and that's okay, there's not a problem.

But we see a coffee mug, our Bible, making sure everybody knows you're having your devotions.

And then be still and know that I'm God.

That's great.

Your kids are out of control.

We just need a moment, right?

Be still, my soul.

That's really not the context here, though.

That's not the tone.

Be still is just like Jesus said on the Sea of Galilee when the storms were raging.

What did he say?

Peace, be still.

It was a rebuke.

He rebuked the storms.

And right here, this is meaning to us that God is rebuking us for a restless and turbulent heart that refuses to trust in him.

Wow.

When we're suffering, that's really not what we need, right?

We need somebody, like they say in South Carolina, bless your heart.

It's all going to be okay.

We do need that.

But let me just say this: when it's raw and you just got that phone call or that diagnosis or you just lost a loved one, God is not going to say, be just get with it.

He's your shepherd.

He's going to come alongside and embrace you and help you.

Many times through the arms and voices of his church, the body of Christ, he will come alongside and comfort you during that time.

But there comes a time when you've had the comfort, when God has spoken his truth to you, when you've heard others counsel you and give you that truth.

There comes a time when that restless heart becomes a deterrent to what God is trying to do in your life and in your heart.

There comes a time when he has to say, Stop, lay down your arms, stop resisting my plan for your life.

It's almost like my I had one son, Zach, and Zach was um uh unlike his sister, so let's just put it that way.

When I tried to get Zach's attention, I would say, Zach, Zach, Zach.

Then I'd have to grab him and say, Zach, look at me, look at me, look at me, Zach, look, look, look.

Oh, yeah, what, Dad?

Anyone have kids like that?

Anybody have husbands like that?

That's what he's saying.

Hey, you're distracted.

I know this is hurtful.

I know this is a problem.

I know you don't see any way out, but but look, look, look, look at me, look at me.

I'm here.

I've got a plan.

Watch his plan.

He wants to be exalted among the heathen.

So when that friend comes to you, when that friend comes to you and says, I don't understand, why would God let this happen to you?

This is what you can say.

You can say, I don't know.

I don't.

But I do know that I don't have to go through this alone.

He is with me.

And you know what else, friend?

Before the foundation of the world, he knew I was going to face this, so he's given me everything I need to face this with great confidence.

I ask you this morning, do you have Christ?

Can you say, whatever crisis you're in right now, you have the confidence that God is with you?

I wish you could, but you cannot.

If you have not received Christ, God will preserve your life in order to give you opportunities to receive him as Savior.

But you cannot say he is with you until you are his child, until you have received him as your Savior.

Be still and know that I am God.

If you're in a crisis this morning, just two steps as we close, two action steps.

Number one, trust his promises.

It's very, very simple, but very few of us actually do this.

Trust his promises.

Definition of trust that I have come to love is this.

Trust is believing the Word of God.

But then it means acting upon it.

No matter how I feel, knowing that God promises a good result.

Take a picture of that, write it down, keep it with you, because when you're in crisis, he's expecting you to not succumb to distrusting him.

But trust is not just one day this is all going to be gone.

That's great.

Maybe today the Lord will come.

We don't know that though.

But he says, right now, act upon it no matter how you feel.

Three years ago, we went through a crisis.

My daughter-in-law, uh Tony, married my son Zach.

She was diagnosed with a brain tumor, the size of my fist, when she was 27 years old and 27 weeks pregnant.

That was our oh no moment.

I preached that morning.

We got the word on Saturday, preached that morning from Habakkuk chapter 3, verses 17 through 19, where Habakkuk expresses his trust in the Lord and says, Though there be no herd in the stalls, no fruit on the vine, worst case scenario, basically, is what he's saying, yet will I rejoice in the God of my salvation.

Habakkuk 3:17–19

Preached on our way over to North Augusta.

Didn't know what I was going to say.

And I had my first panic attack.

Anyone ever had a panic attack before?

Okay, I had never had one before.

I thought I was dying.

Starts down here.

I can't breathe.

I'm suffocating.

I don't see I'm I'm cool.

In fact, nothing really bothers me ever.

My kids call me, I'm one tick away from comatose.

You know, I pride myself in not getting upset.

Inside my heart at that moment, oh, it was going crazy.

What if, what if, what if this happens?

Uncertainty.

So I said, Chris, you just preached on this.

Come on now.

So I said, okay, I'm gonna say pause, took a moment, reflected on Habakkuk III, what I just preached.

Nothing happened.

Until I said, God, thank you for that truth.

Until I said, okay, I believe that.

Calm down.

An hour later, I had to do it again.

And then again.

Two 12-hour surgeries.

After the last surgery, she had a full placental eruption, which means the placenta tore away from the uterus wall, and our grandson was bleeding out.

They got him up four flights of stairs, hooked him up to the machines, and God spared his life.

So now Tony and my son James is doing, they're doing well.

In fact, he's just like his dad.

James, James, James, he's doing very well.

The tumor is starting to grow back, though, in Tony's head, but we're trusting the Lord.

Again, his track record is pretty good.

So we're just trusting him through that.

Not everything turns out that way, though, brother and sister.

Not every prayer, not every crisis turns out the way we pray.

When that happens, God, in those moments, he will still calm your soul if we learn how to trust in him.

When that doesn't happen like we plan, then number two comes into play.

Follow his commands.

Sometimes it's an ongoing chronic issue.

Health, as we get older, it just is never going to stop.

A child who may be handicapped in some way, it's just never going to stop.

That's why we must follow his commands and act upon his word.

Feelings are followers.

Men and women are tempted to follow their feelings.

That's where we get anger.

That's where we get anxiety.

You know what?

Anxiety is based on our fears.

So what is showing out like panic or worried or the what-ifs and the mind racing and all that going on?

You can't just stop that because it's an emotion.

You can't just stop being anxious.

You have to hit the root.

And the root is something that I fear.

And the bottom line is when I get to the point where I fear that something is bigger or more powerful than my God, I'm going to be anxious about it.

That's why you can't just treat anxiety, you have to treat the fear in your heart.

This is what helped us during that crisis.

Isaiah 26, 3 and 4.

I love this passage.

It says, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, which by the way, in Hebrew, it is shalom, shalom.

Double shalom, if you can even imagine that.

Whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee.

Trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

That passage became a rot for us during that time, but it became personal when we actually applied it.

Fresh application to that verse was taking that verse, studying it out individually, and then coming up with a paraphrase based on the literal meaning of that passage.

So we took a card.

On one side we wrote the verse, on the other side, we wrote our paraphrase.

And our paraphrase says this Since God is love and so great, I live beyond harm in his hands.

So that means there's nothing that can happen to me that will not turn out for my good.

Nothing.

My job, this is so helpful.

My job is to trust and fix my eyes on Jehovah God.

God's job is to give me his peace.

And he promises that if I will fix my eyes on him, I will get shalom, shalom.

This is what I want you to do.

If you're in crisis this morning, find your verse.

Find that promise that speaks to your heart.

Study it.

Write it on a card.

Write your paraphrase.

And then you read it five times out loud.

You have to do it out loud.

Out loud in the morning and at night, and if you have to at lunch, every day, for the next 30 days.

What's going to happen is if you truly do that, all of a sudden, God's word and God's character is going to become the loudest voice in your head instead of that fear that has got you so debilitated.

Do it.

Try it.

And let me know how it works.

If it doesn't work, talk to Pastor.

If you're going through a crisis right now, brothers and sisters, I just ask you, just take God's simple word.

Amen.

He's given you everything he needs.

He's promised his presence.

He's promised his provision.

And he's promised that he will be exalted in your life if you will submit and trust him during this crisis.

Johnny Erickson Tata, most of you know who she is.

Paraplegic for over 50 years, wheelchair, unbelievable suffering, has bought fought cancer.

She's just been through unbelievable suffering.

I heard her on an interview one time.

She said to the interviewer, she said, My handicap has actually been an advantage to me.

I almost ran out and ran off the road.

How can being a paraplegic be an advantage?

Then she said, Because my handicap has forced me to the arms of Christ.

That's God's purpose for you.

So whatever the crisis is, I can promise you this it gets better with more, but not less of Jesus.

Draw it close to him.

Believe his promises.

Put it into practice, and you will see that he will use your crisis to glorify himself.

And people will be drawn to him.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus.