Day 6 dealing with trials

Copy Video URL

Hello all my Facebook friends. I'm assuming this is coming to you. I'm assuming we are now live. I'm going to just ramble here for a couple of minutes as we welcome people who might want to tune in live. We have been getting a lot, a lot of views these last several nights.

I think we had over a thousand views for the one we posted two nights ago and we're probably up over about seven or eight hundred views for the one from last night already. And we're just so grateful for you guys that are tuning in and taking advantage of some of these devotionals that we're sharing. And so again, I want to encourage you if you are watching live, feel free to go ahead and comment right off to the side. I'll get a chance to see who you are and maybe welcome you and see if there are any questions that we can answer as we move along tonight. I want to make a couple of announcements.

We've been doing this every evening at 7 p.m. Mountain Time and I've been encouraged by a lot of people to continue this. I was going to do it for seven nights and then give it a break. But I think I'm going to continue but we're going to change the time. Tonight and tomorrow night will be at 7 p.m.

Tonight I'm going to share a couple of thoughts with you as we bring these six things that the Lord has been teaching us about navigating tough times kind of to a close. And then tomorrow night I'm going to put a kind of an exclamation point on this series by sharing with you what I told you up front was the secret to life. And again, I'm not trying to be cute or glib here. I'm being very serious. I have discovered the secret to life and I'm sure once I unpack it tomorrow night, you're going to agree with me.

It is pretty simple but yet it's profound. It's going to take a lot of effort on our part to get into the stream that will allow us to really practice it. But we'll give you some ideas tomorrow night on how you can actually do that. I'll share some personal illustrations out of my own life of what I've been doing to really live up to the secret to life. And again, I'm looking forward to unpacking that for you guys tomorrow night.

The other announcement I want to make is we're going to shift on Thursday and we're going to start doing these every morning that I am able every morning at 7 p.m. Mountain Time. Pacific Time that would be I guess 6 and then 9 o'clock Eastern Time. So 7 a.m. starting Thursday.

And on this Thursday, I want to talk to you about something very, very serious. About two or three years ago, I wrote an article that got a lot of attention. The title of it was it was a TargetPoint article. In fact, if you scroll down on our website under the blog area and you look for TargetPoint articles, if you go back a ways, you'll find it or you can search for it. The title was the great danger of our day dot dot dot uninformed opinions.

The great danger of our day, the great danger of our time, the great danger, especially in our culture today is what I call uninformed opinions. And in light of what is going on right now in our world, but especially in our own country with regard to the way we are reacting to this latest tragedy, this pandemic, I think it is really exposing what I talked about in this article a couple of years ago. And I not only want to unpack that with you a little bit, talk about how we got here, but I want to give you some practical ideas on what you and I can do as followers of Christ to impact what I think is a very, very dangerous trajectory that our country is on right now. So we'll talk more about that. And please hear me.

This is not going to be political. I'm not going to try to take aim at anybody politically, but I rather want to talk about, unfortunately, as a result of taking God out of our culture, what we have become in our becoming as a people and what it's going to take to turn that around. So I'm looking forward to doing that beginning on Thursday morning with you guys. All right. Tonight, I want to encourage you, if you have your Bible, to turn to 2 Kings 19 and put your finger there or bookmark it or whatever you need to do, because we're going to come back and close with that in a little bit.

2 Kings 19 verses 14 to 16. We'll come back and talk about that as we close. But I want to share with you tonight the final of what was six things that God showed me in the midst of the struggle that we had with Cindy when she almost died of H1N1 double pneumonia 10 years ago. We've already gone through the first five. Let me just rehearse them with you again.

And on a scale of one to 10, I've been asking you along the way to rate yourselves on how you think you're doing in these areas. For those of you who may have missed the first several sessions, I would encourage you to scroll down on this page and you will find them going all the way back to about five nights ago, the first, the very first one, and you can catch up if you wish. But here are the five previous ones. In the midst of your struggle, are you believing and are you expecting? Are you believing God has control of this?

And are you expecting God to show up in the midst of your trial? Are you believing and are you expecting on a scale of one to 10? Where do you think you are? The second area, do you have a thankful heart? Again, in the midst of your struggle, are you focusing on all the negatives or are you talking to God and thanking him for the blessings in your life?

Very profound idea, guys. It's very hard to whine and complain about my current circumstances when I'm looking to God and remembering and am thankful for the things that he's done in my life. I want to encourage you to do that. And on a scale of one to 10, how would you rate yourself? The third area is, are you letting go?

And we talked about how sometimes, even though we can't control something, it makes us even more anxious. The very fact that we don't have any control because we are all kind of control freaks. We've grown up that way. And so, to the extent that you're able to let it go and really ask God to come in and be the one who is Lord over your circumstances, there's going to be that tension. And I believe there's a spiritual principle involved here that to the degree that we can let go, God is willing to come forward and to act on our behalf.

But as we grip and hold on to things, I believe God steps back and says, hey, hey, listen, dackeoli, let me know when you're done. Okay. And I think that's what he does, unfortunately, with a lot of us. So on a scale of one to 10, are you letting go? Are you saying, Lord, I want you to come into these circumstances and you'd be Lord over them.

The next one, have you come to the end of yourself? And if you recall, we talked about that, I believe that was last time tonight before the whole idea of what God is looking for is humility, knowing where I begin and end and where God begins. And there's a big gap there. Understanding who I am. Tyrone Edwards says, humility is not an abject, groveling, self-despising spirit.

It's about a right attitude of myself or a right evaluation of myself is probably a better word, as God sees me. In other words, when I can begin to see myself through God's eyes, that's the point where God can begin to show up. And I think I mentioned to you last night that I'm really discovering that my proximity to God is directly related to my distance from Vince. The more I realize who I am and who I am not, the closer I get to God. And then I think last night I closed with the idea, have you asked God to show you your lesson?

Have you asked God to show you your lesson in the midst of your circumstances? Have you said, Lord, teach me what you want me to learn in the midst of this? I know it's a struggle. My focus is on all of these things. I'm praying for all of these things, but Lord, don't let me miss what you're trying to teach me.

Listen, dear ones, I believe on a much bigger scale, as a nation, that's where God has us right now. God is pulling everything away, everything that we thought was sacred, all of our sports, all of our media, a lot of the things that we used to idolize, those have all been shut down. And God is saying, you need to take a break. It's kind of like a time out. Take a break and learn something from the circumstance that we find ourselves in.

I believe this is profound and God wants us to pray, Lord, don't let me miss it. Teach me. And I shared with you last night the whole idea of the clots and God trying to get stuff out of my life so that the wind of his spirit could blow through my life in ways that he fully intends. And guys, what stops that up is my own disobedience, my own unwillingness to surrender and let God in and get rid of the crud that's in my life. But the last thing that happened in this journey with Cindy was an interesting one, to be sure.

I was on my way to the hospital on this night and I remember on the way to the hospital, Cindy was still in very, very bad shape. And I asked this question just casually in prayer. I said, Lord, I am really weary of not seeing more of your miracles. And as I said the words, I know in my heart I wasn't kind of trying to manipulate God to show me a miracle with Cindy. That was not on my heart.

What was on my heart is, Lord, this world would be so different if we could just see you act with power. We're just, you know, I read about miracles. I've actually seen them happen in my life in many, many different places around the world, especially not so much here in America. I think there's a reason for that. But I remember asking him the question.

I even said these words. I said, Lord, even if you decide you want to take Cindy home and it doesn't end up the way that I would love it to end up, I just would love to see more of your miracles. Now, let me ask you a question. How many do you, if I were to ask for a show of hands, obviously I can't see you, but when I do this with live audiences and ask for a show of hands, how many of you believe God's still in the miracle working business? Most people will raise their hand.

But when I asked a question, how many of you would say, I sure would like to see more of them? Again, almost everyone would raise their hand. We're desperate for that. I got that thought out of my mind and I spoke to God about that. And then in a quiet, in the quietness of about a half an hour ride, God began to speak to me and to deal with me with soft little whispers that went something like this.

Vince, do you remember when you went into your wife's room and maybe it might have been, you know, like a month ago or whatever, and you put your finger in her hand and what I would do is I would go in and she'd be out, she'd be in a coma, and I'd take her hand like this and I'd put my finger in her hand like this, hoping for the slightest squeeze, anything that would indicate that she's got life there because her whole body was atrophied at this particular point. And he said, do you remember doing that that day? And do you remember when you put your finger in there, she opened her eyes and she gave you a gentle little squeeze and a little tear came down her eye. He said, do you remember that? And then of course, man, I started to lose it and I said, yes, Lord, I remember that.

And then he said, okay, Vince, do you remember the time that you walked in and your wife had been in a coma for two weeks, she had not been alert, not been alive or awake, and you walked around the corner, and I remember this vividly, I walked around the corner to this ICU unit, the curtain was drawn and she was propped up in bed, so her head was up in bed and her eyes were closed, and the moment I turned the corner, he said, do you remember what happened, Vince? Her eyes opened, she saw you coming in and she got this little smile on her face. Do you remember that? And I'm kind of getting emotional as I'm even speaking to you about it right now because he went through several of those scenes and I kept saying, yes, Lord, I remember, I remember. And then finally he said, and this was like, it was kind of a whisper, but it was almost like yelling, okay?

He said, Vince, listen to me, those are my miracles, and when you quit looking for me in the sensational, you'll find me in the simple. Whoa. Listen, guys, there's no way my mind would have framed up those words. That was God, and I instantly knew what he meant. I instantly knew this was way bigger than Cindy.

I instantly knew that I had to stop looking for him and the great big things and begin to be more alert and more attentive to the little things, the smaller things that are going on all around me. It could be that nurse who's having a bad day. It could be that waiter or waitress in that restaurant that's not treating you well and you have no clue what's going on in their life. It could be that person you're sitting with right now watching me, that there's a miracle right in front of you and we don't see it because we're not looking for it. We're not looking for what God is doing all around us, and I'll be honest with you guys, ever since then, my life has been completely different.

I now look for places where God is working. I talk to people in a whole different way. I begin looking for God in the simple, in the simple things, and guys, I gotta tell you, it's changed my whole life. It's changed my whole outlook on people and the importance of loving people no matter where they are, no matter the condition they're in because listen, there is a miracle ready to happen in every one of those people's lives and in every one of those circumstances if you and I will just look for it. If you and I will be obedient when we sense God is saying to do something.

Now, I remember several occasions in my life where I felt God was asking me to speak to someone or wanting me to do something and I just kind of wrote it off and said, ah, no, that can't be God, or maybe I was too busy, I didn't have time, or maybe I was intimidated, whatever it might be. I have blown a lot of those occasions, but in the last few years, I have also seen remarkable things happen as I've become more obedient. I remember one instance when I was in a coffee shop and I was asking the kid behind the counter for some coffee, gave me some coffee, and I went to leave and the Lord said, go back to him and ask his name and tell him about the meeting you're going to. And I thought, well, that's kind of odd, why would I do that? And I was obedient.

I went back and I got his name and I said, his name was Ben, by the way, and in fact, Ben Messer, and Ben might even be watching right now, I don't know, he's a dear brother, but in those days, he was just a young kid working behind the counter at a coffee shop, and I said, Ben, I'm going around the corner right now to teach a class for a bunch of men, and here's a card, it's an invitation for you to come and check it out. I didn't talk about Christianity or any of that kind of stuff, I said, here's a card, and just a bunch of men getting together talking about building our character. And the next week, Ben came to that meeting. Because of my being obedient and giving him that card and introducing myself, he came to that meeting, listen, the next week he got assigned to a table, the table leader almost adopted this kid, a few weeks later in one of those meetings, he asked Jesus into his heart, he ended up getting married, going to a seminary in Denver, all because I obeyed God and went back. Now, I'm not saying that that wouldn't have happened in some other way with this young man, what I'm saying is my responsibility is to be obedient when God's calling me to do something.

Excuse me. So all of that to say, look around you every day, God's got miracles in the works. Now, let's bring this to a conclusion tonight, and then I'll share the secret to life tomorrow night. What I want you to do is let's turn to that Second Kings 19 verses 14 to 16. You all know the story of Sennacherib threatening Hezekiah.

You've all read the story, I'm not going to read the preceding verses, but this is the culmination of it. What I want to point you toward is what Hezekiah did as a result of the threat that was upon him. Sennacherib came and he had conquered many, many lands and he had conquered many kings before, and he was now coming after Hezekiah and he said, in essence, Hezekiah, what makes you think that your God's going to protect you? You're dead meat, buddy, you're going to die, okay? And none of those other kings' gods were able to protect them.

Your God's not going to help you, buddy. This is over. And so in the Bible, it says that Sennacherib actually sent him a letter, now listen, outlining what was about to happen. And I want you to consider for a moment that the letter that he wrote to Hezekiah was the evidence or the forecast of what was about to happen to him. Now, let me put a comma there and suggest to you that I had the equivalent happen to me.

I had the CT scans, the MRIs, all of the different x-rays, all of the different medical reports, they were all given to me by a whole team of doctors that all knew what they were doing. That was the report of what was about to happen with my wife. They were, in a sense, saying, not in a sense, they were literally saying, she is going to die, Vince. Here is the evidence, she's going to die. Well, let me read to you what Hezekiah did with that letter.

In 2 Kings 19, beginning in verse 14, it says this, Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Now listen, then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. I love that verse. He took that bad news, that letter, that threat, and he went to the temple and he spread it out before God and said, God, look at this. Okay.

Now, let me pause here for just a second and give you some really good news. Hezekiah needed to go to the temple to find God. In the old covenant, that's where God would reside, in a physical location. But today, you and I don't have to do that. The temple is wherever you are.

You can do what I'm about to say in the privacy of your own home. You can bow before God right now and whatever your circumstances are, whatever the evidence is, whatever is dictating what your future might be, you can do what Hezekiah did. You can spread it out before the Lord. And then look what he says, and Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim. You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.

You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear. Open your eyes, O Lord, and see. Listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. Okay.

And now we all know what happened as the result of that. God showed up powerfully. But I want to tell you, I didn't recognize this verse when I did this, but in a sense, I did exactly the same thing. I took all that data and all that bad news. I remember getting home that day before I went to another gathering with the news that Cindy wasn't going to make it.

This was on the day that I was told she was going to die. I took that news, and in a quiet moment, all by myself in my home, I just laid it before God, and I said, Lord, this is what the doctors are saying. This is what is predicted is going to happen in Cindy's life. But you know what, Lord? You are the one that's going to determine the outcome of this.

And I'm going to trust you, Lord, no matter the outcome. I'm going to trust you, but I'm arranging this before you. And I'm saying, Lord, have your way. And dear ones, listen, I don't know what you may be going through right now. It may have a lot to do with the current situation and what's going on in our country today with this pandemic.

It may be a strained relationship. It may be a struggle with some kind of sin in your life. It may be a number of different things. My encouragement to you today is to take those things, even list them, write them out. What is the news that either you're giving yourself or others are giving you that you can write down and arrange it before God and just crawl up in his lap and say, Lord, I want to give these things to you.

I want the outcome from these things to be determined by you, Lord, and not my circumstances or the outside influences. I don't want anything to do with the world, the flesh, and the devil, Lord. I want you. So let me encourage you in the midst of your situation to do that. And then tomorrow night, I'm going to share really the secret to life that's going to equip you to be able to do this in a whole new way, maybe that you haven't thought of before.

As I close, let me just pray. Lord, thank you so much for the people listening in right now. I pray for them. Lord, I pray that you would help them process these things that we've gone through, that they would become people that would believe and expect you to show up, that they would have a thankful heart in the midst of their circumstances, Lord. They would be a people who would quickly get themselves out of the way and let go and let you become part of the answer, that they would come to the end of themselves and understand where they begin and end and display the kind of humility, Lord, that you're looking for in each and every one of us.

And I pray especially, Lord, that you begin to reveal those nuggets that you want each of us to learn through the struggle, that we would all learn the lessons you're trying to teach us in the midst of this. And then finally, Lord, I pray that you would help each and every one of the people in the sound of my voice right now to begin to see the small things, the little things, the miracles that are happening all around them, Lord. And then Lord, as they bring all of this to you, I pray you receive it from your throne, Lord, and that you begin to show up powerfully in the lives of all of these precious people. We give you all the glory and the honor ahead of time, Lord, for we know you, we love you, and you are faithful. And it's in Jesus' name that we pray.

And all God's kids said, amen. Thank you guys for tuning in. If you're looking at this thing after the broadcast, please comment. Feel free to email me at Vince at otm.co. I'd love to have your email and your thoughts.

And I look forward to culminating this tomorrow night with you guys at 7 p.m. Until then, God bless you.