Building Faith That Weathers The Storm

I'm going to give you guys some homework this week. What I did on the message, the title is Building Faith That Weathers Storms. Building Faith That Weathers Storms.

A lot of John's songs really resonated with that theme. I couldn't stop writing down all these points. And I want to share them with you tonight.

But what I did is I pulled back some Scripture references, and I want you to look up these points in the Bible. How's that for homework? You've got the principle. Now you need to find the verse.

And what that will do is it'll help you cross-reference. Okay, I want to get this point in Scripture. What other verses talk about this? And it'll also help you, we're encouraging people to look at what I say, line it up with Scripture.

Teaching people how to become students of the Bible on themselves, and if they have questions and things like that. So all these points we'll be looking at, there are Scripture references. And you can take those with you.

If you didn't get a handout, grab one of those from the ushers. But again, Building Faith That Weathers the Storm, and then we're going to get right back into worship. But I wanted to talk about this because last Sunday we talked about Stephen who was full of faith and full of power.

That's a good combo right there. And because this coming Sunday falls on Pentecost Sunday, I'm going to talk about the power aspect. And I have many times before, but I think it'd be a good refresher course for us, especially since we've been covering a lot in the book of Acts, and then after Father's Day, I'll be going through again each verse, verse by verse every Sunday.

This is going to be more topical coming up. He was full of power, but he was also full of faith. And what you'll find is the more you surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, the more filled you will be with these things.

And I wasted 17 years of my life because I wanted God to bless my plans. Anybody relate to that? And it's almost like he's saying, okay, have fun for a while, and when you're ready, let me know. I mean, I saw no converts in 17 years, no changed lives, just it was nothing.

And the church is a result of submitting everything to God. But I also want to encourage people because it's not about you being perfect or me, it's about us being submitted. Lord, what do you want to do with my life? What do you want? Do you want me to start a home group? What do you want me to do with my finances? What job do you want me to have? How do you want my kids? Because we have plans for our kids, don't we? Parents, what's that term? Live vicariously through your kids.

And I've talked about before, and I won't go into a lot of detail, but I knew with my son, I was gonna get him through baseball and do the pitching training and the hitting training and get him into college and get him, but that I figured after about a couple of years in Little League that that's probably not gonna work because I pushed so much, he didn't want to play baseball anymore. And so we took a few years off and then I just said, okay, Lord, what do you want to do? Because when parents are to train a child in the way they should go, we don't have time if you break down the Hebrew language and the words and the verb tenses and things like that, it's almost like helping point them in the direction that God is intending them to go. So not only do we train them, of course, but we also help point them in the direction they should go.

And some of my daughters love school. They're taking college classes in high school. I mean, that would have been the most boring thing to me in planet earth.

And my son's the complete opposite. And so you have to, there's just, you're training those kids. But the more you surrender, Lord, what do you want in my marriage? What do you want in my person? I mean, just about every area, when we give it to the Lord, the more we empty ourselves of self, what is replaced with that is what they call the mighty filling of the Holy Spirit.

And the more you empty yourself, the more you deny yourself, don't have to get the last word in, want to forgive, want to release bitterness, and want to work on unity and things like that. The more you do that, the more you're going to be filled with God's Spirit. And as a result, you're full of faith.

And I know I've been there. I've had great faith for incredible things. And a week later, I have no faith.

Or how many of you great faith in what God's doing in our country? And then a week later, you're reading the news and there goes that faith. We're going to hell in a handbasket. And again, we don't trust in a movement or anybody we trust in God alone, but there is a way to build faith that weathers storms.

And I actually use the word storms on purpose because there's multitude of storms. And I think we can all agree that you're either going into a storm, you're coming out of a storm, or you're in a storm. I wish that wasn't the case, but that seems like, and you know, my life is full of, I'm either coming out of something, I'm going into it, or I'm in the midst of it.

And really, it's the faith that weathers that storm. And so again, I'm just going to have a lot of points that I hope are very helpful. Then you can go and find the Scripture references for these.

And it's a handout as well. So number one, those filled always have stronger faith. And again, that's what I just talked about more on Sunday.

The references on that would be when you look up what the Holy Spirit is doing in the lives of believers in Acts, you'll see they have great faith, great faith to move mountains. Number two, resistance always means we are moving forward. So if you're feeling resistance, be encouraged.

That usually means you're going forward, you're growing. Because if there's no resistance, and I even look back, those 17 years I talked about that I wasted, I didn't have hardly any resistance, or I was on the devil's side. And then as soon as you become a believer on fire for God, man, life is a lot more challenging.

It's easier because you know who's with you, but it's more challenging because of what you go through. Resistance always means we are moving forward. And I might have this a little bit later, but it's interesting.

Many of you know that with working out, that's how you build the muscle, correct? You're really putting attention on the muscle that it's not used to, so it has to respond. Normally when you sleep or when you eat and it rebuilds because you're tearing it down. But many people think the pushing, but actually it's also the holding back is when you look at a lot of the National Academy of Sports Medicine, a lot of the guys who get really deep in this, it's the resisting it back that actually has more impact on muscle growth.

Because we just like to do this real quick. But it's that slow back that it holds and the muscle grows. It's the same thing with our faith, that resistance is how we build faith.

And those of us at this church, those you know, man, you know, they're saints of God. They have strong faith. There's been a lot of this.

Holding that resistance. Number three, you need to know this, your identity, your purpose, and the promises that God gave you will be the areas the enemy attacks you. Billy Graham, in a clip, I heard him say that.

Isn't that true? In our identity, who we are, no surprise we're in Pride Month. It really should be Humility Month. But the enemy goes after our identity.

Sexual identity for some, but also who we are in Christ. If you memorize Scripture about who you are in Christ and read it often, you would be greatly encouraged. Because that's when you're more than conquerors in Christ.

He that's in you is greater than he that's in the world. And you begin to strengthen yourself in the Lord. And so He'll go after that and we begin to, but you don't know my past.

You don't know what I struggle with. And doesn't that really deflate motivation sometimes when those things we struggle with come out and we don't know why we do it, whether we just prayed for somebody recently for anger. And why does that happen? And in these areas we feel defeated in.

And whenever you're feeling defeated, faith dwindles without a shadow of a doubt. And then purpose, He'll attack your purpose. What God wants you to do.

And like I've told you before, the enemy wants you to have a certificate of non-operation like the DMV gives. Just doing nothing, go to church, don't do anything. Don't disrupt Satan's kingdom.

Don't go to prayer meetings and pray for your family. Don't get in the Word, don't live holy. Don't try to lead people to the Lord, pray with them.

He wants to discourage us. And then of course the promises of God will be attacked. And so we begin to lose faith in all three of these areas.

Number four, one of my favorites, sometimes faith isn't meant to move the mountain, but for climbing it. Jason Upton said that in one of his worship sets. And I've never really viewed it like that because you all often think, here's this mountain, I'm gonna have great faith to move it.

And if you're like me, many mountains don't move. And you realize that, yeah, I am supposed to climb it. I am supposed to climb it.

And I will tell you up front, I had a whole nother way of going with this sermon because faith, the definition of faith is the evidence of things not yet seen, of things hoped for. We'll get to that in Hebrews in a minute. But there's so many things to building strong faith.

And it's a lot of what we focus on here at this church. I'll get into that in a minute. Storms strengthen the tree.

They test the ship and they nourish the soil. Storms are actually very healthy because they bring out of us some things that need to come out. Can you imagine if just a Christian life was just ease until heaven? We think we would be mature and stronger.

We'd actually get weaker. We'd probably get more immature, more selfish, because we're not prepared for these difficult seasons. Number six, the battle may lead to a breakthrough, but that's not always the case.

Because you often hear that. I hear that from motivational speakers. You know, the battle you're going through, breakthrough is just around the corner.

And a lot of the times that's true. But however, if the battle and what we're going through is the cause of sin, that first must be repented of. And so I've seen a lot of people like, oh, that enemy's after me.

No, that sin has got you. You need to repent of that. And we tend to blame shift and we avoid repentance.

And then once repentance takes place and you're giving a short account of sin with God and you're seeking Him, if there is a battle, and anytime you go through a difficult season, I've known that through over the years, I've seen it, a difficult season, often there is something around the corner. That's not just being a motivational speaker. There's a breakthrough after the storm often.

I mean, when we planted the church, all hell broke loose. I didn't know kids could get so sick. I didn't even know what foot and mouth disease was.

Anybody know what that is? All the kids get it, and then over that, then they get strep throat, and then after strep throat, they get the flu, and then it's like I was ready to quit three, six weeks in. And just other things, so many things hold on to the hem of His garment. And that's where that faith is really strengthened.

Number seven, it's not always a denial. Praise God on that. A delay is not always a denial.

Number eight, faith wavers when we wonder. It dives when we doubt, and it fades when we fear. Something that's very interesting about faith is it's not a mindset, it's actually a trust set.

Trusting in God. And so when that begins to waver, I begin to doubt, I begin to fear, that will, your faith will dwindle. And that's why we talk often about be careful about what you consume spiritually.

Your spiritual diet affects your faith. Faith by definition, number nine, faith by definition must be tested. It has to be tested.

Faith that is not tested cannot be trusted. Faith that is not tested cannot be trusted. If faith is strong only when life is good, it's not faith.

Here's the thing you have to remember about faith. I mean, we say I'm exercising faith, and I'm believing, and many times we are, but if it's over easy things, and things that actually don't require faith, it just sounded good to say it, faith is really when it doesn't look promising. It doesn't look like God is gonna come through.

My circumstances are saying something different. The doctor is saying something different. That's when faith is tested, and that's what real faith is, because it's actually believing things that aren't yet seen.

Hoping for things where there's no hope. How much faith would it be, let's say you're struggling financially, and somehow, someway, I don't know how many of you don't raise your hand, you play, okay. It's all right, sometimes I think about it.

If I could just win that. But let's say you win the other 50 million. You're like, oh, I just had faith.

Do I have faith everything's gonna be good? No, that's not faith anymore. That's assurance. You know everything's good.

But what about when you don't have the answer? That's really what faith is. It's really believing in God, even when your circumstances tell you otherwise. And trusting in God.

How many of you remember what I said a few weeks ago that the Bible says 365 times, do not fear. Do not fear. Do not fear.

Faith is not pride or overconfidence. It's based on wisdom, not gullibility. So when you have faith, it's not you're overconfident or proud.

You're using wisdom. You're trusting in God. Faith, trust in God, not in our circumstances.

And I have seen this a lot, especially in the Christian community. People say they're having faith, but they don't budget correctly. They don't have a giving heart.

Maybe they're gossiping and slandering. You know, there's a lot of sins going on, but yet they say they have faith, but they're not living a life of holiness, and that will really damper faith. Faith, trust in God, not in our circumstances.

I think that's pretty clear. Number 12, to build faith and trust, we're often challenged that we don't have answers. ...for something.

Any Type A guys out there or women? You want the answer for something now? I don't want to know how it's going to play out. I want to know now. And most of the time, we don't have that answer.

We don't know how things are going to play out. And that's what faith is. It stands on the promises.

Number 13, faith moves, but it also stands still. We talk a lot about stepping out in faith. Stepping out in faith.

But if we're not careful, we can run out of God's will. So even when you're exercising faith, sometimes it just means stand still. God actually told Moses, Joshua, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And so many times if we're praying for people in the prayer room, I encourage them. I say, don't send flowers and letters and texts and all this, just pray and wait on God.

Because you can push people away. Parents, how many of us know we don't have to text our teenagers? Devotionals and Scriptures all the time. Sometimes we just have to pray and wait on God.

Sometimes it just holds the line. Sometimes you get to a point where there's nothing else you can do. Any doers in here? You know, I've got to be doing something.

If God's wanting me to exercise faith and I'm believing in this, I've got to be doing something. But often He says, just wait. Because waiting also builds strength.

14, the Word builds faith and the world destroys it. That's the verse about hopefully if you look up, being not conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of your mind. I can't tell you how often I've seen this.

And it happens in my own life. I said this earlier. What you're feeding on mentally is either going to increase your faith or kill it.

And so talking to a lot of people who worry or they're anxious, they don't have much faith, show me your mental diet. Show me your Bible study and your prayer time. And when that's lacking, all of us are that way.

We will be deflated spiritually. Number 15, God's not on our timetable. How many of you have figured that out by now? Isn't that ironic, right? We want things now.

I'm having faith that a spouse is going to come to know the Lord. Or a friend or a co-worker or my sister or brother. And okay, next week or next month, and here we are five years later.

And often He's not on our timetable. Why? Often character must be developed. Attitude adjusted and spiritual strength built and faith tested.

That's often why things aren't happening right away. Things we're praying for, things we're having faith, because it also tests our character. Sometimes the little kid in us comes out when we're not getting our way.

When things aren't happening quick enough. And that character is developed. How many of you have been counting on something? Maybe financially.

And when it doesn't happen, it gets ugly inside. Or something you thought was going to happen and it doesn't. And the more we have to trust in God, the more it is, it's like lifting that weight.

Trusting in God is like that weight being lifted or resisted. The more we trust, the deeper that faith grows. I've also found that the longer something takes, often it builds the faith even more.

And it's more exciting, the reward that follows. 16, it's not what happens, but how we respond to what happens that really matters. If we walk by faith and not by sight, then it's crucial that we respond to life correctly.

And I've seen that for years in my own life too. It's not as much as what's happening to me, it's how God is watching me respond to it. And that's really how you're going to develop spiritual maturity, how you're going to grow.

When you're challenged by certain things. We get upset at the challenge, but God's looking at the heart on the response. And the only way to truly respond to something is by being challenged.

17, actions reflect faith. Our actions will reflect faith. Doubt and unbelief are right up there with grumbling and complaining.

If you look at the Scriptures on this, what does God think about grumbling and complaining? I didn't think it's that big a deal, honestly, for years. But when you realize it's a big deal to God, because what we're doing is we're grumbling and we're complaining at where we should be thankful. And that stifles faith.

Anytime I'm grumbling and complaining, faith is deflated like air coming out of a tire. But the more we are thankful, thankful just increases faith. Isn't the mind a masterpiece? I mean, it's just amazing how you can take those thoughts captive.

Those thoughts that are taking you different spots, making you crazy, this and doubting, you can actually take those thoughts captive and you put them in prison and you begin to encourage yourself in the Lord. It changes everything. Those who study this, you know it's called neuroplasticity.

When they change, they can see how the brain actually can be conformed or transformed. Oh, the Bible said that 2,000 years ago. Isn't that interesting? And faith must be a choice or we wouldn't be held accountable.

Faith is a choice. Belief is a choice because we're held accountable for what we believe. What about the 10 spies? We all know of Caleb and Joshua, but how many of you can mention the other 10? I remember I read those one time.

Jim Garlow read them when he was speaking here. Nobody knew who they were. But we all know Joshua and Caleb, the ones who had that faith.

Because really, what is it? It's trusting in God despite what I'm going through. And what is going to overcome God? What is going to outwit God? Who's gonna outsmart Him? Who's gonna change His plans? And you have to get to that point, and I hate to bring this up a lot, but like those three boys caught in the fiery furnace. They told the king, we're not gonna bow to you.

Our God will deliver us. But even if He doesn't deliver us, that is such good theology. Because you know what most of us would do? My God will deliver me.

Yes, He will. And as you're getting closer to the fire, it's like, okay, maybe He won't. I can feel the, oh, I'm down.

And is there really a God in heaven? Oh, God would. And you crumble. Because you have to say, and even if He doesn't.

Even if He doesn't. I mean, I don't know what the future holds, but let's say you get that, Shane, you're stage four. I know God can heal me.

No question at all. But even if He doesn't, I'm going home early. How can you? How can you? I mean, there'll still be ups and downs and fears, but you understand, hey, right? He can.

I know He just says the Word. But if He chooses not to, that's my other kind of real strong beef against the name it and claim it, the hyper-faith movement, that it's all, they would rebuke me for saying what I just said. Don't ever say if it's God's will, brother.

You gotta claim it. You gotta, life and death are in the power of your tongue. You just gotta, it's almost like you have more, just as much power as God.

And you can speak life into certain things. Now, there's some Scriptures that are true about that, believing and speaking and having faith and different things, but I'm not gonna live my life thinking I know what God's plans are. Because the bottom line is we all have to die sometime.

Everybody Jesus raised from the dead still died. I'm not saying it wouldn't be scary, it wouldn't be challenging, but, and I think you can pray for healing and believe and God will give you Scriptures and maybe you hold on to that. And maybe I'm just kind of, not jaded, but you know, when you see so much, I've seen the people that I don't wanna list names here, but over 15 years, where people said, no, they're gonna be healed, absolutely healed.

They told their husband that, they were at prayer meetings and a week later they're gone. Now we can't say they just didn't have enough faith. I don't believe that garbage at all.

Nobody has perfect faith. Now there's truth in that though, as far as doubt is not gonna help you. Jesus can do many miracles here because of their unbelief.

Interesting topic. I don't know, maybe you can plant your flag somewhere else, but I'm planting mine right where it says, my God will deliver me. But even if He doesn't, we had to really think about this during COVID, staying open in the threats and God's gonna keep me out of prison.

My wife had more confidence than me. No problem, we got it. But even if He doesn't, even if I have to go down to Twin Towers for six months, you know where that's at? Okay, good, if you don't.

Or go sit in RJD Correctional Facility down by Tijuana for a while. God, I'm just trusting you, this must be where you want me. Would I be happy? No.

Would I throw some fits? Maybe. But see, I don't know how people get through life thinking they know God's plans and they're gonna tell God what to do. God will heal you.

I've just seen it so many times. I've even had friends, what I call, they're in the hyper charismatic camps, hyper Pentecostal camps. And I was like, I don't know, it was probably right when we started in the church, I said, you know what guys, we can't, something was going on, I said, I'm not feeling well at all, we're not gonna make dinner or something.

She goes, don't say that. What do you mean don't say that? You're not sick. I'm not? No, don't say it.

Don't speak life into, but I don't feel well. Don't say that. It's like, this is insane.

Because Jesus healed her. And so, but we can get so, and I've seen people go to the hospital and they don't want anybody to know. Because you have this theology that they're never supposed to get sick.

We live in a fallen world. Again, faith is like training muscles in the negative position, resisting the load. And I wanna share some Scriptures and quotes.

I told you this would be more topical tonight that have helped me over the years. The first one is Psalm 105. Until the time His Word came to pass, the Word of the Lord tested Him.

So do you ever find promises in God's Word? Like you feel like this is for me? And you know, man, this is for me. Well, often that blessing doesn't come a week later. Or a month later.

It's tested. How many of you felt the Lord? My prodigal's coming home. And here we are five years later.

But Lord, You gave me that Word. You gave me that promise. But often that has to be tested and tested.

Oswald Chambers said, God doesn't give us overcoming life. He gives us life as we overcome. If we take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God because He immediately gives us the power of life.

This is so important because does God give us overcoming life? Of course He does. But what He's saying here is many times, and I live this, like when I was going through that very hard season, I'm like, okay, I'm sitting on the couch. Lord, just give me that overcoming life.

Never happened. I had to take the initiative to seek Him. I had to take the initiative to step out of faith.

I had to take the initiative to pursue. I had to come to Wednesday and preach and Sunday to preach. And then once I did that, the overcoming life came.

So sometimes, yes, you'll just get an inspiration, a motivation. Praise God for that. But often we've got to strengthen ourself in the Lord.

And then that motivation follows. For the Lord God will help me. Therefore, I will not be disgraced.

Therefore, I have set my face like a flint that I know that I will not be ashamed. Isaiah 50, talking about Jesus setting His face like a flint to Calvary. But you be strong.

Do not become weak and your work will be rewarded. Behold, the days are coming that I will perform that good thing I have promised. Do not remember the former things or ponder the past.

Listen carefully. I'm about to do a new thing. It will spring forth and you'll be aware of it.

I will even put a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Now with all of these, I don't think you can just, oh, okay, I'm gonna take that and I'm gonna use it for this and God's gonna get me a house over here and I'm gonna find some oil out in the desert. No, as you're reading the Word, as you're living your life, God will use the Word of God to minister to your heart.

Certain things will just, and you know if you've experienced before, the verse will just like pop, you know, hit you in the face and you got the highlighter out and you know God said He spoke that to you. And there's one verse, I didn't have time to look at it, I actually just thought of it now. Before we actually came up to this church when they were considering us coming up here and it was like so clear, it was the one about I'm gonna send you to a place you didn't build and give you the fruit of the land in which you did not plant.

It was like stepping into what other people had planted, what other people had prepared and we're going to walk into that. And there's so many scripture comes alive. Again, you don't just take things and make it mean something it's not meant to mean, but there are promises you can claim, especially when God speaks so profoundly and powerfully to you in His Word.

You have not sought the Lord with your whole heart until you have tried a protracted season of prayer and fasting. In many cases where fastings have been added to the prayers along with deep consecration and heart searching before God, the answer has miraculously come to hand. When coupled to fasting, the prayer power is greatly amplified.

Gordon Cove was a minister and he was actually on the mission field in the mid 1900s, wrote an incredible book and talks a lot about faith. And he talked about how fasting increases faith. Anytime you're starving the flesh, the outcome is usually good if the motives are right.

As the appetites of the flesh go down, the increase of faith goes up. I love Joshua 2, you sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, the Lord will do wonders among you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.

Ezra 10.4 has been a huge encouragement over the years. Get up, this matter is your responsibility. There was something I was praying about probably three months.

I won't go into a lot of details. And it was WhatsApp of all places. And I opened it and that verse, it just hit me like it just lit up.

Because that actually was the answer to my prayer. It's like, hey, get up, this is your responsibility, Shane. Because we always want God to show me, do this, what exactly am I supposed to do? Right, but sometimes He wants you to get up, this matter is your own, this is your responsibility.

So of course I go to Ezra, I want to look at the context. It's actually about divorcing their pagan wives and things like that, so you want to be careful with the context and things. But I really felt that was profound.

Especially when I needed it. And you know, you're just kind of waiting for God to, Lord, show me what to do. In other words, Lord, maybe some of you sitting at home, Lord, show me where you want to work.

Where I'm supposed to work. Weeks are going by. Lord, I'm praying, Lord, show me.

Just like give me a vision. Have somebody knock on the door. Just show me where you want me to work.

And then if you see something like this, it pops out, get up, this is your responsibility. Go fill out some applications. Go to Home Depot and Lowe's and go hit the places.

And you go out, it's your responsibility. That's how God will use the Word to lead and direct. Steve Schell said, faith is determined action that yields obedience by overcoming.

Questioning is part of the process. So don't beat yourself up for questioning. Questioning is part of the process.

Faith doesn't always feel it. Thank God. Often the Lord isn't very clear, so you walk in faith.

That's why it's not very clear. That's why some answers are very vague. So you walk in faith.

If you knew with absolute certainty, then it wouldn't be faith. And he went on to say, you will feel forgotten and lost, but if you do this hard thing, I will do a miracle. Psalm 119 as well, remember the word to your servant upon which you have caused me to hope.

This verse has been probably for about 15 years. I'll forget about it sometimes, and it will come back to me. Remember the word to your servant.

In other words, Lord, You told me something. Remember that? That word gave me hope. God, I need to get back to that place again.

Lord, give me hope. Don't measure the value of your obedience just by what the eye can see. Obey always and trust the results to God.

It's in my introduction in my study Bible for Amos. Now let's look at the popular verse and we will go back into worship in just a bit. Hebrews 11.1 How many of you have never seen this verse before? Anybody? Now faith, he's actually explaining what faith is.

So if you want to have faith, it's the substance. That means faith is... the definition is it's of things that are hoped for, and faith is the evidence of things not seen. How can you have evidence for something not seen? That's what faith is.

So faith basically believes in the promises of God. And if you're struggling with your faith, and it's really a difficult spot, I'm pretty certain you have to increase your time with the Lord. You have to open the Word.

Not be in a hurry. Anybody? Okay, I read my three chapters. I'm done.

Sometimes you might, and maybe you put the Bible down for an hour, and you just pray. And the more you do that, you build into your heart the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen.

Now if you keep reading the verse, for by faith the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. So we understand that God exists because of faith.

So that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Personally, again, just my conviction, I believe one of the reasons, because people say, well you don't know there's a God for certain. Of course we do because nothing, all this cannot come from nothing.

But one of the reasons it's not, it's a journey of faith, it's because that's what faith is. If God would reveal Himself as 4,000 foot tall, and you look up and there He is with the sword, and I am God, it's like, okay, that's pretty clear. But part of faith is believing His invisible attributes are clear.

Clearly, somebody did this. And clearly God, I believe in you. That's faith.

And by faith, Noah, being divinely warned by God, he built the ark and he saved his family. So see, he had to step out in faith. Abraham had to obey.

He stepped out in faith. God called him out of his land. How would you like God to tell you, okay, it's time to move? But I'm not gonna tell you where.

Sell my house, but I don't know where I'm going. I mean, that's some faith, isn't it? Can you imagine, you get that for sale sign out there, and okay, Lord, show me. 30-day escrow, well, that was quick.

Okay, what are we doing? Where are you guys going? I'm not sure. Do I get a storage pod for a while? Do we go put it in storage? I don't know. You can ask my wife, Linda would know.

The last three homes we've been into, we didn't know where we were going until like five days before we're supposed to be out. Talk about stressful. God's funny, he just like, because he knows what's going on, he's not worried.

He only needs one day with him. We're actually planning on staying at their house, they just don't know it. And we're gonna put storage out front.

So within five days, another five. And it's like that, I don't know, I like to know ahead of time, but often he doesn't show us. It's that faith walk.

And then Sarah believed that she would conceive. And then verse 13, all of these people, they died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, they were assured of them. So that's what's interesting about the Old Testament.

They believed in Jesus and the Messiah, not yet seeing Him. So they were looking forward and having faith. Now we look back and exercise our faith.

And then by faith, they went through the Red Sea unto the dry land. By faith, the walls of Jericho came crumbling down. And I love this on verse 32.

Let's go to that one. What more shall I say? The writer of Hebrews says, for the time, I don't even have the time to tell you about Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah and also David and Samuel and all the prophets, they subdued kingdoms. They worked righteousness.

They obtained promises. They stopped the mouth of lions. They quenched the violence of fire and they escaped the edge of the sword.

Out of weakness, they were made strong. They became valiant in battle, turned to fight the armies of the aliens. All by faith.

All by faith. Women even believed and their kids were raised from the dead. Others were tortured.

Okay, here's the bad side of faith. What about the people who were tortured? Not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others were mocked and scourged.

Yes, of chains and imprisonment. And that's the hard thing about God's will and following Him is we are so blessed in America, but if you go to Syria, some parts of Syria, some parts of the Sudan, different areas in the Congo or a population or even in India and the Hindu and the Muslim and there's so much, there's so much, try being a Christian in North Korea. You'll be executed.

And so you think, well, that's not fair, but it's all across the board, wherever God puts them. Even during mocking and scourging, they had faith. They wandered around in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute, afflicted, tormented and the world was not worthy of them.

They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. Again, faith, trust God regardless of the circumstances. And I know it's tough, isn't it? Because we love good circumstances.

Anybody else love good circumstances? Just me? I love good circumstances. Oh, that investment paid off. Your house has tons of equity.

Everything's going good. You haven't been sick for a year. Everybody at work loves you.

You're not persecuted for your faith. Oh, and then when everything crumbles, God still stands. All these having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive the promise.

God having provided something better for us that they should not be made perfect apart from us. So He just gives them that whole biblical text of people stepping out in faith. And I think we have Psalm 102 up there to close out.

Psalm 102, it's called the Prayer of the Afflicted. I think we do. Is this the last screen or do we have one more? That's the last one.

Okay, I'll just read it to you. Psalm 102, hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me in the day of my trouble.

Incline your ear to me in the day that I call and answer me speedily. And what I told all of you on Sunday, I can't tell you where you're going, what the future holds, but I can tell you this, you've got a good, good shepherd. You've got a good, good shepherd.

If you're like any other Christian on planet Earth, there's areas in your life where you've been believing, but not receiving. Or you've been hoping, but you've been discouraged. Or you've been wanting this breakthrough, and you get nothing but frustration.

Faith is being tested. Faith is being tried. So during worship, you can stay where you're seated, come forward, whatever you want to do, it doesn't matter.

But I think this would be a good time just to give it to the Lord. And say, Lord, trust me, I've seen breakthrough happen when people finally let that bitterness go, that frustration go, that anger go. What about fear? I mean, I know in our nation, things are pretty good right now, but there's a great fear as well.

Or frustration. And just getting our hearts right again, because here's how, finally took me this long to get to the point, to give faith again to weather, to get faith to really weather the storms, it has to be watered. It has to be encouraged.

It has to be built. It has to be, the only way for faith to flourish is to get our hearts right. When hearts are wrong, faith is stifled.

So if we've got it, you've got it out for somebody, we've got bitterness towards somebody, resentment, fear, frustration, and there's a lot, a lot we can be frustrated with that will hinder your faith. Because faith cannot weather a storm and grow if it's being constantly attacked by these things.