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I sat at a table and there was a lot of smiling faces, there was a lot of great food, but
for the first time in 39 years, I did not get to celebrate Thanksgiving with my father.
He wasn't there and I'm wounded, it hurts. In January, he had a massive aneurysm and
we lost him. It just hurts, I just miss him. I miss his ridiculous sense of humor, I miss
how he would make the biggest celebration over his kid's smallest accomplishments, just
those little things, I just miss him. And I say that to say that I'm walking this road
and that there are no easy answers; but in this hurt I have got, I had the blessing of
seeing this truth played out in my life, carrying one another's burdens.
Sam Roberts is one of our directional leaders and a dear friend of mine, just a few days
ago, on my way down to Texas to be with the family he called me. He said, I just want
you to know that this is going to be hard and I'm praying for you. Because he lost his
father a couple of years back and he knew exactly what I was walking into and what did
he do? He mourned with me as I mourned.
The day, Sunday; I was in the hospital and the surgeon walked in and said that there
was absolutely no brain activity, your Dad's gone. At that very moment my phone rang and
I looked down and it was Craig Groeshel. And you know, I was trying to be strong for my
mom and my brother and my sisters, and I walked out of the room and just very simply Craig
said, How you holding up? It was just something about hearing that guy's voice in my darkest
hour and I just broke down, and for five minutes I just wept. He cried with me, he didn't try
to give me any answers, there are none. We just mourned with each other, and in that
way experienced healing. And make no mistake, whatever you are facing,
God won't waste it. He will not waste a single hurt. Check out what Paul says, I love this.
In 2 Corinthians 1:
Praise be to the God....the Father of compassion and God of all comfort, who comforts us in
all our troubles....
Why? Why does God comfort us?
...so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received
from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
God doesn't waste your hurt, if you will let Him comfort you and then let Him use you to
comfort those with the same comfort He's given you. God heals us through His people.
And finally, if you are taking notes write this down:
GOD HEALS US THROUGH HIS PRESENCE.
God heals us through His presence. We have become as a people, gifted at developing coping
mechanisms to deal with our pain. And I am here to tell you with respect, but boldly,
that the presence of the Almighty God is infinitely better than whatever you pour into that glass
at night. The presence of the Almighty God is better than the prescription drug you happened
to get hooked on and wish you weren't. The presence of the Almighty God is far better
than any image you might look at on the Internet, it's better than any bag of Oreos that you
find hidden, whatever your coping mechanism is, the presence of God is far better.
Scripture says in the Old Testament to repent and to turn to God, that times of refreshing
may come from the presence of the Lord. God heals us through His presence.
David, before he was king was on the run. His entire life up to this point was marked
by just trying to stay physically alive, because the current king, King Saul, had released
more men than you can imagine to kill David. He wasn't very excited about giving up his
throne to this kid. And so, David was on the run. He was constantly in danger, constantly
being accused by others; and yet, in Psalm 71:14, he says this:
But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
Psalm 71:14
Everybody say but as for me, I will always have hope.
I love that. I don't know about you jokers, but as for me I will always have hope. Why?
And I will praise you more and more.
Some of you are sitting here today, you are listening to this message and saying; Chris,
how can you say that? How can you say that I will always have hope? People have been
molested, people have been abused, people have been cheated on, people have been extorted
and you say that there is always hope? Yes I do because there is, because Psalm 46:1
says:
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
And for that reason I will always have hope and because Isaiah 53:5 says:
He (Jesus) was pierced for our transgression, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment
that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
Is there a better reason to have hope than that? We will always have hope because Hebrews
13:5 says:
...because God said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
Hebrews 13:5
And Psalm 147:3:
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
There is always hope.
In Psalm 91:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I
will say of the lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Psalm
91:1-2
We will always have hope because there is always hope and His name is Jesus.
Some of you find yourself still hiding. Still hiding behind the hurt, hiding behind the
wounds and you feel that in some way it separates you, it veils you from God, from intimacy
with Him and I pray, I pray, I pray that God will breathe into your spirit what Paul says
in Romans 8, he says:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the
present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Romans 8:38-39
He is our God, He is our Comforter, He is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother,
He is our Refuge, He is our Fortress, He is our High Tower, He is our Deliverer, He is
the Healer of our hearts, and He is here today and He is saying to you who are courageous
enough to run into His arms; 'Daddy is here, I've got you, you are going to be just fine'.
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